RSFCO

CALGARY - Over the course of the Saddledome's 25-year history, the list of rock giants who've graced its stage has been impressive.

Especially in the past several years.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Roxy Music, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, David Bowie, U2 - it's an impressive roster of legends.

But you know what?

As good as they were, as memorable the shows were in their own right, and as great as they were to file away into the "seen them" bank - they were merely warmup acts.

Ultimately, they were little more than a prelude to last night's sold-out 'Dome show by the "World's Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band."

I mean, seeing all of those other acts, seeing those larger-than- life historical music figures such as Bono, His Bobness and The Thin White Duke in the flesh pales in comparison to the moment Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts and whatever friends they brought with them, walk onto your hometown arena stage and kick into the classic Start Me Up.

Four decades after they began, they are undoubtedly it - they are the holy grail of classic rockers.

And last night, they made the discovery - or, as the retro shirts and greying audience might have suggested, re-discovery - worth the wait.

And, even more than that, they made it less about history past than history in its immediate form.

Sure, as they have for the entire current (and last?) tour, the British icons brought with them a healthy supply of material that tweaks the memory banks in all the right ways - tracks such as She's So Cold, Wild Horses and even the superb, swinging cover of Ray Charles' Night Time (Is the Right Time) are mainstays on any station that makes its money from nostalgia.

But The Stones also came armed with some tracks from their latest release A Bigger Bang - such as the lead-off cut Rough Justice - an album that's far better than it has every right to be.

And more than that, they came armed with a stage show, and individual stage presences, that were less caricatures than they were in-the-moment rock performances that you could believe and buy into.

Of course, everyone has seen images of frontman Jagger primping, posing and strutting - on this night, in a red, glittery, lip-logo blazer that was eventually reduced to matching black T-shirt and pants - as well as Richards casually rocking in his unkempt ahoy-matey ensemble with cigarette-dangling from his leathered maw.

But last night, as they did when they kicked the show off in Boston this past August, they put so much real energy and enthusiasm into it, it was impossible to view it as merely a repeat of the multitude of shows gone by.

Their interaction with one another, their interaction with the people who've grown up with the band as the soundtrack to their lives, was as genuine and natural as you could hope from any act twice as young - including Jagger's brief donning of the ubiquitous Calgary white hat.

As for the stage - or rather stages - it was a simple, understated variation on the outdoor Fenway setup, with its massive four-storey backdrop.

Here, in the comfy, cosy confines of a 17,000-seat arena, the main stage, with a massive video-screen backdrop was rather bare, with a catwalk and an aisle leading to two narrow stages on the other end of the 'Dome.

They used both to amazing effect, making the evening as personal and intimate as any other of the hundreds of thousands of acts who have come before.

But it wasn't any of those acts.

It was The Stones.

Finally.

As for the real openers for The Stones, 54*40, the veteran Canadian rock act acquitted itself quite well in front of a slowly filling up Saddledome bowl.

FANtastic times at Dome

It was an explosion of glee and tongue-wagging enthusiasm at the Saddledome last night.

The Rolling Stones made their first stop in Calgary and their loyal fans were willing to do just about anything to see their favourite rock stars.

"We got offered $2,000 for our tickets," said Cassandra Laurion, 12. "There is no way we would sell them.

"Hello, this is the last tour."

Whether this is the Stones' last tour or not, Laurion could not contain her excitement.

She and her cousin Courtney Charnock, 14, were frolicking around the grounds screaming for the band at every turn.

The mania outside the Saddledome wasn't limited to the teenagers.

"It's my dream to go to this concert," said Desiree Roberts, 40. "I've been waiting 25 years for this."

Roberts is also thrilled to be sharing what she calls a once-in-a lifetime chance with her daughter.

"It's a great experience to have both generations go together," she said.

"It's an opportunity you can't pass up. I hope one day she can tell my grandchildren that we went to The Stones together."

Sharing a Stones experience as father and son was so important to Don McCallum and his son Josh, they were willing to pay more than face value for their tickets.

"It cost me $550 for two tickets," said the elder McCallum. "It's the Stones! How often do you get to see the Stones?"

Some turned the event into a family reunion of sorts.

"It's reciprocity," says Curtis Ponton, sporting a colourful Stones tie.

"When I lived in California my brother came down and we went to see The Stones together. So this time, I came up from El Paso (Texas) and he got tickets. This is my fifth time seeing them."

Contest winner Adam Livingstone and his friend Laura Maclean's excitement to see the concert was mixed with nerves because afterwards, they were going back stage to meet the "greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world."

"I have been in shock for the last two days," Maclean said.

"I am not sure what I am going to say. I am very nervous and overwhelmed."

Livingstone wasn't worried about what he was going to say to the Stones, he was just hoping to get the band to sign one of their old records for him.