| Concert Tour Name: | The Rolling Stones UK Tour 1971 |
| Artist: | The Rolling Stones |
| Start Date: | 4 March 1971 |
| End Date: | 26 March 1971 |
| Number Of Legs: | 1 |
| Number Of Shows: | 18 |
| Last Tour: | European Tour 1970 |
| This Tour: | UK Tour 1971 |
| Next Tour: | American Tour 1972 |
The Rolling Stones' 1971 UK Tour was a brief concert tour of England and Scotland that took place over three weeks in March 1971.
The Stones had not staged a tour proper in their homeland since autumn 1966. Now they were going out after having announced on the day of their first show that they were becoming tax exiles and decamping to the South of France, which they did shortly after finishing the tour. As a result, this tour was also called the Good-Bye Britain Tour or formulations thereof.
The tour was not lengthy, but audience numbers were enlarged by playing two shows on almost every night. Although Sticky Fingers was still not released, the group expanded the number of selections from it played compared with the previous Fall's European Tour; "Wild Horses" and "Bitch" were among those added. Nicky Hopkins took over from Ian Stewart the role of stage keyboardist.
The Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds and London performances were recorded with the Rolling Stones mobile studio by the Rolling Stones crew.[1] Almost the entire Leeds show was later broadcast in mono by the BBC. A stereo version of the Chuck Berry cover "Let It Rock" from the same concert was officially released on the Spanish edition of Sticky Fingers in 1971. A recording of "Let It Rock" from the Leeds concert appeared on the "Brown Sugar" maxi single in the UK.
Press opportunities focused on the usual banter with lead singer Mick Jagger:
Reporter: "Many remark on the tendency of Mick Jagger to be as feminine as masculine. Would you like to be a woman?"
Jagger: "If God wants me to become a woman, then a woman I will become."
The Groundhogs were the supporting act for the shows.
The Leeds Concert has been released unofficially numerous times, making it one of the most well-known bootleg recordings of the Rolling Stones to date, most famously with the title of Get Your Leeds Lungs Out! (a reference to the Rolling Stones official live record Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! made by Mick Jagger during that concert, just before beginning the performance of "Honky Tonk Women"). All of these bootleg recordings however omitted the concert's first two songs, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Live with Me", and most of them were released in mono. The 2015 re-release of the album Sticky Fingers has seen an inclusion of the Leeds performance in stereo, remastered and complete (comprehending the two missed tracks, thus making a total of 13 songs) under the name of Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out, as a release exclusively attached to the super deluxe edition.
The Marquee Club and Roundhouse Gigs have also surfaced on various bootleg records. Whilst the bonus material from the 2015 re-release of Sticky Fingers contains five tracks from the performance at the Roundhouse (as well as studio outtakes from the album). Subsequently the Marquee Club has been released separately on 19 June 2015 in CD and vinyl format including a BD or DVD of the performance.
The typical set was:
Encore:
For the rest of the tour some songs were dropped, at certain shows. "Wild Horses" was likely played at the 1st Newcastle show and definitely at the 2nd Newcastle show. It was likely played at other shows as well. Sympathy For The Devil may have been played as the first encore, with Let It Rock as the second encore, at the 2nd Newcastle show.[2] It may have been played at other shows. Through interviews with Mick Jagger and Bobby Keys it appears the band attempted Can't You Hear Me Knocking at least once early in the tour.
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening act(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 March 1971 (2 shows) | Newcastle City Hall | The Groundhogs | ||
| 5 March 1971 (2 shows) | Free Trade Hall | |||
| 6 March 1971 (2 shows) | Criterion Theatre | |||
| 8 March 1971 (2 shows) | Green's Playhouse | |||
| 9 March 1971 (2 shows) | England | Colston Hall | ||
| 10 March 1971 (2 shows) | Regent Cinema | |||
| 12 March 1971 (2 shows) | Liverpool Empire Theatre | |||
| 13 March 1971 | University of Leeds Refectory | |||
| 14 March 1971 (2 shows) | Roundhouse | |||
| 26 March 1971 |