If you’re going to Gillette Stadium tonight, it’s going to be a gas, gas, gas.  How do I know this? Because I’ve already seen the Rolling Stones on this tour.

My show was three weeks ago, at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — only the second show of the Stones’ “Hackney Diamonds” tour, and one of the few they’re playing in broad daylight. And a show they postponed twice — first when Mick Jagger needed surgery in 2019, then in 2021 when Covid was around. On both of those occasions, lots of New Orleans bands started covering “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

But they made it last month, with Mick Jagger telling the crowd “Third time’s the charm, New Orleans!” at the outset. From that show comes a few hints of what you can expect tonight (and yes, there are a few spoilers ahead):

The surprises come early.  You can probably guess what song they open with  — yes, it’s a great startup. But the early part of the set is reserved for fan favorites, tour debuts and one-offs. New Orleans got the seldom-played “Let It Bleed,” with local hero Dwayne Dopsie on accordion. Since then, live rarities like “Rocks Off,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and even Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” have all been played in the first few slots, so there’s no telling what you’ll get tonight.

But you probably won’t get the historic moment we had in New Orleans, when the Stones did “Time Is On My Side’ with Crescent City soul queen Irma Thomas. Back in 1964, they heard her record and covered it quick; Thomas let it be known she wasn’t pleased that they stole her hit. They finally made amends in New Orleans, with Jagger calling her up for a duet. They sang it directly at each other, with Thomas singing the “You’ll come running back” part and Jagger doing the ad-libs. He looked properly respectful, and she looked fully charmed. It was one for the books, and everybody else can at least see the moment on YouTube.

Keep an eye on Ronnie: Yes, Keith is Keith, and nobody can kick the rhythm chords on “Honky Tonk Women” like him. But it’s Ronnie Wood, once known as the band’s goodtime guy, who does a lot of the heavy lifting on guitar. Whether adding dabs of acoustic or taking an extended solo on “Miss You,” he’s easily the band’s MVP. But fear not, Keith Richards fans: He gets a couple featured numbers later in the show; expect both a ballad and a rocker.

Don’t take bathroom breaks during the new songs: They’re not pushing “Hackney Diamonds” too hard, playing only three songs a night, but those three are among the set’s highlights. “Angry” and “Whole Wide World” are classic-model rockers, and the gospel-ish “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” is so good that they save it for an encore. It’s one of the few Stones songs that goes out of its way to be uplifting.

Watch that backup singer: That would be Chanel Haynes, a New Orleans native who’s taken the place of the now-famous Lisa Fischer as the featured vocalist. She gets two big moments in the show, taking Merry Clayton’s part on “Gimme Shelter” and Lady Gaga’s on “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” She’s positively chilling on the former when the “rape, murder” verse comes around; even Jagger looked awestruck.

And as for Mick… Well, he’s Mick and he’s as close to ageless as it gets in rock & roll. Sure, he was quite a bit sexier a few decades ago, but show me another 80-year-old with those moves.  The voice is rougher but undeniably his, and don’t even think about him ever cheating with pre-recorded help.  His stage patter has gotten more freewheeling, even surprisingly topical: In New Orleans he took a potshot at conservative governor Jeff Landry, and he’s made Stormy Daniels jokes onstage since then. Because he’s Mick Jagger, and he can.