With tracks from 'Hackney Diamonds' to classic hot rockers, the band sounded inspired on its first of two shows at the venue.
It’s not like the Rolling Stones have anything left to prove after six decades as one of the most thrilling rock and roll bands to ever step on a stage.
But it’s clearly not enough for the Rolling Stones, who somehow find fresh magic and motivation each night, each tour, each passing year, even as Jagger and Richards now are 80, and Wood, the baby of the band, now 77.
Mick Jagger, an improbable 80 years old, performs with The Rolling Stones at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones performs at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Rolling Stones fans line up to see the band perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Fans look on as the Rolling Stones perform at a sold-out SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. Shown from left are lead singer Mick Jagger, drummer Steve Jordan and guitarist Keith Richards. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Rolling Stones perform at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The War and Treaty perform as the warm-up act for the Rolling Stones at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The War and Treaty perform as the warm-up act for the Rolling Stones at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The Stones will play a second concert at Sofi Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Part of that this time is certainly the release last fall of “Hackney Diamonds,” the Rolling Stones’ 24th studio album, and first of original material since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang.” It’s a strong Stones album – seriously, go listen to it now – and it’s provided the band with a quartet of new tunes for the setlist each night.
All of that came together for two hours of music and a career-spanning set of 21 songs that thrilled fans from the moment the lights went dark and SoFi erupted with a roar or cheers.
“Start Me Up” kicked off the show, a song almost everyone in the stadium knew. Even with that kind of familiarity I felt chills for a moment just at the marvel of seeing the Stones again. They get old, we do, too, but this moment? Never.
“You Got Me Rocking” and “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)” followed, building the initial energy of the show through this pair of classic get-up-and-party numbers. Playing venues this big the Stones have perfected a few moves to help the most distant fans feel connected.
Yes, you can see it all on the massive video screens alongside, behind and above the stage. But if you’re just looking at the stage their wardrobe makes it easy to spot no matter how tiny the figures might be. To start the show, Keith was the fella in a bright green shirt, Ronnie wore a magenta-sequined jacket over a bright red shirt, and Mick, well, Mick lost his jacket fast and a shirt quickly followed, leaving him the hyperactive gent in a long-sleeved black pullover.
“Angry,” the lead single from “Hackney Diamonds,” delivered the first of four songs off the new album. It sounds like a Stones track from 40 years ago, which is a good thing, and the crowd stayed on its feet for it. Each night, fans can vote for one rotating song to join the set – “Beast of Burden” won the vote on Wednesday. It’s slower groove featured a strong solo from Wood and Jagger sharing vocals with longtime backing singer Bernard Fowler.
More highlights of the early part of the evening included “Wild Horses,” which Jagger introduced as “something more romantical,” and which opened sweetly with just Richards and Wood on guitars before Jagger started to sing and then the rest of the band joined in. “Tumbling Dice” started to build up the rock ‘n’ roll energy again, and saw Jagger skipping and slipping to the end of a long ramp that extended into the audience in the floor seats.
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” gave the broader band a chance to shine. Keyboardist Matt Clifford stepped out front to play French horn for the opening, while Chuck Leavell, who’s played keyboards on Stones tours since 1982, was a highlight on organ and piano at different points in the song.
“We first came 60 years ago to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood,” Jagger told the crowd at the finish of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” “What we got was our first gig in San Bernardino, but it was great.
“And then we did this famous television show called the “T.A.M.I. Show,” he continued as a photo from that appeared on the video screen behind him.
“It was so long ago that some of you might think we’ve been hiding in the La Brea Tar Pits. We have not been.”
Jagger left the stage after introducing the band, handing off the microphone for Richards’s usual mid-show suite of songs he sings lead on. This tour, thanks to the new record, he has three numbers instead of the typical two. “Tell Me Straight” is the new one, its wistful lyrics looking back on time gone and time left: “Is the future all in the past? Just tell me straight.” (His other two numbers were longtime Keith fan favorites, “Little T&A” and “Before They Make Run.”)
Jagger returned, resplendent in a purple frock coat over a purple-sequined black shirt – Richards and Wood were also in different outfits by now, too – dancing down the ramp as the band kicked into “Sympathy for the Devil.”
From there, the back half of the set focused on similarly huge hits. “Honky Tonk Woman,” which Richard jagged electric guitar riffs, bled into “Midnight Rambler,” which more than any other song in the set explored the band’s bluesy roots. With Jagger on harmonica and vocals, and Wood and Richards soloing the song stretched out to nearly 10 minutes before Jagger collapsed to his knees at the end of the ramp into the crowd and the song finally wrapped up.
“Gimme Shelter” offered a showcase to backing vocalist Chanel Haynes, the newest member of the touring band, whose gospel roots shined as she traded lines with Jagger throughout. The main set ended with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” one more classic tune from the most classic of rock bands still touring.
After a brief break, and another wardrobe change, the band return for a pair of songs on the encore. “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the last of the new songs, featured Haynes again in the part sung by Lady Gaga on “Hackney Diamonds.”
Then, after “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” everything wrapped up. The full band took a bow, and then, the last three Stones took another, waving goodnight, until the next night, and the one after that.
