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Mick Jagger: “We miss Charlie very much!”

The Rolling Stones continue their “No Filter” tour in front of a sold out house in St. Louis. Steve Jordan is on the drums.

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First show without Charlie Watts

Tom RÜDELL

The Rolling Stones continue their “No Filter” tour in front of a sold out house in St. Louis. On the drums sits Steve Jordan, one of the most renowned drummers in the pop business – but first and foremost a Charlie Watts fan.

Definitely not a concert like any other, but one from the category “The Show must go on”: On Sunday, the Rolling Stones continued their “No Filter” tour, which was interrupted due to the pandemic, with a kick-off concert in St. Louis, Missouri . And for the first time in 59 years of band history without Charlie Watts – the drummer had died a good four weeks ago at the age of 80. A new man will be on the drums in the future, but he is an old friend: Steve Jordan had been named by the Rolling Stones as a replacement for Watts even before the tour kicked off – at that time there was still talk of a break for health reasons.


(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 13, 2012 Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones arrives at the Ziegfeld Theater to view

Charlie Watts was a true understatement. A musician who knew what he could do. And who didn’t want what he couldn’t. He will be absent.



Watt’s legacy naturally hovered over the evening and will continue to do so throughout the tour: The intro that his colleagues play on the huge video screens above the empty stage pays homage to their drummer. Photos of Watts are shown, acoustically only accompanied by drum beats. That shouldn’t be the only goosebumps moment: After the openers “Street Fighting Man” and “It’s only Rock’n Roll”, the three remaining Stones Mick Jagger (78), Keith Richards (77) and Ronnie Wood (74) found themselves in the Center of the stage together.

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Jagger said the obvious: “It’s the first tour we’re going to do without him. We will miss him so much, on and off the stage ”. Jagger is considered one of the best showmen in rock’n roll business, but these words were authentic and the grief real – not only recognizable by the fact that he held Keith Richards’ hand during his address. This show intro with the pictures by Watts was an “emotional moment”, Jagger continued.

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Then the Stones shook off their grief with their “new” rhythm section (bassist Darryl Jones has been with them since 1994) and played “Tumbling Dice” in honor of Charlie Watts. A set follows, as you would expect from the Stones, with classics like “Start Me Up”, “Honky Tonk Women”, “Paint it Black” and “Jumpin ‘Jack Flash”, of course with “Satisfaction” as the last encore. And with a few surprises, such as the premiere of the latest single “Living in a Ghost Town”.

Who is Steve Jordan?


More than just a sideman for the Stones: Steve Jordan (center) is considered one of America's most sought-after drummers.

More than just a sideman for the Stones: Steve Jordan (center) is considered one of America’s most sought-after drummers.

Photo: AFP


That he should now finally represent Charlie Watts, he had imagined differently, that the choice of the Stones fell on him, is anything but surprising: Steve Jordan, 64, has been part of the “extended Stones family” since 1985. At that time he recorded several tracks on the album “Dirty Work” when Watts was suffering from alcohol and heroin addiction. An obviously impressed Keith Richards relied shortly afterwards on Jordan’s rhythm work for his highly acclaimed solo project “Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos”.

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Jordan has earned his merits well outside the Stones family tree: he was the drummer for Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton and the house band of the legendary American comedy show “Saturday Night Live”; you can also hear him on albums by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Herbie Hancock.

Successful producer

As a producer, he won several Grammys, including one for John Mayer’s album “Continuum”. Jordan has been part of the John Mayer Trio since 2005, together with bassist Pino Palladino, who, by the way, has a very similar story to tell: When John Entwistle, bassist for The Who, was without a doubt one of the great legends in 2002 Innovators of this instrument who succumbed to a heart attack in a hotel in Las Vegas the evening before the start of a US tour, Palladino was on stage with The Who two days later – and has been touring with the British ever since.

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So Steve Jordan is much more than a replacement for Charlie Watts. In St. Louis he clearly showed that he will do everything in his power to fit into the overall picture of the Rolling Stones: The drum set with which Jordan played the show comes from Watt’s preferred brand Gretsch and was just as minimalist as that of the Stone -Co-founder. Jordan will miss Charlie too. But the show goes on.

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