Photos: The Rolling Stones — a magical, memorable night at T-Mobile Arena
Mick Jagger put on an electrifying show Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena just four days after medical specialists had ordered him to cancel Wednesday’s first of two concerts because of laryngitis. But 96 hours later, the legendary frontman of The Rolling Stones was jumping and prancing all over the stage and its elongated guitar neck-shaped runway onto the arena floor.
Our thanks to Sam Morris of Las Vegas News Bureau for his photo gallery of the night of explosive excitement from The Rolling Stones, who book ended their T-Mobile concert headlining at the two-weekend Desert Trip in Indio, Calif.
“He’s in great voice,” my seat neighbor yelled at me over the pounding, throbbing and electrifying music pulsating from Mick, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and their backup musicians and vocal duo. I loved the French horn solo, which I never would have expected at a Rolling Stones concert.
Our Green Valley High School chorale in black robes joined Mick for his version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” The chorale probably couldn’t have asked for a bigger pop royal to perform with, and Mick congratulated them on thrilling the enthusiastic crowd and him.
The British boys, now in their 70s, were as young and fresh as the days way back when I saw them for the first times in the scruffy clubs of London playing for a handful of people — in comparison to the 20,000 who packed into T-Mobile on Saturday night.
There were rumors running rampant that Mick had been forced to cancel the Wednesday performance at the request of The Secret Service supervising the Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton third and final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center.
I was reliably told at the highest levels: “Totally untrue rumor. A great story, but no truth whatsoever to it. He was genuinely ill with laryngitis, and the doctors literally tied him to his hotel bed to prevent him from damaging his vocal chords.”
Mick apologized twice for his illness. He and the band’s management are trying to reschedule the canceled show. “It’s very difficult with their scheduling and the arena’s schedule. But we’re working on it. Everybody wants it rescheduled, especially Mick,” an AEG Concerts West exec told me.
Mick explained that while he was recovering, his bandmates were out on the town seeing shows and riding the roller coaster at New York-New York. In fact, Ronnie watched “Michael Jackson One” at Mandalay Bay and “The Beatles Love” at The Mirage in the last week.
Mick joked about the Trump-Clinton debate: “Was it a comedy or a tragedy?” he asked sarcastically between songs. He also had a gag talking about the arrival of the first professional sports team in Las Vegas.
He made a semi-serious suggestion that the new NHL expansion team should be named The Vegas Blackjacks, then had fans howling when he suggested The Las Vegas Hookers might be a better name. He was clearly enjoying himself onstage at the new arena, which impressed him.
From the opening “Start Me Up” to the closing “Brown Sugar” and “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie were at their finest, as if it was the final time we would see them here as they near retirement. The band previewed “Ride ’Em on Down,” one of the tracks on their blues album scheduled for December release.
Mick drank numerous bottles of water during the nearly two-hour show that nobody in the fawning crowd of “oldennials” and Millennials wanted to end. Mick took breaks long enough for Keith and Ronnie to perform solos under the spotlight, along with their touring vocal vixen. Keith scored with “Slipping Away” and “A Little T&A.”
It’s too easy to say that these old-timers still gather no moss, but they’re as alive today with energy and love of their music as they ever were. You can feel their passion for performing; they haven’t even begun to phone it in. They were free and having fun, with Mick encouraging fans to sing along with him.
They ripped through “Tumbling Dice,” “Honky Tonk Woman” and fan favorite “Sympathy for the Devil.” It was a memorable and magical night to remember, especially because we might never see them performing again here. That point was punctuated seconds before they left the stage after their two-song encore: They took a line of bows as if it truly was a farewell of royalty.
Then there were just the four of them, and finally just one: Mick Jagger deservedly getting the standing ovations and cheers. A showman to the end despite the earlier laryngitis. You never would have known!
