Rolling Stones in Sydney on 12 November 2014 at Allphones Arena. Another brilliant performance spectacular.

Mick Jagger announced to the audience that the Rolling Stones had been coming to Sydney for 50 years and that tonight’s performance was the 20th occasion that they had performed in this city. The last occasion that they had performed in Sydney was in 2006 at the massive Olympic stadium next door. We could all have been forgiven in thinking that the 2006 tour may well have been the last to Australia, as they were regarded as being somewhat older (make that a great deal older) than what we usually refer to as a veteran rock stars. With all of them 8 years older, would they still have it in them.  

Mick Jagger aged 71, Keith Richards 70, Charlie Watts 73 and the youngest one Ronnie Wood 67 demonstrated to an also ageing audience that there has been no diminution in their ability to perform, entertain and please a crowd. For many, hip and knee joints were pre-marinated in Celebrex and glucosamine in preparation for an evening that had been especially anticipated after the cancellation and rescheduling from the original March date due to the untimely death of Mick Jagger’s partner earlier in the year. There was also the concern that Mick’s voice would not 'make it' after earlier last minute cancellations of dates in the Australian tour due what was described as a serious throat infection. 

The Sydney audience had nothing to fear. When the Rolling Stones bounced onto stage and launched into Jumping Jack Flash, the entire audience were up on their feet and there was no turning back. All fears about throat infections evaporated as Mick belted out the chorus to the song with crowd singing in unison. Behind the stage, there was a huge monitor that provided image resolution almost unheard of at such a large venue.  Facial expressions were crystal clear and yes, the Rolling Stones indeed had the look that they had been performing for over half a century.

The screen also provided the opportunity for a cheeky animation during the equally cheeky “Honky Tonk Woman”.  The animation featured a giant bikini clad woman walking the streets of a city and then climb a building, very much in the spirit of King Kong. Planes flown by cunning gorillas began their attack once she had climbed to the top of the building.  Guns aimed at her bikini straps soon saw to exposure of her breasts and with a slap of one of the planes, it went out of control and as the song moved into the final bars, it went crashing into her breasts.

As has become a common feature of Rolling Stones concerts, Keith Richards was given an opportunity to headline a couple of songs.  In spite of his fall out of a coconut tree and subsequent head injury, it was clear that his sense of humour had not diminished when he announced 

“great to see you ….(pause)…great to see anything” much to the crowd’s approval.

The focus of the play list was very much on the classics. Other bands that enter into self indulgent sets to satisfy their own egos rather than the wishes of their fans have much to learn from the Rolling Stones. We could argue all day on essential classics that had to be played but for me, they hit the spot.  Some of these included, Sympathy for the Devil, Paint It Black, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, It’s Only Rock and Roll.

Sydney 12 November Play List

Jumping Jack Flash (single, 1968)

It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It) (from It’s Only Rock N Roll, 1974)

Respectable (from Some Girls, 1978)

Tumbling Dice (from Exile On Main Street, 1972)

Sweet Virginia (from Exile On Main Street, 1972) (Request)

Bitch (from Sticky Fingers, 1971)

Paint It Black (from Aftermath, 1968)

Honky Tonk Woman (single, 1968)

You Got The Silver (from Let It Bleed, 1969)

Before They Make Me Run (with Keith on lead vocals)(from Some Girls, 1978)

Happy (with Keith on lead vocals) (from Exile On Main Street, 1972)

Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor on guitar) (from Let It Bleed, 1969)

Miss You (from Some Girls, 1978)

Gimme Shelter (from Let It Bleed, 1969)

Start Me Up (from Tattoo You, 1981)

Sympathy For The Devil (from Beggars Banquet, 1968)

Brown Sugar (from Sticky Fingers, 1971)

ENCORE

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (from Let It Bleed, 1969)

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (from Out Of Our Heads, 1965)

Following the completion of the show, it was difficult to not feel Satisfaction.  Once again,  the Rolling Stones had lived up to their reputation as arguably the greatest performing rock band in history. This may well have been the last time that we will see them but if there were to be another time, there would be no shortage of willing ticket buyers, even at record prices of $577 per ticket.

Rodriguez Touring Down Under for Possibly the Last Time - Review of Sydney Opera House Concert Hall performance 23 October 2014

Rodriguez enjoyed considerable success as an artist in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.  It is interesting how there was such little interest in his work in his home country of the USA.  Maybe things would have been different if his time was in the internet era rather than in the 1970’s when radio airplay and record/cassette tape distribution was 100% at the mercy of record company executives.

After limited success in 1970’s, he returned to a reclusive existence in Detroit until in the late 1990’s, when a dedicated team of fans from South Africa began their search for the “Sugar Man”.  This re-discovery is what has brought him back into our lives.  He is now about 72 years of age and regularly tours the strongholds of his fan base.

When his latest concert series for Australia and New Zealand was announced, fans were quick onto their keyboards to acquire tickets.  The general feeling was that this was likely to be his last tour down under. Initially two performances at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall were announced and when tickets went on sale, they were sold out in about 15 minutes.  There was the usual anger associated with ticket scalping when tickets were almost immediately and readily available on Ebay Australia at approximately 4 times the original ticket selling price.  An additional three performance dates at the somewhat less salubrious Enmore Theatre were subsequently announced.

Our small group of curious Rodriguez fans attended his performance on Thursday 23 October 2014.  On a Thursday evening, the late start performance time of 9 pm meant that getting into town was less stressful than would normally be the case after a full day at work.  It was advertised that there was to be no supporting act and that was fine with us.

To our surprise, there was a single song support act from a person unknown and never identified to us.  She quietly entered the stage and sat on a stool with an acoustic guitar.  She looked as though she might be related.  We politely applauded after a short and slightly off key performance.  Just as quietly, she left the stage and now, anticipation was at an all time evening high.  Our bucket list check box next to Rodriguez’s name was about to be ticked with another lifetime achievement confirmed. 

Slowly, a dark figure plodded through the shadows supported by two of crew members.  The crowd erupted in cheers and screams as the legendary Rodriguez was lead out onto centre stage.  It was obvious that his eyesight is at least as limited as has been reported.  Although we were only in the fifth row from the front and in the middle of the row , we could barely see his face.  He was wearing a large sun visor that protruded some 15-20cm beyond his hairline, which cast a Mordor like shadow over any facial features. 

Considering that he used to play with his back to an audience, we will take his on-stage shyness as having come a long way.

He said nothing but gave a half wave of acknowledgement to the audience before launching into songs from a back catalogue of two shortish albums.  A couple of filler cover songs helped take his total on stage performance time to around 75 to 80 minutes.  He played what the audience wanted to hear, which was essentially every track on the album Cold Fact. This album had a place in every self respecting record collection of the 1970’s.  He barely said a word to the audience although at one stage, he did mumble the names of his supporting band members.   He did leave the stage after about 70 minutes of performing for the obligatory request that the audience beg for an encore.  Just before the second song of the encore, he mumbled into the microphone ‘this is going to be our last song’ and these were possibly the first intelligible words that I could make out the whole evening.  He and his crew then bowed to the appreciative audience.

I enjoyed this concert and had no regrets about being there that evening.  The reality was that there was an elderly man on stage in the concert hall of the world famous Sydney Opera House who called himself Rodriguez playing a series of ‘okay’ covers of this demi-god of a man who called himself Rodriguez back in the 1970’s.  His follow up album to “Cold Fact” was actually called “Coming From Reality” but I’m going to put all that aside and remember him with the same romanticism and adulation as the fans who have quite possibly have seen him perform for the very last time in Australia.