Still Rolling After All These Years

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Lead singer of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger performs during the Stones concert at Sun Devil Stadium Friday night. Jagger was very energetic during the show, where he would run back and forth on the stage, getting closer to the fans on the sides of the stage.

Once all the photographers were told where we could go and stand, we were warned that it was very important not to look up as the lights went out. So the lights go out and I'm tempted to look up and nothing's going on, until I close my eyes and my eyelids are suddenly blasted red from the light. After the explosion, the signal for the show to begin, the lights came up and out came the band. Mick was wearing a gold and black coat with a scarf, which lasted only minutes before one of many of costume changes. Ron, Keith and Mick were all sporting dark glasses as they appeared, for effect only of course, since it was quite dark out, but, then again, they are the Stones. They could do whatever they wanted to.

So they started off with "Satisfaction", a good choice to get the crowd going, although the audience didn't really seem to get into the new stuff that followed. My seat, which was dead center 14th row, was nicely located next to the runway to the second stage. There was a big screen located right at the middle of the stage for those who were not close enough to make out the wrinkles on the Stones faces, or see them at all. As the show went on, two curtains slowly moved aside to reveal two big inflatable naked bronze women, which were deflated a little later on.

One of the best moments was when Keith did his thing - Mick went away for about two songs and Keith took over the stage. He got a big laugh with the quip, "Its great to be here, but then again, it's great to be anywhere."

The crowd seemed suitably impressed with the stage setup, especially when a ladder-like contraption made its way to the second stage for the band to walk across. As their set finished there, they came back my way, stooping for high fives on their way back to the first stage. Things were going great, but the crowd really came alive toward the end of the show when they played "Honky Tonk Women," with everyone happily up and singing.

A fire backstage added an unexpected touch to the pyrotechnics for the night, but nothing could halt the show by that point. They were going too strong to be stopped.

Gold and silver confetti rained down at the end of the show.

The band finished off with old faves, "Start Me Up," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Brown Sugar," as a great encore to end a great show. I don't see any reason the Stones should stop touring like some have been saying - the real problem is they're not touring enough. This was my first, but hopefully not last, Stones concert.