There are so many concert videos and live albums from the Rolling Stones, it can sometimes be challenging to differentiate one from the other, thanks in large part to the Four Flicks, The Biggest Bang, and From The Vault series of live shows. They are plenty of exceptions, and the previously unreleased 1989 concert film Steel Wheels Live – Atlantic City, New Jersey is among them. Originally presented live as a pay-per-view (PPV), Eagle Rock Entertainment has restored, remixed, and remastered the performance, and made it available on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and CD.
There was a three-year gap between the Stones’ studio albums Dirty Work and Steel Wheels. At the time, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were at odds with one another, releasing solo albums, and placing the band’s future in jeopardy. Fortunately, they kissed and made up, realizing the Stones were bigger than the both of them. They reconvened in early 1989, wrote around 50 songs, brought in the rest of the band, and cut their last album of the decade. It would also be the last full-length studio album for bassist Bill Wyman, who left the group in 1993.
The reception to Steel Wheels was huge, so it was obligatory that the group follow it up with an equally impressive tour. Focusing primarily on stadiums, the staging and lighting of the shows upped the game considerably. This marked the Stones’ first major trek in seven years, so everything had to be just right. The core band was enhanced with two keyboardists (Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford), three backing vocalists (Lisa Fischer, Bernard Fowler, and Cindy Mizelle), and a five-piece horn section featuring longtime Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys.
The 60-date leg of the U.S. tour ended with a three-night stand at the 16,000-seat Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was here where the Stones decided to invite a few friends to sit in and film it all for prosperity. On Steel Wheels Live – Atlantic City, New Jersey, the group tactfully blasts through hits like “Start Me Up,” “Bitch,” and “Tumbling Dice,” tackle a few songs from Steel Wheels (most of which they would never play again on subsequent tours), and throw in 80s curveballs like “Undercover Of The Night” and “Harlem Shuffle” to bring everyone up to date. The whole ensemble operates like well-oiled machine, pumping out the material with precision and care. Jagger, as always, is the ring leader, strutting from one side of the stage to the other without missing a step. Everyone else follows his lead.
Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin are the first guests to join the band, and together they go for broke on a obscurity from Beggars Banquet called “Salt Of The Earth.” The song was reportedly suggested by Rose and Stradlin, and had to be relearned by the Stones, who hadn’t played it since 1968. It’s a commendable feat, as Rose goes toe to toe with Jagger, exchanging verses and working the stage, though you can see Richards signaling for the old heave-ho at the end. No one knew at the time that Guns N’ Roses would go on to become almost as big, in terms of sales and influence, as the Rolling Stones.
After more Steel Wheels songs (including the album’s single “Mixed Emotions”) and classics (“Honky Tonk Women,” “Midnight Rambler, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”), Eric Clapton comes up for a rendition of the Willie Dixon blues staple, “Little Red Rooster.” John Lee Hooker then joins Clapton and the Stones for a brisk, no nonsense run-through of his own “Boogie Chillen.” From there, the show pretty much sticks to the standards, with the exception of “2,000 Light Years From Home.” Featured on 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was essentially the Stones’ attempt at psychedelic music, the song had never been played live before the Steel Wheels tour. Its inclusion certainly adds to the band’s storied history and willingness to experiment.
Steel Wheels Live – Atlantic City, New Jersey has been beautifully restored sonically and visually, despite the lack of a modern widescreen aspect ratio. Perhaps its most redeeming quality is that the Stones, some 25 years after leading the way with the Beatles on the first British Invasion, were not about to become a nostalgic act. With lots of new songs to share, the revival of a couple lost nuggets, and reliable crowd pleasers like “Brown Sugar,” “Satisfaction,” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” everything sounds fresh and ever-green. It’s mind-boggling to think that another 30 years have passed, and the Rolling Stones are still making records and packing stadiums.
~ Shawn Perry
