“Don’t lecture them”: Why Mick Jagger leaves politics out of his concerts
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has spent more than six decades mastering the art of working a crowd. But despite playing to stadiums around the world, there’s one thing he deliberately avoids bringing on stage: politics.
Speaking on the New York Times’ podcast, The Interview, Jagger explains that as a live performer, his role onstage is to help fans escape the outside world rather than “lecture” them.
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Asked what his relationship to the audience means to him, Jagger says that every crowd is different depending on the setting.
“Well, first of all, it depends on where you are and what kind of event it is,” he says, pointing to appearances at festivals like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Glastonbury and BST Hyde Park, where not everyone in attendance is necessarily a die-hard Rolling Stones fan.
“So, they’re not necessarily coming to see – they’re not your biggest fans necessarily. I’m not saying they hate you, otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be there,” Jagger says. “But there’s different levels of these kinds of people, and you have to treat them in a slightly different way.”
That philosophy also informs his approach to politics on stage.
“The bottom line… is that my job in the live music world is to [make sure] those people that come have the best time they possibly can and for two hours forget all their problems and the problems of the world. Their mortgages and whatever. Just so they can have the best time.”
Drawing a comparison to live sports, Jagger adds, “It’s similar to going to a sports event, really. Everything else is shut out. You’re just watching to see who’s going to win. You’re not worried about everything else. You know? Those things are out of your mind.”
He also says performers should read the room rather than force a reaction from the crowd.
“Some audiences want to go completely nuts and so then you encourage them to go more nuts… You don’t want to be trying to churn them up into [getting] frustrated that they’re not being demonstrative. Or, you don’t think they’re having a good time.”
“Your job is to make them go more apeshit [about the festival]. . . . You don’t want to lecture them.”
That said, that doesn’t mean Jagger steers clear of politics altogether. The singer says he’s become more comfortable weaving political observations into his songwriting over the years, albeit sparingly.
Reflecting on the band’s latest album Foreign Tongues, in particular, Jagger says, “You could say that I wouldn’t have written any of these songs when I was 30 maybe.”
“I’ve also gotten into this habit of doing songs that are about personal relationships and then I throw a verse about politics in there. I think that’s a trick that I’ve learned from other songwriters because nobody wants to hear a whole song about politics… or social comment of any kind.”
“Like a blues song like Rough and Twisted is really just stream-of-consciousness, honestly. You talk about women and everything, and then you throw in stuff that’s obviously political. The only club was called Conspiracy . . . / All they wanted was tyranny So, you find yourself using these tricks.
Watch the full interview below.
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