stones - Licks

The overscaled Baroque decadence of the Bridges to Babylon stage design and the priapic extravagance of the 50m (150ft) long telescoping bridge were tough acts to follow. As the discussions about the upcoming Rolling Stones Licks stage design unfolded during the winter of 2001 and the spring of 2002, it became clear that the best way forward was to move sideways. After four shows (Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge and Bridges to Babylon and No Security) that had played with some of the big changes drifting through western consumer society, Mick and Charlie decided to return to the simple values of the 1982 tour and create a show that was a vigorous celebration of the band and their music. Michael Cohl came up with the extraordinary idea of touring stadia, arenas and theatres, all at the same time, and the Rolling Stones Licks tour was born.

Christened TOAST - the Rolling Stones Tour Of Arenas, Stadia and Theatres by production assistant Carrie Stevens - in many cities the tour presented completely different shows in three different venues on successive nights. This was a major logistical challenge, because the same equipment was used (in different combinations) for the three different shows. The Rolling Stones Licks tour allowed the band to perform very different song lists in the very different shows. With maximum minimalism and spectacular simplicity the tour showcased the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world with naked extravagance and understated overstatement.

The stadium show featured a custom-created collage by Jeff Koons over 60m (200f)t wide and 24m (80ft) tall. The collage was printed on 13 roller blinds that concealed a massive, tracking video screen constructed as eight self propelled and separately controlled columns 3m (10ft) wide and 12m (40ft) tall. Two songs into the show the blinds rolled down and the screen tracked out from behind the PA towers. Throughout the show the screen assembled and disassembled, creating different patterns of solid and void with single, double and fragmented screen shapes. As the screen panels moved, searchlights tracked up and down on the masts that supported the roller blinds, and searchlights and pyrotchnics illuminated the void upstage. The band played beneath a 24m (80ft) wide transparent roof that cantilevered out 10.5m (35ft) in front of the roller blind wall.

The arena show used much of the same kit as the stadium shows. They played on the same stage - a slinky 27m (90ft) wide x 15m (50ft) deep multilevel rolling structure built by Tait Towers. The stage was sized so that it just scraped the paint off the handrails in Madison Square Garden. The working areas for technicians and monitor engineers were hidden beneath raised performance areas to right and left, with a large crossover upstage underneath the video screen. The video screen was reconfigured with narrow slots between the panels. The tracking system for the searchlights was placed upstage of the screens, with slender fingers reaching downstage through the slots to carry pairs of moving lights up and down across the face of the screens.

The theatre shows were stripped down and minimal. Sometimes the band performed in front of a backdrop of three deconstructed multicolour tongues, most times they played against a black backdrop; raw powerful music in a simple club environment.