The Rolling Stones spent the last three months hitting football stadiums in major cities all across North America on their Hackney Diamonds tour. But it all wrapped up Sunday night at the New Thunder Ridge Nature Arena at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri. That’s a 20,000-seat outdoor amphitheater in the Ozarks that more typically hosts shows by the likes of Luke Bryan and Pitbull.
“This happens to be the last show of our U.S. tour,” Jagger told the crowd midway through the night. “It’s so great to be spending it with you guys in the Ozarks. We’ve never played here before. I’ve never been to this particular place. But last night, me and some of the crew went to Branson. We saw some great shows. I saw the Dolly Parton Horses Stampede. I saw Adele. I saw Michael Jackson. And then I ended up in Area71. And I saw Mick Jagger. He was really good. It’s not the same person that’s up here tonight, but he’s very similar.”
There were no huge surprises in the setlist, but it was a rare show that featured both “Whole Wide World” and “Mess It Up” from Hackney Diamonds. (The Stones usually picked one or the other.) “Let It Bleed” won the fan vote over “Dead Flowers,” “Far Away Eyes,” and “Sweet Virginia.” And Richards had some brief guitar issues before “Paint It Black,” forcing him to swap in a new instrument while Ron Wood and Steve Jordan killed time with a quick jam.
“It’s a long time since we first played in Missouri,” Jagger told the crowd. “We played in 1966 at the Kiel Convention, which doesn’t exist anymore. Thank you so much Missouri for coming back to see us tonight. This is the last show of the tour. I want to thank so much the crew of this show for helping us put this show together, every show. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you so much ladies for helping us out. We really appreciate it.”
For the first time since 2005, the Stones were touring behind a new record. “Angry” was the only song from Hackney Diamonds they broke out all 20 nights of the tour. But they played “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” 17 times, “Mess It Up” 13 times, “Tell Me Straight” 11 times, “Whole Wide World” eight times, and “Bite My Head Off” a single time.
Another 10 songs were played at every show: “Satisfaction,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Little T&A,” Paint It Black,” “Start Me Up,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Tumbling Dice,” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” When the tour kicked off, Richards sang lead on only a single song. By the fourth show, he moved up to his standard two. And before long, he was handling an unprecedented three per night.
The only new addition to the band from the group’s last run in 2022 was background singer Chanel Haynes. She entered their orbit June 21, 2022, when vocalist Sasha Allen had to miss a show at the last minute. Hynes had the lead role in the London production of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical at the time, and she jetted in last minute to join the group for “Gimme Shelter.” It was an extraordinary performance that won her worldwide accolades, though it ultimately cost her the role in Tina for going AWOL. In hindsight, it was a very wise choice. She had spotlight moments for “Gimme Shelter” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” nearly every night, and always delivered.
As of now, there’s now official word on future Stones activity. Rumors are swirling about summer 2025 dates in Europe. Jagger has also talked about the possibility of completing a second studio album comprised of songs they cut during the Hackney Diamonds sessions. It’s hard to imagine a second Stones record in quick succession following a two-decade album drought, but it’s also hard to imagine a rock group playing close to this well into their 80s.
