The Rolling Stones in Israel: It’s only rock ‘n roll, but we loved it

Mick, Keith and the world’s greatest band
energize a country that’s younger than they are

The Rolling Stones perform on stage at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, on June 4, 2014

Two 70-year-old men and their band sang, strummed, danced, preened and cackled their way through a magnificent roster of rock and dirty blues classics in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, and left an audience of 50,000 Israelis inspired, exhausted and delighted. The Rolling Stones in Israel: Sometimes, you can get what you want.

They’d spent some of the day or two before the gig seeing the sights — Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood visiting the Western Wall, Mick Jagger jogging up the coast to Caesarea, Keith Richards proving more elusive — but Mick had evidently been learning some Hebrew, too. Many bands manage an “Erev Tov” (Good evening) and a “Shalom” or two; Jagger spoke more Hebrew than English in the early stages of the show, including “Anachnu Ha’Avanim Ha’Mitgalgalot” (We are the rolling stones), “Hokol Sababa?” (All good?), and the unforgettable and frankly inexplicable, “Kanita Na’alayim Ba’Shuk?” (Did you buy shoes in the market?) to Ronnie Wood, who was wearing rather spiffy orange Nikes.

Still, with the greatest respect for Jagger’s impressive Hebrew, we’d come to hear him sing and his band play, and they were as outstanding as you’d expect from a band with their peerless history, and far, far better than a quartet of musicians all more elderly than the state of Israel have any right to be.

All four of them are a contradiction of heavily lined features and lean physiques — reflecting lives they’ve lived to the limit but want to keep on living. And they produce music that showcases both their decades of experience and their abiding energy. They opened with “Start Me Up” and they never stopped, pumping through 18 more crowd-pleasers all the way to “(I can’t get no) Satisfaction.”

Jagger (a great-grandfather, as of last week) was in perpetual motion — a sinewy marvel with his unique tight-butted, pigeon-legged dancing style. What sometimes gets overlooked, though, is that the man can sing — most notably when duetting with the powerhouse backing vocalist superstar Lisa Fischer. He played a mean harmonica too, using it to introduce “Midnight Rambler,” which featured the extra delight of a guest spot by the former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.

It’s very much Jagger’s show, but Richards was a grinning, simian foil, contorted around his guitar, nicking a quick smoke with Wood when he thought no one was looking too closely. Wood, the youngster at 67, does much more of the soloing than you might think, and somehow managed “Paint it Black” with a cigarette held between two fingers of his strumming hand.

Choosing highlights from a setlist this consistently strong is foolish, but “Angie” was a rare, gentle pleasure, and “Sympathy for the Devil,” spearheaded by Jagger in red cape, boosted by demonic lights and graphics, managed to convey a thrilling air of menace.

The only lull was the two-song Keith solo spot, but the man is so maniacally lovable a stage presence that you readily forgive him the cracked vocals. “It’s good to be here,” pirate Keith declared to huge applause. “But it’s good to be anywhere,” he continued roguishly, to an even bigger cheer.

Tel Aviv turned on the heat for the Stones — it was truly sweltering. “I need some water; hang on a sec,” confessed Jagger early on, having rapidly realized that wearing three layers was overkill and rapidly removed his sparkly mauve jacket, and then his psychedelic mauve shirt, to leave a black T. While the Stones made it through intact, 147 people were treated for dehydration, asthma and other afflictions. Only at the very end did the temperature dip a little, with a few drops of rain in a divinely timed expression of “Satisfaction.”

Only one man remained cool and serene throughout, drummer Charlie Watts. Displaying further Hebrew prowess, Jagger told us it was Watts’ “Yom Huledet” and the crowd responded with a lusty, Hebrew “Happy Birthday.” With a camera filming him from beneath his bass drum, Charlie ruled, tight-lipped on high like a regal turtle, but he smiled broadly at the birthday greetings (he turned 73 on Monday) and never missed a beat all night. Pushing this band forward, even as his sticks whirr, Charlie somehow always seems to have plenty of time.

What the Rolling Stones play so peerlessly is indeed “only rock ‘n roll” as their third song of the night had it, but it’s rock ‘n roll that sends the spirit soaring. Watching its finest purveyors smilingly perform in Tel Aviv and hearing Jagger wish us “Chag Shavuot Sameach, Yisrael” (Happy Shavuot, Israel) — boycott pressure be damned — was as good as it gets.

When the choir from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music gathered on stage for the penultimate number to chorus angelically that “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” it was a heartfelt, Rolling Stones-loving Israel that joined in with the next line: “But if you try sometimes, well you might find, you get what you need.”

Mick Jagger’s top 12 Hebrew phrases

The Rolling Stones’ lead singer had done his Hebrew homework ahead of Wednesday night’s Tel Aviv concert. He could even ask his guitarist where he’d gone shopping

Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones on stage in Tel Aviv, on June 4, 2014.

It might have been his band’s first visit to Israel, but Mick Jagger had learned plenty of Hebrew for Wednesday night’s Tel Aviv show. Here is the complete list of the Rolling Stones singer’s audience-friendly Hebrew remarks:

2. Chag Shavuot Sameach, Yisrael (Happy Shavuot, Israel). Already impressive. A festive greeting. A mention of Israel. And those awkward guttural sounds mastered on CHag and SameaCH.

3. Anachnu HaAvanim Hamitgalgalot (Literally: We are the Rolling Stones). Yup, we knew that. We just didn’t know he knew how to say it in our language.

4. Todah. Shukran (Thank you, in Hebrew and Arabic). Delivered after an aching “Angie.” We were the thankful ones.

5. Hakol Sababa? (All good?). Excellent Arabic slang, invoked anxiously after “Paint It Black.” Reassured by a huge cheer that everything was indeed sababa, Jagger gave us a rich cockney “ohhhh kayy!”

6. Kanita Na’alayim Bashuk? (Did you buy shoes in the market?) The evening’s undoubted Hebrew highlight, asked of a presumably uncomprehending Ronnie Wood, who was wearing nifty orange sneakers. There was no audible reply, in Hebrew or any other language.

Lisa Fischer maksima (The lovely Lisa Fischer). Backing vocalist extraordinaire. Only one of two musicians to merit a Jagger Hebrew introduction, the other being…

8. Al Hatupim (On the drums) Charlie Watts. Special treatment because, two days earlier, Jagger told us, it had been Charlie’s…

9. Yom Huledet (Birthday)! The audience responded with a raucous Hebrew rendition of “Happy Birthday” and the usually inscrutable drummer smiled, very broadly, like a bashful school kid. He’s 73, by the way.

10. Atem Nehenim? (Are you having a good time?) After a rousing “Gimme Shelter,” you betcha!

11. Atem Kahal Meturaf (You’re a Crazy Audience). A compliment as we neared the end, between “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Brown Sugar.”

12. Layla Tov, Ve’Shalom Tel Aviv (Goodnight and goodbye Tel Aviv). Mick’s final Hebrew utterances as the band disappeared. They reappeared for two encore songs, but the Jagger Hebrew vocabulary had been exhausted, leaving only the eternal question, Did Ronnie Wood buy his sneakers in the market?

They began with ‘Start Me Up’ and ended when they’d ensured ‘Satisfaction’

Taking the stage at Yarkon Park just after 9.15 as promised on Wednesday night, The Rolling Stones played a two-hour set in sweltering heat. The temperature dropped a touch only in their final encore, when divine timing saw a few drops of rain to underline “Satisfaction.”

The band ignored pressure from pro-Palestinian activists, including fellow rock stars, to cancel the gig as part of a boycott of Israel over alleged human rights abuses.

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions committee urged the Stones to abandon the concert, noting that the band had been vocal opponents of racial segregation in South Africa, comparing apartheid to Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians.

Pink Floyd founders Roger Waters, a relentless critic of Israel branded an anti-semite by the Anti Defamation League, and Nick Mason joined calls for a boycott.

Some artists have bowed to boycott pressure: US singer Lenny Kravitz cancelled a Tel Aviv concert in October after being petitioned by activists, citing a scheduling conflict. But this summer is witnessing a roll-call of artists coming to Israel. Justin Timberlake played here last week, and Foreigner, Tom Jones, Cyndi Lauper and Deep Purple played recently. Rihanna played last fall. Upcoming shows include the Backstreet Boys, the Pixies, Neil Young, and Lana Del Rey, America and Passenger.

Preparations for the large-scale performance began Sunday, ahead of what was expected to be one of the largest and most technologically sophisticated shows in Tel Aviv history. The stage was decked with LED panels brought to Israel by the band, and a 34-meter (111-foot) catwalk extended from the stage.

The playlist changes from show to show, according to Merav Lahav, part of the Shuki Weiss publicity team. “The Tel Aviv playlist won’t be released before the show.”

In Zurich on June 1, the band played 17 songs (“Start Me Up,” “You Got Me Rocking,” “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” “Tumbling Dice,” “Worried About You,” “Doom and Gloom,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Out of Control,” “Honky Tonk Women,” You Got the Silver,” “Can’t Be Seen, Midnight Rambler,” “Miss You,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Brown Sugar”) and two encores including (“I can’t get no) Satisfaction”.

Tickets were available until just before the concert, at NIS 700 apiece. According to local sources, some 48,000 tickets had been sold by Tuesday.

Following Tel Aviv, the Stones will perform in the Netherlands on June 7, Berlin on June 10 and Paris on June 13.

According to their current schedule, they have the summer off before performing in Australia and New Zealand in October.

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