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Watch the Rolling Stones Play Their First Show Without Charlie Watts

The show marked the unofficial debut of new touring drummer Steve Jordan, and the live premieres of “Troubles a-Comin’” and “Living in a Ghost World”

Musicians Ronnie Wood, left, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones perform at MetLife Stadium on Thursday, August 1, 2019, in East Rutherford, NJ.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

The Rolling Stones aren’t launching the 2021 leg of their No Filter tour until Sunday night at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri, but a tiny crowd of invited guests got to see them play a 14-song warmup show Monday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The private event was organized by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

The show was the unofficial debut of touring drummer Steve Jordan, and their first gig without Charlie Watts since he joined the band in January 1963. “It’s a bit of a poignant night for us,” Mick Jagger told the crowd early on. “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.”

The set featured the live debut of the Chi-Lites song “Troubles a-Comin’,” which they originally recorded during the Tattoo You sessions. It will be officially released on the 40th anniversary of Tattoo You on October 22nd.

They also debuted pandemic-era song “Living in a Ghost Town” in a live setting, and they dug out the 1966 classic “19th Nervous Breakdown” for the first time since 2005. The gig was also notable for the use of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” as an opener, something they’d never done before, and for not including “Brown Sugar” or “Honky Tonk Women.” Those are the second and third most played songs in Stones history (“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is Number One), and they almost never leave a stage without breaking them out.

No complete songs have surfaced from the show on YouTube, but there are bits of “Troubles a-Comin’,” “19th Nervous Breakdown,” and “Satisfaction” that you can see right here.

Rolling Stones Setlist

“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
“Tumbling Dice”
“Troubles a-Comin’”
“Living in a Ghost Town”
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
“Midnight Rambler”
“Miss You”
“19th Nervous Breakdown”
“Start Me Up”
“Gimme Shelter”
“Sympathy for the Devil”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

From Rolling Stone US