The 1970s were a time of rock-and-roll excess, but The Faces were different. While other legendary bands were turning into polished stadium acts, The Faces—led by the shaggy Rod Stewart and the guitar-playing Ronnie Wood—remained the ultimate “people’s band.” Their April 1, 1972, performance for BBC’s Sounds For Saturday wasn’t just a concert; it was an unapologetic display of raw energy. Amid bottles and “liquid courage,” the band delivered a level of musical honesty that reportedly even shook the Rolling Stones.
The Faces didn’t just perform better while half-drunk—they fully embraced the chaotic purity of rock-and-roll. According to bassist Kenney Jones, their wild energy made Mick Jagger and Keith Richards watch them with suspicion. The Stones saw The Faces as a real threat to their dominance in the music scene, which some believe led to Ronnie Wood joining the Stones in 1975 to neutralize the competition. Rod Stewart summed up the band’s approach, saying the bar was as important as the amplifier.
The chaos wasn’t a distraction—it was the source of their magic.
The 1972 BBC performance of Stay With Me is proof of this “loose-but-tight” chemistry. While other bands often played it safe on television, The Faces refused to lip-sync, delivering a gritty, slide-heavy performance that many fans believe was even better than the studio version. The music was imperfect but full of energy, a “masterclass” in uninhibited joy that would influence punk rock and Britpop in the years to come.
They took the seriousness of the BBC studio and turned it into a pub-style riot.
In late 2024, the Faces At The BBC – Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973 8-CD/Blu-ray set was released, bringing back this legendary era. The collection includes newly restored footage of the Sounds For Saturday performance, showing the band’s raw, unfiltered spirit. It proves that the band’s best moments were often created in the quiet aftermath of a “half-empty bottle.”
For The Faces, the music was the true intoxicant.
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