The Rolling Stones – From the vault: No security San Jose ‘99

Most bands that have been around for a while will have stuff that’s not been released – whether it’s songs that didn’t make an album, live videos or audio, or whatever. When you’ve been around as long as the Rolling Stones then you’re bound to have a ton of stuff in the vault. They’ve already released some live shows from the vault on CD or DVD and now have another one to release.
The concert was filmed in San Jose in 1999 on the North American leg of the No security tour. Compared to the rest of the tour the USA leg saw them play smaller venues – arenas rather than stadiums, so this show was in front of a mere 30,000 people.

If you’re thinking “I’ve already got a Rolling Stones live dvd, why do I need another”, the answer is simple -the shows they’re releasing in the “From the vault” series come from different tours, with very different setlists and shows.

The Rolling Stones have long been one of the best live bands around, and this dvd demonstrates it clearly. It’s a smaller stage show than they use these days (although it’s still a big show) but one thing is unchanged – the energy they put into their performances. Mick Jagger is one of the greatest frontmen of all time and there aren’t many young singers around who could keep up with him on stage let alone do it while singing. The whole band are like a well oiled machine, but it’s clear they aren’t just going through the motions – you can see they love what they do. When they cross a bridge from the stage to a small stage at the back of the arena for example they take far longer than needed as they’re so busy shaking hands with the audience members on either side of them.

When you’ve had as many hits as the stones have, there are certain songs that have to be included in the set, so you’ve got plenty of hits, but you’ve also got plenty of songs that you won’t have heard on other tours.

It’s a fantastic live release. The sound is excellent and the show was filmed with multiple cameras with the video footage well edited so you see everything you wants and there’s no over-rapid switching between camera angles. The only disappointing bit is the lack of any bonus material – interviews or a short documentary about the tour would have finished the release off nicely, but with the concert lasting two hours, it may be down to lack of space on the disc. Despite that it’s a release I have no hesitation in recommending to fans of the Rolling Stones.