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The Rolling Stones played their first show without the late-Charlie Watts since January 1963 on Monday night (September 20th). The band performed an exclusive private gig at Gillette Stadium for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Behind the kit was longtime Stones associate and Keith Richards solo collaborator Steve Jordan, who'll be sitting in for Watts during the upcoming dates. Among the rarities included in the band's 12-song setlist was their recent pandemic-centric single "Living In A Ghost Town" and their cover of the Chi-Lites' "Troubles A-Comin'," which will be included in the expanded 40th anniversary edition of the Stones'Tattoo You collection coming on October 22nd.
Mick Jagger addressed the crowd, saying, "It’s a bit of a poignant night for us. This is our first tour in 59 years that we’ve done without our lovely Charlie Watts. We all miss Charlie so much. We miss him as a band. We miss him as friends, on and off the stage. We’ve got so many memories of Charlie. I’m sure some of you that have seen us before have got memories of Charlie as well. I hope you’ll remember him like we do. We’d like to dedicate this show to Charlie."
Sadly, Sarah Dash, a member of Keith Richards' solo band the X-Pensive Winos along with Steve Jordan, died on September 20th at age 76.
Dash, who was also a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles, before co-founding Labelle, recorded and performed with Richards on the tour behind his 1988 Talk Is Cheap album, recorded backing vocals for the Rolling Stones' 1989 Steel Wheels collection, and was a full on collaborator for the Winos' second album and tour behind 1992's Main Offender.