Charlie Watts was low-key but irreplaceable at Stones concerts

You had to see Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts in action to appreciate how special he was.

I always kind of knew it but didn't fully realize it until the first time I finally saw the Stones live (Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, 1997, Bridges to Babylon Tour).

While Mick, Keith and Ronnie ran around, posed and primped themselves all over the mammoth stage, there sat Charlie at the back of the whole spectacle looking like he was sitting behind a desk at any average day job.

He was the yin to the rest of the band's yang (as was Bill Wyman somewhat back in the day). The man down in the engine room. The crust to the pizza.

Without Charlie's equal parts sturdiness, focus and unique flavor, the whole thing would've fallen apart and/or simply sounded like a bunch of bratty British kids trying to be kings of the world, like Oasis or something.

I saw the Stones in concert four more times after that, and honestly each time I was more amazed by what he so understatedly yet consistently brought to it all.

It wasn't just Charlie who died this past week. We still might get to see Mick, Keith and Ronnie at US Bank Stadium on Oct. 24 — a show already questionable given the COVID-related worries over indoor concerts again. And/or we might see them in other places in the coming years. I genuinely hope we do, too. We'll never see another Rolling Stones concert, though.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

@ChrisRstrib