The Rolling Stones take stage at Soldier Field for first time since 2019

CHICAGO (CBS) -- It was a gas, gas, gas at Soldier Field Thursday night—in a sight so awestriking it could make a grown man cry, and if any wild horses happened by, they would fail to drag anyone away.

The Rolling Stones played at the stadium for the first of two concerts over the next several days—as part of their Hackney Diamonds Tour. They will appear again on Sunday night.

On the tour, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood have been playing material from the new album, "Hackney Diamonds," as well as all-time classics and fan favorite deep cuts. They opened with "Start Me Up" Thursday night just before 9:30 p.m., followed by "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Get Off of My Cloud."

"Hackney Diamonds" was The Rolling Stones' first album of new music in nearly 20 years. The band has released several albums in recent years of live and remastered versions of older material, but "Hackney Diamonds" is the first album of new music since the band's 2005 album "A Bigger Bang."

The Rolling Stones' long history in Chicago

While a product of London, The Rolling Stones have a history intertwined with Chicago going back to their earliest days.

Their first Chicago concert was at the Arie Crown Theater at the first McCormick Place in November 1964. But their first visit was several months before that—not to play a concert, but to record at Chess Records.

Chess was the recording home of Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, and Chuck Berry—who commuted from to Chicago from St. Louis to record all his best-known hits.

The Rolling Stones held a session at Chess in June 1964. In his memoir, "Life," guitarist Richards wrote that the band recorded 14 tracks in two days.

The recordings included Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" - which became a hit for the Stones - as well as some blues and Berry covers, and an instrumental blues jam honoring the Near South Side street address of the Chess Studios, "2120 South Michigan Avenue."

In later years, The Stones went on to tour or perform with some of the rock and blues icons of Chess Records in Chicago. Berry joined The Rolling Stones on their 1969 U.S. tour, which included a stop at the old International Amphitheatre on South Halsted Street. Berry and Richards also took the stage together at the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park for the Chicago Blues Festival in 1986.

In 1978—during a visit to Chicago for their first concert ever at Soldier Field—The Rolling Stones jammed with Waters and Dixon at the Quiet Knight , located back then at 953 W. Belmont Ave. in Lakeview.

On Nov. 22, 1981, the Stones—in town for a concert at Rosemont Horizon, now The Allstate Arena—famously took the stage with Waters again at the old Checkerboard Lounge, at 423 E. 43rd St. in Bronzeville. Unlike the little-documented Quiet Knight concert, the Checkerboard concert was recorded—and was memorialized on the album, "Live at the Checkerboard Lounge" in 2012.

And while The Rolling Stones have been playing stadium concerts in Chicago for more than half a century—also with visits to the United Center and what is now Guaranteed Rate Field—there have been a few other surprise visits at smaller Chicago venues.

On Sept. 18, 1997—five days before their Bridges to Babylon world tour at Soldier Field—the Stones played a surprise show at the Double Door, formerly at 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park. In a 2019 article, 93XRT's Marty Rosenbaum recalled that the public did not know The Rolling Stones were coming until their name went up on the marquee that morning.

The Rolling Stones also made an appearance at the Aragon Ballroom on Sept. 16, 2002.

The Stones last appeared in Chicago at Soldier Field in June 2019, as part of their No Filter Tour. The current tour marks the first since 1963time the band has toured without drummer Charlie Watts , who died in 2021 at the age of 80.

Drummer Steve Jordan has joined the Stones for the Hackney Diamonds tour.