When Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman formed the Rolling Stones in 1962, who would have imagined the band, albeit without three of the original members, would still be rocking in 2022? The septuagenarians recently wrapped up the European leg of their “SIXTY” tour in Berlin, Germany and avid Rolling Stones fan and Phi Psi brother Tom Morse was there to see it in person.
Actually, if one counts the February 5, 2006 Stones’ halftime performance at Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit, MI (where, by the way, Tom’s home team, the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed), Brother Morse has banked 65 live performances by his favorite band. His love of the Stones’ music began in the seventies when he first heard tunes from the album “Sticky Fingers”, but his concert going days would not start until he saw his first live show on September 6, 1989 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA, which was a stop on the Stones’ “Steel Wheels” tour.
Some 29-years later, Tom has traveled to dozens of US cities and many European cities to see his favorite rockers. Some changes have taken place. The band is now anchored by only three of the most well-known four Stones; front man Mick Jagger, 79, guitarist Keith Richards, 78, and guitarist Ronnie Wood, 75. Original member, drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away in August 2021 at age 80, is being fondly remembered with a special tribute at the beginning of each show as Steve Jordan, 65, takes over on the drums.
Surprises, some great, some not so good have happened along the way. There was the time when the Stones booked a concert in Tom’s hometown of Pittsburgh on June 20, 2015, well after his daughter, Ali, had already scheduled the same date for her wedding. Family had to come first that day although the Stones were a topic of conversation for much of the reception. Then there was the time in 2016 when Mick Jagger came down with laryngitis in Las Vegas after his recent performance at the desert venue Coachella. Tom remembers sitting in his Vegas hotel when he got the news that the October 19th show was off. Fortunately, this ardent fan also had tickets for the second show on October 22, 2016 which did go on as scheduled.
In June, 2022, Tom and his wife Andrea flew to England to see the Stones’ Liverpool show and had tickets for the next two concerts to be held in Amsterdam and Bern, Switzerland. The Liverpool show went off without a hitch but the concerts in the Netherlands and in Switzerland were not to happen for the Morses. As Tom and Andrea prepared to enter Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena on June 13, 2022, word came that Jagger had tested positive for Covid just minutes before. The Morses were unable to get a flight home so they went on to Switzerland as planned and enjoyed the sights. They learned that it’s important to choose to travel to shows in countries where the possibility of getting stuck is not such a bad thing.
Tom thought the very last concert of the European tour, on August 3, 2022 in Berlin, Germany was amazing, but attempting to travel from Germany back to the States the following day was not. After sitting on the plane for about an hour, the announcement came that the airplane’s transponder was malfunctioning, and everyone was deplaned. There were no other available flights to the US that day. Again, came the lesson that an extended stay in a foreign country is sometimes par for the course when one travels extensively to see his favorite band.
One of the best surprises came when Tom’s wife inadvertently booked the same hotel in Zurich, Switzerland that the band had reserved. Tom was able to meet Ron and Sally Wood at dinner. Congenial Ronnie even remembered Tom’s name the following morning at breakfast when he asked if he could sit next to him (of course Tom obliged!). Since that event in September, 2017, Tom and his wife have stayed in the same hotel as the band three additional times and have enjoyed watching the performers’ comings and goings and the frenzy that ensues. Brother Tom even had his “15 seconds” of fame when he was interviewed by Anna Xberg of German TV station rtl2 about his passion for the Rolling Stones for the broadcast “Fruhstucks Fernsemen” or “Breakfast TV” and was recognized in the Berlin airport after the piece aired.
One might wonder, what is this devoted fan’s favorite Rolling Stones album and song? Tom’s favorite album is without question 1978’s “Some Girls” but his favorite songs are trickier. He has an affinity for both “Monkey Man” from Let It Bleed, 1969, and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?” from Sticky Fingers, released in 1971. Until recently, Morse’s favorite concert was his 55th show in August 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ but that show has been relegated to second place. The final show of the European tour, Brother Morse’s 65th show, takes top honors. It was held on August 3, 2022 in the very charming Waldbuhne amphitheater set in the forest in a suburb of Berlin, Germany where the acoustics were terrific and all of the Stones “were on fire”.
Is this the “end of the road” for the Rolling Stones road shows? Morse doubts it. Despite their ages, the group still gives high energy performances that last more than two hours. Tom says they are playing better than ever. Rumor has it that the tour may continue in 2023. So, don’t be surprised to see Mick, Keith and Ronnie at a venue near you in the not-so-distant future, with Brother Tom Morse, in his colorful “Some Girls” button down shirt, rocking out to his favorite band of all time.
It’s only rock n roll, but he likes it. He REALLY likes it.
