Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for RS
Last night, July 17, The Rolling Stones blew through Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. with the penultimate program in its Hackney Diamonds world tour. For this second-to-last date in the sprawling, memorable series that bridged the band’s countless iconic eras in a global celebration of its legacy, the Stones honored the occasion with a tour debut performance of the classic “Far Away Eyes.”
“Far Away Eyes,” the twangy, downhearted standout from 1978’s Some Girls, was selected as the winner in the band’s nightly fan vote contest for addition to the setlist, beating out “Dead Flowers,” “Let It Bleed” and “Sweet Virginia.” Wednesday’s staging marked the song’s first live performance by the Stones since October 2021, and only its fourth staging since 2006. On the rarity of the moment, the magnetic Mick Jagger riffed, “Oh god, how does that go?” before launching the leading the track on the acoustic guitar. To support the tone-shift, Ronnie Wood conjured the song’s Bible-thumping, dust bowl atmosphere with a pedal steel, bringing more depth to the song’s setting-appropriate allusions to Bakersfield and Los Angeles.
The Stones’ long-awaited dust-off fit perfectly into its finely honed, hit-studded setlist, which opened with its traditional intro-sequence of “Start Me up,” “Get Off of My Cloud,” “Tumbling Dice” and “Angry.” After “Far Away Eyes,” the band launched its second 2024 treatment of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” then reached a fiery, high-voltage peak with the live debut of the Hackney Diamonds offering “Bite My Head Off.”
The show proceeded according to plan from there, complete with the nightly Keith Richards-led midsection of “You Got the Silver,” “Little T&A” and “Before They Make Me Run,” plus more iconic fan-favorites through the close like “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Midnight Rambler,” “Gimme Shelter” and the closer “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” After the outro, the band sent its adoring fans off into the night with the anthemic encore of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
The Rolling Stones conclude the Hackney Diamonds tour on Sunday, July 21, with a final performance at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Mo. For tickets and more information, visit rollingstones.com/tour/.
Watch a fan-recorded video of the band’s “Far Away Eyes” bust-out below, and read on for the complete setlist.
The Rolling Stones
Levi’s Stadium – Santa Clara, Calif.
7/17/24
Set: Start Me Up, Get Off of My Cloud, Tumbling Dice, Angry, Far Away Eyes+, Like a Rolling Stone, Bite My Head Off*, Mess It Up, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, You Got the Silver, Little T&A, Before They Make Me Run, Sympathy for the Devil, Honky Tonk Women, Midnight Rambler, Gimme Shelter, Paint It Black, Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Encore: Sweet Sounds of Heaven, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Notes:
+ Bust-out of “Far Away Eyes,” last played on October 21, 202; fan-voted inclusion, with Ronnie Wood on pedal steel
* Live debut of “Bite My Head Off”
Setlist via setlist.fm
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