Phases & Stages

Rolling Stones

The Biggest Bang

"Good evening, Austin. How y'all doing? All right?" All right, Keith. "Ya got a great spot here. I'm thinking of moving in." All of Texas doesn't have that kind of room. "I say that to all the girls. Anyway, I thought, just for a change, we'd pay homage to a great Texan: Buddy Holly." The band's 1964 single "Not Fade Away" did precisely that, but another Holly limited, "Learning the Game," delivered by Richards in Zilker Park, Oct. 22, 2006, paid royal tribute to the day the Stones rolled in to Austin. "Bob Wills Is Still the King," legitimately twanged by Mick Jagger & Co., doffed its Waylon Jennings with a flourish. Neither song will likely grace another set list, unique to A-town. Twin guitar gatoring on opener "You Got Me Rocking," plus "Sway" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" march to the savage beat of Charlie Watts. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" burns like phosphorous. As did the entirety of the spectacle, then and now. Consider three additional Biggest Bang DVDs bonus discs. No. 2 lathers up Copacabana's million-plus beachcombers, the strangulation mix of "Midnight Rambler," "Happy," and "JJ Flash" drenching sand and sea. "Rest of the World" samples China, Japan, and Argentina, tour diaries cut with choice performances like Shanghai's Richards moment, "This Place Is Empty," and Buenos Aires' "Worried About You." One whole disc deserves tango's end, particularly with disc four doc "Salt of the Earth" capturing show two's downpour in Buenos Aires. Jagger & Richards sharing a genuine moment performing "As Tears Go By" in Italian for the Milanese, and individual band profiles delight. Well all right.