Rolling Stones' 'Shine a Light' Beacon Theatre concert: smaller venue, deeper cuts, Buddy Guy

Most Rolling Stones tours pack arenas and stadiums with hits-first setlists. For the two-night stand at New York’s Beacon Theatre in 2006 (filmed for the 2008 Scorsese film), they deliberately flipped that script. The 2,800-seat Art Deco theater forced an intimate, no-frills performance—no giant inflatables, no catwalks, just the band and a horn section.

The setlist leaned into rarities that hadn’t seen a live stage in decades. ‘Some Girls’ (title track from 1978) and ‘Just My Imagination’ (their 1978 cover of the Temptations) both appeared; the latter was a surprise even to diehards. Other deep cuts included ‘Loving Cup’ and ‘As Tears Go By’, while essentials like ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ were held back—unthinkable for a typical tour.

Buddy Guy sat in for ‘Champagne & Reefer’, a Muddy Waters cover that let Jagger and the bluesman trade vocals and licks. Scorsese’s cameras captured the cross-generational chemistry in tight close-ups, making the Beacon show feel less like a stadium spectacle and more like a late-night club jam.