It’s the Stones, Man!

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THE ROLLING STONES , Adelaide Oval, 25/10/14,

Just writing ROLLING STONES CONCERT has a mystique that causes the heart to quicken, and feelings of awe and almost scary anticipation. When the day arrives you make your way to this grand old revered venue where many  legendary contests have been fought and one, and you join the throng as fifty thousand devotees come to worship at the feet of the most iconic group of entertainers the world has ever known. Indeed one fan did make it on stage to Jagger’s feet before he was pounced on  and bundled off unceremoniously!

Why is it so exciting? How does this bunch of geriatrics, (Jagger is seventy, for God’s sake!), hold so many entranced for two hours so easily? Why was there not a second thought about flying interstate and being squashed like sardines into tram and bus just to  get to the venue? It’s the STONES, man!

After an  hour of Jimmy Barnes and clock watching, despite him singing his heart out, the stage is bare, stage crew roll up a special plastic covering from the 100 foot runway that extends into the audience, brief sound checks on mikes are surreptitiously carried out, and the giant oval falls silent. Then suddenly the familiar bongo and conga drum rhythm from “Sympathy for the Devil”  rings out, the light show starts pulsing and flashing, the announcer gets  out “Ladies and Gentlemen …” and the crowd erupts. Then the riff changes, and we hear:  “I was bo –orn  in a cross fire hurricane…”,  and  the crowd roars to a new crescendo, and we’re off!

Jagger  strides out in a green sparkly Jacket which is doffed, twirled in the air then discarded before too long revealing a black sparkly shirt.  A song or two later  it’s down to a shiny top. But he changes garb to reflect changing moods of different sings, to red, to blue, etc, to top hat and purple sparkly tails at the end of the show.. During “Tumbling Dice” he strides forward along the runway, tucks his microphone into the front of his pants and dances for the masses.  They go wild and suddenly two Sax players appear, and the show goes up a notch.

Now Keith Richards grinds out a guitar riff that is pure magic with Jagger hanging off a shoulder and on a side runway in red jacket and orange sneakers, Ron Woods jumps into a wide stance and teases the audience. Then Jagger again  gestures to the crowd, appealing, pointing, cajoling, challenging in a kind of raucous deafening conversation. They lift and so does he. And so it goes on, building, ever building, with an appearance by The Adelaide Singers and the Adelaide Chamber Choir for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, to the final few songs, fireworks, and a rendition of “Sympathy for the Devil”, (which was not the best version I’ve heard, but who noticed?)

I find myself, in between surrendering to the euphoria and  joining the cheering and whooping, wondering at the majestic spell cast by this supergroup. I watch as two mature women spring to their feet and begin to emulate “his moves”. There actually is a VERY popular song called “Move Like Jagger”!  But three and four generations of fans are clamouring for more as he saunters around the stage, then skips and runs to the end of three runways. It’s the swagger, the panache, the original “up  your’s!” hubris that turned into assured knowledge as the years went by that the faithful, young and old, want to feel, if only for a fleeting few moments.

IT’S THE STONES, MAN!

THE ROLLING STONES are coming to the Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley on the 15 of November.

Get there if you possibly can.