Voodoo In The European City Of Culture

Open air at Kirchberg, Luxembourg City
Sunday 27/8/1995
2 CD, LU 27081995

The Band:
Mick Jagger - vocals, harmonica, piano, guitar
Keith Richards - guitar, vocals
Ron Wood - guitar
Charlie Watts - drums

Darryl Jones - bass
Chuck Leavell - keyboards
Bobby Keys - saxophone
Lisa Fischer - backing vocals
Bernhard Fowler - backing vocals
Andy Snitzer - trombone
Michael Davis - trombone
Kent Smith - trumpet
+ Bonus track, recorded live at Montpellier, France 27.7.95
with special guest Bob Dylan

Disc 1 - (63:37)

1. Not Fade Away - 5:09
2. Tumblin' Dice - 4:41
3. You Got Me Rocking - 3:44
4. It's All Over Now - 4:26
5. Sparks Will Fly - 4:21
6. Satisfaction - 7:26
7. Beast Of Burdon - 5:34
8. Angie - 4:21
9. Like A Rolling Stone - 6:03
10. Rock And A Hard Place - 5:08
11. Gimme Shelter - 6:41
12. I Go Wild - 6:03

Disc 2 - (73:54)

1. Miss You - 10:36
2. Band Introduction - 3:41
3. Honky Tonk Woman - 5:09
4. Happy - 4:44
5. Slippin' Away - 6:08
6. Sympathy For The Devil - 7:39
7. Street Fighting Man - 5:53
8. Start Me Up - 4:09
9. It's Only Rock And Roll - 5:21
10. Brown Sugar - 7:18
11. Jumping Jack Flash - 6:41
12. Like A Rolling Stone + - 6:38
additional text:

On June 26th 1995, the Luxembourg public first read about the possibility of a ROLLING STONES concert in Luxembourg. While negotiations started back in February, the team around Claude Frisoni, chief coordinator for the organization of Luxembourg, European City of Culture 1995, managed to keep the secret as long as possible. Nevertheless, by the end of June, the rumour had finally spread. And the deal wasn't even finalised yet !!

An ideal location to hold such an incredible event in Luxembourg had to be found in order to secure the deal. Within just a couple of weeks, Frisoni's team managed to secure the official approval and support of all the administrations concerned: security, public transportation, hospital, a.s.o.. Thanks to the unwavering support of the mayor of Luxembourg-City, Misses Lydie Wurth-Polfer, and the enthousiasm of the individual departments of her administration (electricity, water, traffic, fire department, a.s.o.), Luxembourg-City proved to be able to achieve in six weeks what took other European cities 6 months to set up: a perfect public organisation for what was called and will be remembered in Luxembourg as the cultural mega-event of the century.

60,000 people were ready for this historical event. The previous attendance record in Luxembourg was held by Jose Carreras, who sang in front of 15,000 at the Jose-Barthel-Stadium in Luxembourg-City, just a couple of weeks before. But the rumour of the ROLLING STONES voodooing in the European City of Culture 1995 electrified the whole country and far abroad. Journalists from neighbouring countries attended the press-conference, the largest of its kind for Luxembourg-city. Everybody wanted to be part of the event. Daily and weekly newspapers, local and national TV and radio stations ran ongoing series for weeks prior to the concert. The countdown was joyfully celebrated by almost everyone.

The day before the concert, several band members were spotted in town and around the country. Mick Jagger visited some historical sights, he was seen later at the Didjeridoo discotheque.

On the day itself, on August 27th, tension was high. Security forces were a little nervous, the weather was unstable. Allthough they knew they had done more than give their best, all people involved in the logistics of the event were anxious some tiny little detail might go wrong, running all their efforts.

But the rain stopped, 60,000 people came from all over the area: Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. They turned out to be a perfectly well behaved crowd, only interested in enjoying one of the best rock concerts ever, the ROLLING STONES VOODOO LOUNGE Live.

And the Rolling Stones rewarded everybody's efforts by delivering a very professional performance. Luxembourg was to be their second last stop of the 94/95 Voodoo Lounge World Tour, right before the Grand Finale in Rotterdam on August 29th and 30th. While the set was without any real surprises, the interpretation of most of the songs was better than on many a previous concert. The band played tighter than ever; one year of practice on the road didn't hurt, and it didn't kill their freshness either. The band treated the Luxembourg audience, although much more reserved than the Dutch audiences for instance, with equal respect, just like the major audiences in London or Paris.

Mick, Keith, Ron and Charlie have rocked and voodooed Luxembourg. Everybody was happy the way this incredible event had turned out. The Rolling Stones have broken the ice for huge-crowd concerts in Luxembourg and Luxembourg has proven that it's able to provide the perfect logistic framework.

Jake Berry, production manager for the Rolling Stones, said: This concert, this premiere "is good for Luxembourg, and it is good for the Rolling Stones." It was the Rolling Stones' contribution to the European City of Culture 1995 and it was the gift of Luxembourg 95, to the young and ever-young generation of popular music-lovers. Sunday, August 27th 1995 is a day to be remembered.

And it certainly will be. This double CD set will help you relieve the magic moments of this event. Although edited together from two different tape sources, no effort has been spared to give you the best possible sound qualitiy from a hand-held, one microphone DAT-audience recording.

This testimony of an unforgettable event is yours to keep and enjoy many times over. It was a Big First for Luxembourg and it was one of the best performances of the Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Live World Tour 1994/1995.