The Rolling Stones’ Unreleased Concert Film Steel Wheels Live Rolls Out Sept. 25

The Rolling Stones will roll out their previously unreleased 1989 concert film Steel Wheels Live – Atlantic City, New Jersey on multiple formats on Sept. 25. The next day, Record Store Day’s second drop date of the year, they will also release a double A-sided 10” picture disc exclusively to independent record stores all over the world. The picture disc will include the singles “Almost Hear You Sigh” which was recorded live at the Tokyo Dome, and “Rock and a Hard Place,” which was recorded live from Atlantic City.

The whole world is currently stuck between a rock and a hard place. By the very definition of their name, the Rolling Stones should retain some wriggle room, but they can’t move mountains. Sometimes even a legendary band can’t get what they want. It’s not only the “people poorer than dirt who are caught in the crossfire.” In spite of a historic virtual live performance, The Rolling Stones had to postpone the U.S. dates for their No Filter Tour due to the coronavirus pandemic, and can’t get President Donald Trump to stop using their music at his campaign rallies. On June 28, they brought in help from BMI after cease and desist directives were ignored.

The Steel Wheels Tour was the band’s first in the U.S. since 1981. “I would hate to come out with something that’s not startling,” Mick Jagger said in a statement when the 1989/90 Steel Wheels Tour launched. At two and a half hours long, the setlists were some of their longest, and most ambitious. The band revisited their vast past catalogue while showcasing where they were going. The Rolling Stones played hits and standards like “Jumping Jack Flash,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want, and “Gimme Shelter.” They also debuted new songs from the then-newly released Steel Wheels album, like “Terrifying,” “Sad Sad Sad,” “Mixed Emotions, “Can’t Be Seen,” and “Rock and a Hard Place.”

But The Rolling Stones’ December 1989 show at the Atlantic City Convention Center held further surprises. Eric Clapton’s slow hand led the band through a slow version of the blues classic “Little Red Rooster,” and then joined in as supporting player behind blues legend John Lee Hooker for the song “Boogie Chillen.” Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin from Guns N’ Roses joined the Stones for the first-ever live performance of “Salt Of The Earth,” from their 1968 Beggars Banquet album.

You can watch the trailer here:

Steel Wheels Live will be released as a limited 180gm 4LP coloured vinyl, DVD + 2CD, SD Blu-ray + 2CD and digital formats. The set will also be released as a special limited 6-disc version, which includes the Atlantic City performance on DVD, SD-Blu-ray, 2CD, a DVD of their Steel Wheels tour performance at the famed Tokyo Dome, as well as Steel Wheels Rare Reels, a CD featuring tracks which didn’t feature on the core tour setlist.

The Rolling Stones’ concert film Steel Wheels Live – Atlantic City, New Jersey debuts on multiple formats on Sept. 25