“My job is to make sure people have as much fun as possible and forget their problems and those of the world for a couple of hours.” Mick Jagger says so in an interview published over the weekend by New York Times. Unlike other performers and despite the last album Foreign Tongues there are a couple of songs with topical ideas, the Rolling Stones singer doesn't think that a performer's job consists in making the audience reflect on the state of the world.
The topic comes out of a question from journalist David Marchese on how Jagger interprets his relationship with the public. On the one hand there is Bob Dylan, for whom the presence of people under the stage seems secondary, on the other there is Bruce Springsteen who transforms concerts into dialogues with those who come to see him.
«My job, when I perform, is to make sure people have as much fun as possible and forget about their problems, those of the world, the mortgage, everyone, for two hours. I know that nowadays people sometimes look at their phone and think, “Oh, little Danny has a toothache.” Once upon a time it didn't happen. But my job is to make sure they have as much fun as possible. They go crazy. My job is to make them freak out even more.”
But what does it mean for Jagger to go on stage? «It's a huge joy. It's a gigantic rush of adrenaline, which I imagine is similar to what a sportsman feels, with the difference that no one is playing against me. My job is to control that adrenaline rush and, while I do it, not stop observing the audience. How do you feel? It is cold? Rains? Did they wait too long? Did they have trouble getting in? Many are very far from the stage, because now we mainly play in stadiums. If you perform in a theater these problems do not exist. There you can very quickly turn everyone into a cohesive group.”
«In the beginning there were performers who taught me how to do it. I went on tour with Little Richard. I had no idea you could do what he did. Artists didn't behave like that: they went on stage, played the songs, said “hello” and that was it. Instead he embraced the public, involved them in his vision of the world: he made them stand up, sit down, joked with them. For a while a real community was created. In stadiums it is definitely more difficult to achieve the same effect, but you have to do it anyway.”
As for the future of the Stones on stage, after Keith Richards said that the band will probably no longer be able to undertake long tours, the journalist asks him if the band will do a world tour again and Jagger replies “I hope so, I'm ready”. However, he admits that “if you can't move, then you have to do residencies.” Will you know when the last concert in the history of the Rolling Stones will be? “No. Maybe it's already happened! A bus could hit me outside my house. You never know, right? In life you never know what awaits you. I hope to continue touring. I like to travel. I like meeting people.”
