The Rolling Stones delivered a 'surprise' afternoon performance in downtown Manhattan under beautiful blues skies at the Juilliard School of Music on Tuesday, May 10, 2005. The Milstein Plaza at the Lincoln Center in New York City was busy with activity as Media and fans swarmed upon the complex.

     Word had leaked via the Internet that the World's Greatest Rock'n Roll Band was going to perform live at their 2005 On Stage World Tour Press Conference. Every Stones fan across the globe was salivating to attend this special one-off appearance which required a Media Invitation.

     A supersized curtain covered the stage with the group's infamous insignia. The 2005 Tour twist on the Band Logo presented a white Baseball with stitching emblazoned on the Tongue. The available seating in front of the stage was assigned to Media representatives.

     The right side section was reserved for Juilliard students all wearing a special event Tee shirt distributed before the concert commenced. Barricades set up behind this section and the staging equipment necessary to produce the event allowed fans to crowd in for a view of the band on stage.

     On cue as an announcer introduced the band with, "And now their first appearance, The Rolling Stones On Stage", Keith Richards stroked the opening guitar riff to "Start Me Up" as a massive curtain revealed the group was perched above the stage on a balcony for maximum effect, providing a birdseye view from Milstein Plaza.

     Juilliard was besieged with mayhem as music students went wild with abandon, cheering and jumping as the Stones cranked out a memorable tour anthem from 1981. The rough and gruff sounding performance was uncharacteristic of their high-tech concerts. The Stones were live and unadulterated, hearkening back to their days of residency at the Richmond Hotel.

     Mick Jagger quipped about the group's daylight appearance, commenting that this was the Stones' "corn flakes concert". The band debuted a new song from their forthcoming album, "Oh No, Not You Again". The raunchy rocker contained some lyrics that would surely make the FCC blush!

     Once again, Richards sounded off on his electric guitar to announce a gritty version of "Brown Sugar" sans Bobby Keys on the Saxophone! Ronnie Wood ripped some choice leads, and Charlie Watts barely broke a sweat! The Stones were supported by bass guitarist Darryl Jones, a touring member since 1994.

     The Rolling Stones both looked and sounded fantastic! The band is back with another new World Tour set to launch at Boston's Fenway Park in August. After eight long years, Stones fans will finally satiate their hunger for a new Rolling Stones album in 2005.

     Wood tossed his mustard-colored pick into the seated Media personnel section, but nobody bothered to pick it up. A male seated in the front row raced back to collect it, asking a man to hand it over to him. That basturd beat me by a few paces to score that incredible On Stage Press Conference souvenir.

Manhattan setlist: Start Me Up * Oh No, Not You Again * Brown Sugar

RockonTour   Issue #45
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Four Decades of Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones unveil afternoon 'corn flakes' concert

by Timothy Tilghman