The Rolling Stones in Chicago – Night 2 – Soldier Field – June 30th 2024

The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds second show Soldier Field in Chicago Illinois.

Previously I had seen the Rolling Stones 3 times. I had seen them when I was a kid during the Steel Wheels tour.  Then I saw them again a few years later during the Voodoo Lounge tour. I don’t remember much about those two concerts.  But I do remember I had a LOT of fun. The third time I saw the Stones was back in 2021 during the No Filter tour.  That was at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and it was awesome! They also had a lot of things to see and do outside the stadium like different photo ops and games too.

I was able to get ‘Rear GA’ tickets. But it was still hard to see a little bit because it was standing room only and it was packed. So this year I had thought about going to the Stones concert.  However, I kinda forgot about it and thought maybe it wouldn’t be worth going to. But I had heard rumors from a friend that it might be their last tour.  So after that, I was on a mission to see them in concert one last time. Keep in mind this was only a couple of days before the concert.  So prices for plane tickets or even train tickets were too high priced. I did the worst case scenario and took the Greyhound bus.

It took around 9 hours to get there from Minneapolis. When I finally got to Chicago, I did some exploring since the concert was the next night. It felt like everyone in town was going to this concert and everyone i saw was wearing Rolling Stones shirts which was amazing. It really felt like a communal experience. During the day of the concert me and a mom and daughter (whom i just met) waited by the hotel to try to meet Mick Jagger (spoiler alert….we didn’t lol) but by the end of the wait the people waiting ballooned to around 100 people or so. Eventually Mick came out and waved to everyone and went back into the garage and the motorcade left with each member of the Rolling Stones in a different car.

The concert was absolutely ELECTRIC! It started off with the gorgeous country singer Lainey Wilson. Her band was amazing and I am not even a country music fan. Then the main event, the Rolling Stones, bursted out on stage like a crossfire hurricane (sorry i had to say it!) Mick Jagger was running around on stage like a mad man half his age. He was literally running at one point which is crazy for person who is literally 80 years old.

The Stones played all the hits…..they started with “Start Me Up”,  “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Rocks Off.” Mick also did a duet with Lainey Wilson for “Dead Flowers” and Mick was even wearing a cowboy hat which matched Lainey’s hat (thankfully Mick wasn’t wearing black leather chaps like Lainey was but it would’ve funny though. There was also a 3 song set sung by Keith Richards which was great (and I think that gave Mick a short break from being on stage.)

There’s only a few shows left on this tour and if you have the opportunity to go to it, do NOT hesitate and BUY THE TICKET! When people talk about being ‘rock stars” these ARE the rock stars everyone bases the stereotype on! And they are AMAZING in concert and you might not ever get this chance again. I’m pretty broke after going to it, but it was worth it. It was a night I will never forget (it was also memorable because I missed my bus to go back to Minnesota cause my bus was leaving at 12:35 am and couldn’t find any Ubers or taxis to save my life that weren’t some crazy amount.)

Review and photos by Todd Johnson