11 surprise songs we'd like to see the Rolling Stones pull out at Browns Stadium (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- At this point, we can rest assured we’re going to hear the Rolling Stones play certain songs when they go on tour -- “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” for instance, or “Tumbling Dice,” “Miss You,” “Start Me Up,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (the last song the group played in Cleveland, back on Oct. 14, 2002) and other staples.

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It’s the surprise songs that really make a Stones show a gas, gas, gas.

The venerable group has been offering quite a bit of those on its Hackney Diamonds Tour, which kicked off April 28 in Houston and arrives at Cleveland Browns Stadium -- the Stones’ first Cleveland appearance in a dozen years -- on Saturday. Each show has had at least a couple of tour debuts, one often decided by an online fan vote and the others thrown into the mix to shake up the usual setlist, at least a little.

Some of the band choices so far have included performances of “Emotional Rescue,” “Midnight Rambler,” “She’s So Cold,” “Time is On My Wide,” “Out of Time” (for the first time ever in the U.S.), “Beast of Burden” and the Keith Richards-sung favorites “Happy and “Little T&A.” Voting is currently taking place for fans to make their mark on the Cleveland show, and there’s no telling what special selection Richards, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood and company may pull out of the catalog.

There’s no way to tell, of course, but you can certainly find predictions and even wagers out there. Us? We’re not putting any money down but we certainly have a wish list, and we’d be delighted with a special inclusion of any of these 11 from the Stones songbook...

“Not Fade Away:” How about a throwback to the group’s first Cleveland appearance, for “The Mike Douglas Show” on June 18, 1964? This Buddy Holly cover gave the Stones its first appearance on the Billboard charts (at No. 48) and was its first Top 5 single in the U.K. It would be a nice trip through the past, and not darkly, almost 60 years to the day.

“Carol:” Another one from the “The Mike Douglas Show,” this one a Chuck Berry cover that came out as a single 60 years ago this month.

“Time is On My Side:” Though not written by Jagger and Richards, this Jerry Ragavoy tune -- first recorded by Kai Winding, then Irma Thomas, whose version the Stones’ heard -- could well be considered ABOUT the Stones at this point. Sixty-two years and counting, time is more their friend than their enemy, making this a particularly poignant candidate for performance.

“Street Fighting Man:” The 1968 counterculture anthem opened the Stones’ last Cleveland appearance, on Oct. 14, 2002 at Gund Arena. Another opportunity to touch on the group’s history here.

“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking:” The ultimate jam from 1971′s “Sticky Fingers” album always goes down a storm on stage, with plenty of room for Wood, Richards and the current saxophonist (Karl Denson and Tim Ries this time out) to stretch out and give Jagger a few minutes to rest those still-spry hips.

“All Down the Line:” “Exile on Main Street” is too good, and important, of an album to be represented by just one song (“Tumbling Dice”) in the setlist. Any number of additional tracks from the set could work, but you can be confident this would keep the energy level high.

“Respectable:” “When the Whip Comes Down” would also be a nice rarity from the “Some Girls” album, but it’s been a long time since this rocker’s been aired out. It would definitely be a stadium-shaker.

“Waiting On a Friend:” The Top 20 hit from “Tattoo You” -- originally from “Goats Head Soup” sessions in Jamaica and finally released in 1981 -- was a change of pace for the Stones and would be the same in concert. It would be especially nice to hear what Karl Denson or Tim Ries would do with the saxophone solo.

“I Go Wild:” A semi-deep cut (it was a single) from 1994′s “Voodoo Lounge” went over very well when it was performed in concerts that year. It would be a curve ball, but a good one.

“Rough Justice:” “A Bigger Bang,” the Stones’ last studio album of original material prior to “Hackney Diamonds,” has undeservedly disappeared from the group’s legacy. This, its opening track and first single, boasts the kind of guitar-drenched drive we love best about the Stones, while the relationship described in the lyrics could be about a lover or the volatile Jagger-Richards axis.

“Bite My Head Off:” “Hackney Diamonds” is certainly getting its due on the tour named after it, but we’d still love to hear what the Stones could do on stage with this rocker that’s even angrier than the first single, “Angry.”