Blues
Live Review: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (but I Like It), solo Stone Ronnie Wood honours his legacy in London
Ronnie Wood is on his first solo tour in 16 years and his career-spanning set at the O2 Forum Kentish Town was a tour de force in rock 'n' roll, blues and soul.
The Rolling Stones are known as one of the greatest live bands in rock 'n' roll history, but Mick Jagger and co are not hitting the road in 2026, instead choosing to lap up the adulation for their new and 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues.
So, guitarist Ronnie Wood has decided not to stay on the shelf and has headed out on his first solo tour for 16 years.
Stepping on stage at the O2 Forum Kentish Town on Friday, August 21, Ronnie opens with Rolling Stones classic It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It), delighting fans who are clad in T-shirts emblazoned with that famous logo.
But Ronnie, 79, insists he's "got my own tunes to do", promising that the gig will be much more than him playing a Stones show minus Mick and Keith Richards.
Take It Easy follows, while Flying - which featured on the Faces' first album, First Step, released in 1970 - is a real highlight from Ronnie's back catalogue, featuring him delivering some astonishing slide guitar licks.
Ronnie then dips into the vault of forgotten Rolling Stones songs and gives fans funk-reggae track Hey Negrita - recorded back in 1975 and featured on the 1976 album Black and Blue, the first Stones record Wood played on following the departure of Mick Taylor.
It is a fun surprise to hear one of the band's lesser-known tracks, and there's an argument to be made that Mick and Ronnie could deliver a show of rarities if Keith's arthritis prevents him from playing guitar live again.
Ronnie, of course, is a legendary guitarist, not an acclaimed singer, but he has frequent collaborator Irish singer Imelda May and Stones backing vocalist Chanel Haynes to help him on the mic.
Imelda lends her powerful voice to Ronnie's Mystifies Me, and he reveals it is the "first time in 52 years we've done that song".
Chanel played Tina Turner in the West End musical based on her life, and she channels the late 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' on a lung-busting rendition of River Deep, Mountain High, while both she and Imelda flank Ronnie for a performance of Chain of Fools that Aretha Franklin would most certainly approve of.
Ronnie was backed by the phenomenal Chanel Haynes / Credit: Paul Dixon
Another trip into the Rolling Stones vault sees Ronnie perform Country Honk - the song from 1969's Let It Bleed that ultimately became the band's hit Honky Tonk Women - and he is even joined by an Appalachian-style fiddle player.
For the tour, Ronnie has assembled a band of musicians who complement his loose playing style perfectly. Willie Weeks is on bass and Andy Newmark on drums, with the pair having previously played with legends such as David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and Aretha Franklin.
Keyboard player Andy Wallace has shared the stage with Robbie Williams, Roger Waters and Whitney Houston, to name a few, while guitarist Johnny Lee Schell has played with Bonnie Raitt and John Fogerty. This is a band that knows what they're doing, and they follow all of Ronnie's cues to keep going on solos and outros without missing a beat.
Imelda takes a moment on stage to praise all the players, telling the crowd: "What an epic night with such legends in the house. How lucky are we to be here? These are the originators!"
Imelda May and Ronnie Wood captivate the crowd / Credit: Rob Blackman
Ronnie catches the "boogie disease" as he plays the Doctor Ross cover and follows it up with Willie Dixon's Spoonful.
He then gives fans a run of hits covering the entire course of his career, beginning with Faces' hit Ooh La La, Ronnie doing his best Rod Stewart impression as he sings: "I wish that I knew what I know now / When I was younger."
The final Rolling Stones song of the night, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, is undoubtedly the highlight of the night, but Ronnie follows it up with blues stomper Plynth (Water Down the Drain) by the Jeff Beck Group.
A tease of Gasoline Alley precedes Stay With Me by the Faces, which prompts dancing in the aisles and a mass singalong to the 1971 top 10 hit single.
Two solo songs make up the encore, Breathe on Me and Outlaws, with Ronnie perhaps expecting a mass exodus for the last London trains and Tubes after his run of career-spanning hits.
Solo Stone Ronnie proves why he still is, and always has been, a true rock 'n' roll star on a celebratory night.
Don't stop rocking, Ronnie!
Ronnie's European solo tour continues in August and September and you can get tickets HERE
Ronnie Wood O2 Forum Kentish Town setlist:
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (but I Like It) (The Rolling Stones song)
Am I Grooving You (Freddie Scott cover)
Take It Easy
Flying (Faces song)
Hey Negrita (The Rolling Stones song)
Seven Days (Bob Dylan cover)
Remember (Walking in the Sand) (The Shangri‐Las cover)
You’re So Fine
Wee Wee Hours (Chuck Berry cover)
Show Me
Mystifies Me
River Deep, Mountain High (Tina Turner cover)
Country Honk (The Rolling Stones song)
Chain of Fools (Aretha Franklin cover)
Boogie Disease (Doctor Ross cover)
Spoonful (Willie Dixon cover)
Ooh La La (Faces song)
Can't You Hear Me Knocking (The Rolling Stones song)
I Can Feel the Fire
Plynth (Water Down the Drain) (Jeff Beck Group song)
Stay With Me (Faces song)
Encore:
Breathe on Me
Outlaws
