Rolling Stones finally make their Jazz Fest debut: See photos, video, setlist
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Mick Jagger performs at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
The Rolling Stones finally made their Jazz Fest debut in New Orleans.
Why it matters: We couldn't all be at the sold-out show, so we're jealous of your $10 koozies and living vicariously through photos and videos.
The big picture: The Rolling Stones are at the start of their 16-city North American tour to celebrate the release of "Hackney Diamonds," the band's first new album in nearly two decades.
- New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival producer Quint Davis tried to get the band to the Fair Grounds twice before, but Mick Jagger's health troubles got in the way the first time and COVID-19 wrecked the second attempt.
- But nothing stopped Thursday's remarkable performance.
Zoom in: In a Jazz Fest first, the festival ticketed the day separately and shut down all other stages so the crowd would converge on the Stones.
- The Festival Stage, the Fair Grounds' biggest, has an expanded standing-room-only space this year, and the stage itself sported new banners and was extended for the Thursday night.
- But some fans still watched the Stones from elsewhere on the grounds, thanks to a live-stream that played to the screens on other stages.
New Orleans stars were part of the performance, too, with appearances by soul queen Irma Thomas and Dwayne Dopsie, the king of accordion.
The intrigue: Thomas joined the Stones on stage for "Time Is On My Side," which she recorded in 1964. The Stones later did their own versions.
- Thomas told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune's Keith Spera earlier this year that she stopped performing the track for years because fans thought she was the one doing a cover, and she found that frustrating.
- Eventually, Bonnie Raitt convinced her to start singing it again, Spera reports — and now that story finally came full circle.
Later that night, Thomas performed with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the Stones' Ronnie Wood joined her band.
- See a photo of the surprise performance on Twitter.
Friction point: While onstage, Jagger took aim at Gov. Jeff Landry, saying Louisiana's new governor is "trying to take us back to the Stone Age," WDSU reported.
- Landry replied in stride, tweeting, "You can't always get what you want. The only person who might remember the Stone Age is @MickJagger."
