Good things come to those who wait.
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And for Perth, the wait was worth it as those good things, the Rolling Stones, delivered in spades.
"It's good to be here," rumbled Keith Richards. "It's good to be anywhere," he chuckled.
Wind the clock back and it was a mere seven months when Perth went from basking in the glow as host of the Stones' first Australian-New Zealand show to the glare of the world with the sudden death of Mick Jagger's partner, fashion designer L'Wren Scott.
Within hours of the show kicking off their seventh Australian tour, the concert was stopped but Perth gave Jagger and band mates Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood some much-needed protective space as news of the tragedy raced around the world.
Now the Stones were back to finish what they set out to do – bring dirty Chicago blues with rock and roll to their Australian fans.
And by the sound that erupted to greet them at Perth Arena, what are a few months between rock legends and loyal fans, eh?
The city that cradled the Stones when tragedy struck waited patiently for their turn and it was rewarded.
"Thank you for waiting," Richards told the cheering Perth crowd. "Thank you. Thank you."
The Perth Arena may have hosted some big names – Pink, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John - since it opened almost two years ago, but it reserved its christening for Wednesday night when it got a bit dirtied up and educated by the group once labelled "the most dangerous band in the world".
With a bang that travelled through the body, followed up by an opening strum from Richards, Start Me Up cranked up the set with the ageless Jagger prancing around the stage.
The usual Jagger penchant for stage props since the early '70s wasn't as evident as past concerts with the cosy 15,000-seat arena only seeing it in some bling screens with silver border scaffolding and the scaled-down version of the VIP Tongue Pit.
Get Off Of My Cloud was followed by It's Only Rock 'n Roll with Jagger snaking his way across the stage in black while vintage footage lit up the giant screen behind. Richards let rip with a master solo then joined Wood rocking back and forth behind his minstrel.
The classic Tumbling Dice soothed, then Jagger pulled out the harmonica for Out of Control and joined in a guitar-harp joust with Richards.
The familiar sound of the famous cowbell "tink, tink, tink" introduced Honky Tonk Woman before a breather as Jagger chatted and threw out jokes about the Dockers, Eagles and waiting for an invite for a drink from Gina Rinehart.
Richards on acoustic slowed the pace down with his haunting You've Got The Silver with Ronnie beside him on slide.
After a wicked laugh he settled into Can't Be Seen.
Then one of the many highlights of the night – the guitarist Stones of the past and present graced the stage.
With the strums of Midnight Rambler rising up, Richards was joined by his old stage sparring partner from 1969 to '74, Mick Taylor. It was a memorable sight to see the three master guitarists standing side by side, all rock legends in comfortable shoes.
Mick picked up the guitar for Doom and Gloom with Wood – who was having a five-fag night – and broke out in a mid-song guitar solo between cigarettes.
Twitter request song of the night was Bitch: "Which unfortunately we know," quipped Jagger.
With the straight stewardship of Watts on drums at every turn, it was into Miss You which livened up the crowd with some call-back "whoo hoos".
Classic Gimme Shelter was cloaked with the powerful voice of backup Melissa Fisher who challenged Jagger's every wail.
Richards charged up Jumpin' Jack Flash while Jagger pulled out some vintage snakehip moves across the dance floor – this is NOT a man of 71 years.
After a quick shirt change, Jagger was channelling his inner little red rooster by adorning a cloak of red feathers for the masterful Sympathy For The Devil.
Brown Sugar, with tamborine, another fag for Ronnie, Charlie looking cool calm and collected behind his kit, Richards' firm grip and experienced fingers dancing across the strings and the band was loose and rocking.
As the lights went down, the encore brought the sounds of the guest choir for You Can't Always Get What You Want with a marathon back and forth with the crowd. Taylor was coaxed up one more time to entertain us before launching into the only song to finish a Stones concert - Satisfaction.
The Rolling Stones play a second show in Perth on November 1 , Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on November 5, Hanging Rock in Macedon on November 8, Sydney at Allphones Arena on November 12, the Hunter Valley on November 15 and finally at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on November 18.
- WAtoday
