The Rolling Stones launched their 60th anniversary tour at Madrid, Spain’s Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday, and early in the night they stunned fans by playing their 1966 classic “Out of Time” for the first time in a concert setting. Check out fan-shot video right here.
“Out of Time” originally appeared on the 1966 Stones LP Aftermath, but it wasn’t released a single and was overshadowed by their worldwide hit “Paint It Black.” Later that year, Jagger produced a successful cover of “Out of Time” for British singer Chris Farlowe with a pre-fame Jimmy Page on guitar. In 1975, a previously-unheard demo of the Farlowe version with Jagger on lead vocals appeared on the Stones compilation album Metamorphosis and was released as a single, where it received renewed attention.
By that point, the Stones were only playing a handful of Sixties tunes during their live shows and, amazingly, the song didn’t resurface onstage until right now. Hardcore fans stashed outside the stadium heard them rehearse it a number of times in recent days alongside “Mother’s Little Helper,” another Aftermath tune that’s been left aside since the Lyndon Johnson administration. They played that one a handful of times in 1966, and not a single time since. It remains to be seen whether or not they’ll trot it out any point on this tour.
The Madrid show — which was their first European appearance since the death of Charlie Watts — was otherwise similar to the concerts they played throughout the States last year. The set list mixed big hits like “Beast of Burden” and “Street Fighting Man” with lesser-known songs like “Sad Sad Sad” and “Slipping Away.” The tour continues June 5 in Munich, Germany and winds its way across Europe before wrapping up July 31 in Stockholm, Sweden.