The best festival band ever, according to Charlie Watts
Being a good band is one thing. Being a good live band is another, and being a good festival band is a whole different thing entirely. Moreso than any other gig, festivals require a quick hook-in and unfaltering high energy being served out to the crowd. According to The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts, there was one band that was the best in the game.
The Stones have always been quick to critique. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, especially, have always been fast off the mark and more than happy to share their dislike for certain artists or pull down their peers. That means their praise means even more, being hard to come by and hardly given out.
But one unexpected band got plenty of it. It might be expected that the Stones’ music taste would always stay more in the world of blues rock and pure rock and roll, but actually, they liked to get a little heavier. AC/DC appeared as one of their favourite bands, with Richards saying, “I’ve always liked AC/DC, all right?” and deeming Malcolm Young as one of the “great riff masters and one of the greatest rhythm guitar players of all time.”
They took their love for the band even further in 2003 when the Stones invited AC/DC to open for their Licks tour. Naturally, they were playing in huge venues. The tour dates took place at mammoth stadiums that were always more akin to festival grounds than any normal gig venue. “We thought it would be good to have a big bill because these are really big places,” Mick Jagger explained of the decision.
The addition of AC/DC, who were still one of the biggest bands in the world and more a peer of the Stones than any inferior support act, turned the dates into more of a double act or a festival than anything. They made it even more collaborative by having the band come out during their set, regularly playing ‘Rock Me Baby’ together as one big, four-guitar-wide supergroup.
To Watts, they were a perfect choice for these sunny summer tour dates in these sprawling outdoor venues. “They’re great at festivals. They’re probably the best as it I think,” he said. Being a good festival band is a skill in itself, and it needs to be good at capturing and engaging an audience that might not know their music or be interested at all. So often, festival crowds are simply there waiting for the next act on the bill, so as AC/DC walked onto the stage before The Rolling Stones, their ability to win a crowd over was vital.
“What they do is very straight ahead and very honest,” Watts said, pondering why they went down so well with their crowd. “That’s it, there’s no pretence to it,” he continued. The same could be said for the Stones, who have been serving up good old-fashioned rock and roll for decades now.