After five decades in the music business, The Rolling Stones can offer much more than 'Satisfaction' when they put on a show. The rockers wowed at the weekend when they celebrated 50 years in the industry by performing to a packed London crowd for the first time since 2007. The band, all in their 60s and 70s, took to the stage in front of 20,000 screaming fans at the O2 Arena. Lead singer Sir Mick Jagger, 69, was joined by guitarists Keith Richards, 68, Ronnie Wood, 65, and drummer Charlie Watts, 71. The special gig marked the first time the group have been joined with former members Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor for more than 20 years.
They opened with I Want To Be Your Man, with front man Mick strutting around dressed in a silver blazer and trilby, before launching into Get Off Of My Cloud.
Mick even made a cheeky joke about the high ticket prices for the concert, asking the audience: "How's everyone in the cheap seats? The problem is they're not so cheap." Tickets for the show started at £106, with many concert-goers paying a lot more. Fans sitting in the "tongue" - the area at the foot of the lip-shaped stage - forked out an eye-watering £1,140 per person.
Despite the high prices, fans would be hard pushed to complain about the lack of value for money. The band's set was packed with energetic numbers, including, It’s All Over Now, Paint It Black, and Wild Horses.
US soul diva Mary J Blige joined Mick on stage to sing the female lines of hit Gimme Shelter. And legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck joined the four-piece to play I'm Going Down. The show-stopping concert came ahead of a gig at the same venue on Thursday before three in the US next month – one in New York and two in New Jersey. Tickets for both UK dates sold out within seven minutes last month. Celebrity guests turning up to see the rockers in action included Peaches Geldof – who recently told HELLO! she is expecting her second child. She brought along her husband Thomas Cohen, and Peaches' little sister Pixie was also in attendance. Noel Gallagher and his wife Sara were also spotted at the gig, as was comedian Noel Fielding.
