I own most of the Vault series thus far, besides the Hyde Park gig from '69 and the Leeds release from '82 and "Live at the Tokyo Dome" proves to be a sharp, lean and tight performance. Coming from the "Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle' tour, the setlist on here is varied, with some seldom heard nuggets dusted off such as "Ruby Tuesday", "Paint it Black", "Gimme Shelter" and especially, "2000 Light Years from Home". It also features 5 songs from the current album fitting in nicely with classic numbers like "Tumbling Dice", "Miss You", "Honky Tonk Women" and "Start Me Up". The Stones are augmented by keyboardists, Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford, longtime Stones associate, saxophonist Bobby Keyes, the horn quartet known as "The Uptown Horns" and back-up singers, Lisa Fischer, Bernard Fowler and Cindy Mizelle. The energy level is high and with Mick and Keith back on good terms again, this collection is a great document of the group being revitalized and practically, reborn.

​

​

The DVD, of course, is a great inclusion and its even more enlightening to watch the group in action. Richards, in particular, is inspired and looks stronger and his playing is absolutely on point. Jagger is equally on par with Richards and it just goes to show how great this band is when those two are in synch and clicking with one another. I would dare say, that so far, performance wise, this is the best Vault series released, although the "Hampton Coliseum '81" gig is a very close second, but the fact that the band had returned a year before from a prior 7 year hiatus off the road and are well seasoned on this performance 6 months later, is quite extraordinary, in my opinion.  For serious Stones collectors, I highly recommend this Vault offering. 

​

Rating Grade- A