The Rolling Stones US Tour 1978

The Rolling Stones US Tour 1978
Tour by The Rolling Stones
Associated album	Some Girls
Start date	10 June 1978
End date	26 July 1978
Legs	1
Shows	25
The Rolling Stones tour chronology
Tour of Europe '76 US Tour 1978 American Tour 1981

The Rolling Stones' US Tour 1978 was a concert tour of the United States that took place during June and July 1978, immediately following the release of the group's 1978 album Some Girls. Like the 1972 and 1975 U.S. tours, Bill Graham was the tour promoter. One opening act was Peter Tosh, who was sometimes joined by Jagger for their duet "Don't Look Back".

History

The tour used a stripped back, minimal stage show compared to the previous Tour of the Americas '75 and Tour of Europe '76, possibly due to the emergence of the punk rock scene and its emphasis solely on music and attitude rather than presenting a grandiose stage extravaganza.

Continuing a schedule started in 1966 of touring the United States exactly every three years, the Stones played in a mixture of theatres, sometimes under a pseudonym, arenas, and stadiums, a practice that they would follow for many of their future tours as well. The tour was the first in which Charlie Watts used the famous Gretch drum set that he continues to play with the Stones to this day, as well as his first employment of a china cymbal as a crash and dropping the downbeat out of his hi-hat playing when hitting the snare drum, two unique techniques that he continues to employ today. The concerts featured backing vocals by Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, something that the Stones would get away from beginning with their next tour when Keith handled the majority of the backing vocals himself.

However, this US tour did not carry on into Europe in 1979, breaking the group's similar schedule of performing in Europe every three years, which had started in 1967. This gap-year from touring prompted Keith Richards to join Ronnie Wood on his 1979 US solo tour, to promote his then-album Gimme Some Neck, in the process forming the band The New Barbarians.

Reception

Rock critic Robert Christgau wrote that the 1978 Tour was an improvement over the group's previous go-around, "especially when Mick [Jagger] stopped prancing long enough to pick up a guitar and get into the good new songs from Some Girls."

The tour is widely believed among fans to be one of the band's greatest, largely because it was in many ways back to basics both in musical and visual terms. It meant a return to a mixture of classic Stones numbers ("Tumbling Dice," "Star Star," "Happy," "Street Fighting Man", etc.) mixed with blues numbers and Chuck Berry covers, as well as including a large number of songs from then newly released Some Girls LP. It was the first tour featuring songs written with Ron Wood as an official member of the Rolling Stones, and his contributions from this period are considered by many Stones fans as some of his greatest with the band. While no live album was released from this tour, a fair amount of bootleg releases showcases its musical qualities, most notably the multi-show King Biscuit Flower Hour FM recording mostly known as "Handsome Girls."

Guest artists that played with the Stones during individual shows included Linda Ronstadt, Sugar Blue, Doug Kershaw, Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins. Other opening Acts included Van Halen, Journey, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and the Doobie Brothers.

Tour band

• Mick Jagger - lead vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Keith Richards - guitar, backing vocals
• Ron Wood - guitar, backing vocals
• Bill Wyman - bass guitar
• Charlie Watts - drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Ian Stewart - piano
• Ian McLagan - keyboards

Tour set list

A typical set list for the tour, with minor variations involving one or two of the numbers being omitted:

1. "Let It Rock"
2. "All Down the Line"
3. "Honky Tonk Women"
4. "Star Star"
5. "When the Whip Comes Down"
6. "Beast of Burden"
7. "Lies"
8. "Miss You"
9. "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"
10. "Shattered"
11. "Respectable"
12. "Far Away Eyes"
13. "Love in Vain"
14. "Tumbling Dice"
15. "Happy"
16. "Sweet Little Sixteen"
17. "Brown Sugar"
18. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
19. Encore: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Street Fighting Man" (most shows had no encore).

1. "Hound Dog" (Played Only In Lexington & Memphis)

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
10 June 1978	Lakeland, Florida	United States	Lakeland Civic Center
12 June 1978	Atlanta, Georgia		Fox Theatre
14 June 1978	Passaic, New Jersey		Capitol Theater
15 June 1978	Washington, D.C.		Warner Theatre
17 June 1978	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		JFK Stadium
19 June 1978	New York City, New York		The Palladium
21 June 1978	Hampton, Virginia		Hampton Roads Coliseum
22 June 1978	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina		Myrtle Beach Convention Center
26 June 1978	Greensboro, North Carolina		War Memorial Coliseum
28 June 1978	Memphis, Tennessee		Mid-South Coliseum
29 June 1978	Lexington, Kentucky		Rupp Arena
1 July 1978	Cleveland, Ohio		Municipal Stadium (World Series of Rock)
4 July 1978	Buffalo, New York		Rich Stadium
6 July 1978	Detroit, Michigan		Masonic Hall
8 July 1978	Chicago, Illinois		Soldier Field
10 July 1978	Saint Paul, Minnesota		Saint Paul Civic Center
11 July 1978	St. Louis, Missouri		Kiel Opera House
13 July 1978	New Orleans, Louisiana		Louisiana Superdome
16 July 1978	Boulder, Colorado		Folsom Field
18 July 1978	Fort Worth, Texas		Will Rogers Memorial Center
19 July 1978	Houston, Texas		Sam Houston Coliseum
21 July 1978	Tucson, Arizona		Community Center
23 July 1978	Anaheim, California		Anaheim Stadium
24 July 1978
26 July 1978	Oakland, California		Oakland Coliseum

External links

• 'Rocks Off' page tour setlists