Stones Play Surprise Intimate Set In Connecticut

It was real good fun," says Rolling Stone Ron Wood – a noted authority on the topic of fun – talking about the band's surprise gig at Toad's Place, a club with a capacity of 700, in New Haven, Connecticut. Tickets were three dollars for the show, which Wood describes as "like a dress rehearsal. We were just getting used to being onstage again after seven years. We ironed out a lot of potential mistakes and little pitfalls." The ten-song set, which began with "Start Me Up," included two songs – "Sad Sad Sad" and "Mixed Emotions" – from the band's new album, Steel Wheels. Wood says the band may do another club gig.

So how did it feel to perform together for the first time in so many years? "It's a lot more comfortable now," says Wood. "There's a lot more of the old spirit back in there. Maybe time is a healer or something."

This story is from the September 21st, 1989 issue of Rolling Stone.