What happens when a crowd equal to the population of a large country town (reportedly 20,000) descends upon a single rural property at one time?
The arrival was okay. The parking was plentiful and the walk to the concert area not too far. Then there were the queues. The line up to the bars stretched like a giant snake halfway across the compound and, subsequently, the wait for the toilets was similarly torturous.
The reason we were all there, though, was to see The Stones. At 70 plus now, would Mick, Keith, Ron and Charlie deliver? Could they still be what many regard as the greatest rock band in the world? As a vast peoplescape wanders the grounds enjoying food, alcohol and credible pre-show sets from British India and The Preatures (they were actually very good!), the sense of anticipation hangs in the air like thunder clouds, the literal version of which remains thankfully absent. Hippies, Boomers, converted punks and strident youth have all come together and the sight keeps your eyeballs darting. Celebrities like Andrew Denton, Perter Fitzsimons and Lisa Wilkinson meander almost unnoticed.
As dusk arrives, the masses head for their seats and security looks a little daunted – what if this crowd really goes nuts?. After a suitably suspenseful wait, the lights dim and the familiar opening riff of Jumping Jack Flash roars through the speakers, the lights come up and Richards and Wood emerge out of the smoke onto the stage like surreal gods. Jagger struts in like a rooster claiming his territory and you get the feeling that you’re in for a helluva ride.
The band then deliver Let’s Spend The Night Together, It’s Only Rock And Roll and Tumbling Dice and, while the motor is running, it’s only in idle – for now.
Jagger announces that the online request result is “Dead Flowers” and they launch into the song with full country swagger, Richard’s backing vocals suitably out of time to give the familiar rustic feel. “Rocks Off’ is next, this gem from ‘Exile On Main Street’ is rarely played live so it’s a treat for the audience. Then comes Paint it Black. The crowd response is warm but not electric – then the magic spark ignites as the cowbell introduces Honky Tonk Women. The band start to sync, the trademark interplay of licks between Richard and Wood begin to steam and the crowd eagerly responds to every grand Jagger gesture.
Then, suddenly, Jagger applies the brakes, introducing every band member, and finally Keef who proceeds to serenade us with not the traditional two, but three songs, none of which is that which he does best: ‘Happy’. Instead, he rambles through ‘You Got The Silver’, ‘Before They Make Me Run’ and ‘Can’t Be Seen’. While we all love Keef and his cameo vocal appearance mid-set, the formula is slightly overdone tonight and the crowd are impatiently wanting more of The Stones’ classics they love.
To rebuild the momentum, Jagger brings one-time guitarist Mick Taylor out for an epic version of ‘Midnight Rambler’. The three guitar attack forms nicely to a solid Taylor solo before building to a crescendo. To follow, Jagger straps on a guitar and leads the band into the monster hit ‘Miss You’. Once the first chorus is done, Mick abandons his Fender and leads the crowd in a mass rendition of the oo-oo refrain. The energy is surging and the crowd surfs the wave.
‘Gimme Shelter’ in next and Jagger is joined stage-front by the unmistakable voice and presence of Lisa Fischer who, along with Bernard Fowler, provide backing vocals for most of the night. The chemistry between Jagger and Fisher is spellbinding, as is her voice which soars and takes the song into the stratosphere.
It all goes to another level with ‘Start Me Up’, a song The Stones can pull from their formidable arsenal to elevate any concert.
This time, Wood heads stage front for his solo, hitting a few rough notes but, hey, that’s all part of the experience. Jagger again builds the song to its climax and the crowd are loving every second of it.
Suddenly Jagger disappears, the stage is flooded in blood-red light, red flares spit flumes of sparks either side of the stage and then Jagger reappears draped in a long red cape, standing under a solo white spotlight while he delivers the opening lines to ‘Sympathy For The Devil’. The crowd eagerly offer up the “woo-woo” refrain as soon as Jagger asks. This is the glory we have been waiting for as Jagger skips and runs from one side of the massive stage to the other, defying his years and fully embodying the rock and roll spirit. He does it again with ‘Brown Sugar’, evoking euphoria and full voices, the crowd is completely in his hands.
Then, all too quickly, they wave and are gone. But everyone in the crowd knows there’s more. A choir is seen assembling both sides of the stage and soon enough their sweet operatic voices carry across the air with ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’. Uplifting and compelling, the performance is superb. How can they build upon this?
At that moment, Richards unleashes ‘Satisfaction’ and another gear is magically found. Halfway through, the twin guitars of Richard and Wood blend to become the rock-guitar sound dreams are made of. The sheer power and dexterity takes you to another place where you realise that this is the very essence of rock and roll, right here, right now. Jagger builds the crowd into a frenzy with thousands chanting the chorus in utter delight at being a part of all of this. Mick struts, runs, skips, gestures, his hands upheld as he almost challenges us to go with him. We all do. Willingly. A master of his craft, Jagger takes the whole shebang to a thundering and brilliant end as fireworks explode around the stage. Satisfied, we are!
The entire ensemble gather on stage before a bow and then the four ‘real Stones’ wave a final farewell. Charlie gets special treatment as each of the others, in turn, take an individual bow with Watts. Then they’re gone, this time for good and each of us in the audience begin processing the spectacle we have just witnessed. Almost too grand for words, it is the stuff every rock and roll lover dreams of and it was here tonight before us.
It is hard not to be impressed by this performance, completely regardless of how old some of these guys are. There are those who no doubt scoff at the ‘best rock band in the world’ title but, after 50 years as a band and a show like this, they have very little argument. The sentiment that most audience members tonight will share is that which was screamed by a twenty-something girl from a car exiting the grounds: “THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING NIGHT OF MY LIFE”! Touché.
For those that were here, the night they saw The Rolling Stones in the Hunter Valley will probably be one of those memories that will live on forever through the recounting. It was, for all concerned, a massive logistical effort for two hours of music. It had everything you could wish for in a rock concert – the stage, sound and lights were spectacular and the band, well, they lived up to their reputation and then some. It may be only rock and roll but, hey, we like it.
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