Last night's Rolling Stones concert had at least three members of the
7,000-strong crowd rocking in their wheelchairs.
Most of the audience were in their mids 30s and older, and surprisingly many
brought children.
The rollicking concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium began at 8.55 pm with
Brown Sugar and ended with confetti, fireworks and roars of approval.
In between, it contained all the bad boys of British rock are known for: Ron
Wood doing splits on stage, Mick Jagger's grimaces, spontaneous licks that made
40-year-old tunes like Jumpin' Jack Flash sound fresh, and tremendous energy.
But not enough to bring a wall tumbling down, which is what happened at their
last concert here in 1965, at the Singapore Badminton Hall.
Keith Richards made it a point to smoke on stage, ceremoniously put out his
cigarette and hold the ashtray up for all to see, as he pronounced: 'It's good
to be back in Singapore.'
Jagger cut a confident figure, curling his rubbery lips around the words of
familiar hits like Sympathy For The Devil, for which he put on a jacket with
multi-coloured illuminated discs.
Metal detectors and searches relieved the audience of cameras and recording
devices at the door, so the crowd in the $500 seats used their MMS phones with
built-in-camera to capture the rock legends.
Last night's gig was the first of two concerts the band will play here as
part of its Licks World Tour. The second is tomorrow.
Mr Elvis Wee, 53, who used to own The Elvis Place, a pub on Beach Road,
pronounced the quartet: 'The best and most colourful rock band ever. The Beatles
can't touch them.'
Ms Pearlyn Toh, 26, said: 'It's surreal to see these 60-year-old guys jumping
about like men half their age.'
No doubt the quiet weekend that the foursome had helped. On Sunday, drummer
Charlie Watts and Jagger, together with former British prime minister John
Major, spent the afternoon watching the Cricket World Cup Finals at the official
residence of British High Commissioner Alan Collins.
Perhaps their low-key visit had something to do with the fact that they had
their families with them. Wood's wife Jo; daughter Leah and son Tyrone; as well
as Richards' wife, ex-model and photographer Patti Hansen, are here.
Singapore Indoor Stadium,
Singapore
