Mick Jagger may have sold out stadium shows all over the world, but, the musician’s lead guitarist has revealed that Jagger got immense satisfaction from playing surprise shows in dingy dive bars.
Joe Satriani, who joined the Jagger as the lead guitarist for his solo tour in 1988, has shared a charming anecdote about the spontaneous sets.
“He loved doing that,” Satriani shared. “It seemed like once a month we would find a bar somewhere and we would make a deal with the local band that we would just walk in and take over their gear. And if we needed to bring an extra guitar, we would. But pretty much we plugged in to whatever they had,” Satrianai told Ultimate Classic Rock.
“It was always great, just to see Mick turn it on when he’s literally 12 inches away from the audience.
“The whole thing was crazy, because we’d pull up in these SUVs all clandestine like, you know, because of Mick. He’s such a famous person he had to be handled very carefully. But he loved it, he just loved being with people. He loved performing and to just stand next to him while he exuded this positive rock and roll energy was just, oh man it was worth every second. It was just amazing.”
“I stood next to him on the stage at the Tokyo Dome in front of 95,000 people and in front of this little club where people, where there couldn’t have been more than 80 or 100 people, totally packed into this teeny thing.
“The stage was about six inches high. He loved it though, doing ‘Little Red Rooster’ in a little club like that, everyone’s drinking and having a great time. It was fun. We’d go in there, play for 45 minutes and run out. And then go have a party back at the hotel!”
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It appears as though the former Rolling Stones frontman has an affinity for dive bars. Just last year, the iconic musician went completely unnoticed at a dive bar in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Speaking of the under-the-radar visit, Jagger told The Washington Post “There’s hardly anyone there. It’s dark. It’s not like really grand. I’m not in a big, huge limo. I just walk the block and then just go down there.”
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