Ronnie Wood made a surprise appearance with the Hollywood Vampires at London’s The O2 Arena last night. The Rolling Stones guitarist emerged during the supergroup’s encore for his band’s 1971 Sticky Fingers classic “Brown Sugar,” as well as the blues standard “Train Kept A-Rollin',” which was popularized in rock circles by The Yardbirds and later Aerosmith.
The Hollywood Vampires—an all-star project consisting of Alice Cooper, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, longtime Cooper guitar/bass associate Tommy Henriksen and guitarist/actor Johnny Depp—had not performed since July 30, 2023, before yesterday. They opened their show with “I Want My Now,” a 2019 single, and proceeded to chuck in material from their individual repertoires like Cooper's “School's Out” and “I’m Eighteen” and Aerosmith's “Livin' on the Edge” and “Walk This Way,” among others favorites. They also spliced in a cross-generational mix of covers, such as The Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Die,” The Who's “Baba O’ Riley,” AC/DC's “Highway to Hell,” The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and the Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs.” After Wood’s appearance, the night came to a close with a take on Jeff Beck’s “Hi Ho Silver Lining.”
Hollywood Vampires will perform next at Cardiff, Wales’ Cardiff Castle tomorrow. Though The Rolling Stones have opted not to tour in support of their new album Foreign Tongues, Wood did recently run through a few tracks with Mick Jagger and Stones touring member Matt Clifford at a UK press event.
