How the Rolling Stones’ 2003 Licks Tour Setlist Shifted from Theatre to Stadium—and Why the Acoustic Sets Only Worked in Small Rooms

The Licks tour was supposed to celebrate forty years of the Stones, but it ended up being a masterclass in how to tailor a setlist to a room. The three legs (theatre, arena, stadium) weren’t just scaled up versions of each other—they were almost different shows. The theatre leg, which kicked off in small clubs like the Wiltern in L.A. and the Civic Opera House in Chicago, gave the band room to breathe. That’s where the acoustic sets appeared.

Those acoustic mini-sets—usually three or four songs placed near the middle of the show—were the reason fans paid top dollar for the theatre tickets. “Sweet Virginia” got a raw, harmonica-led reading that felt like a back-porch jam. “Angie” was played fingerpicked and hushed, with Jagger leaning into the microphone instead of strutting. The real surprise was “Moonlight Mile,” a Sticky Fingers deep cut the band had never performed live before that tour. In the theatre, with the crowd sitting and the lights dimmed, it sounded like a lost Mick Taylor ghost track.

Once the tour moved to arenas and stadiums, those acoustic moments shrank or disappeared. “Moonlight Mile” was dropped entirely after the first leg. “Sweet Virginia” survived into some arena shows but was often played with a full band arrangement that killed the intimacy. “Angie” stayed, but in the stadium leg it became a singalong power ballad instead of a whisper. The theatre leg’s setlist also included rarities like “Respectable” and “Let It Bleed,” while the stadium shows leaned heavily on the usual hits—“Start Me Up,” “Brown Sugar,” “Satisfaction.” The Stones understood that a 20,000-seat crowd isn’t there for “Moonlight Mile.” But the people who caught the theatre shows still bring it up.