THEY played to the crowd, played to each other and
gave 13,000 fans a night to remember.
The Rolling Stones hit the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night,
delivering their unique version of rock and roll in a way only they can.
They opened their performance with Street Fighting Man and It's Only
Rock'n'Roll, and the crowd loved it. Although the band changed set
lists for each performance, the show was not short on classics: Start Me Up,
and You Can't Always Get What You Want among the legendary tracks.
Noel Mengel's review
And while there was plenty of on-stage attitude – few faces in rock and
roll have the charisma, the character and the creases of the Stones – the band
made a point of doing things their way even before the performance began.
Frontman Mick Jagger arrived at Boondall at 6pm when an RACQ CareFlight
helicopter – acquired for the trip from their luxury Gold Coast hotel to
Brisbane for a tidy $10,000 donation – touched down on a makeshift grass
helipad, a white "H" sprayed on only hours earlier.
CareFlight spokeswoman Carol Haffke said the donation covered the cost of the
flight "four times over" and would be used to buy a potentially
lifesaving ventilator for the service.
"It's very timely because our current ventilator is out being repaired,"
Ms Haffke said.
She dismissed reports Jagger had donated $50,000. She said Jagger's minders
had approached CareFlight specifically requesting a twin-engined helicopter
capable of travelling in all weather to get him to the Stones' two Brisbane
shows.
"We agreed to do it subject to emergency callouts," she said.
The rest of the band, who arrived early for a sound test, requested a pool
table backstage to keep themselves entertained. Australian group You Am I had
the enviable honour of opening the show on a major set which took 18 hours to
construct.
After their follow-up performance tonight, the Stones will head to Japan for
the start of their Asian tour.
Deputy Premier Terry Mackenroth, who obtained free tickets to last night's
concert for himself and nine guests, arrived in a cab with his wife Mary.
Several other Cabinet Ministers were also in the audience.
NEVER mind the hype. Granted, it has been impossible to avoid these past two
weeks. But when the Rolling Stones take the stage, all the pop-culture chatter,
headlines and gossip becomes irrelevant.
While it's easy to take cheap shots at a band approaching or past their 60th
birthdays in what was once a young person's domain, the truth is that the
Rolling Stones are a rock 'n' roll treasure.
The way to survive in this here-today, gone-tomorrow business for 40 years is
to get up on stage every night and blow people away. And the Stones are still
doing it.
Of course, having as many undisputed rock classics in the bank as they do
helps, not to mention an arena packed with 13,000 people listening to a
soundtrack of their lives.
But it's the sheer joy in making music that the four Stones and their cast of
helpers – four-piece horns, three backing singers and keys man Chuck Leavell
– bring to the proceedings that makes a show like last night's first of two at
the Brisbane Entertainment Centre such a special event.
They've been mixing up the set right through this world tour and were still
at it last night kicking off with two guaranteed heart-starters, Street Fighting
Man and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll with the crowd already on their feet.
Mick Jagger is still one of the hardest workers in rock 'n' roll continually
prowling the stage, exhorting the crowd, with guitar twins Keith Richards and
Ron Wood locked in the groove behind.
As ever, Charlie Watts is the propulsive force on the drums. But it was with
Start Me Up where the Stones moved into another gear transforming one of their
lesser hits into something that rivals their greatest.
As there has been throughout the tour there were all kinds of treats
including the chance to sing along with every word of You Can't Always Get What
You Want and a magnificent 10-minute blast of Can't You Hear Me Knocking.
Even after 40 years the Stones have never really had the rough edges knocked
off. Sure, the sound is a little muddy at times but they are still raw and
muscular – and what's more, still having a blast.
Brisbane Entertainment
Centre, Brisbane.
