Gillingham, Kent, UK (By Mikey) - The
Rolling Stones belatedly kicked off the UK leg of their Licks world tour at Twickenham Stadium last night (August 24).
Following the postponement of Saturday night's opening show at the same venue, due to Mick Jagger recovering from flu, and despite rumours started by a Dutch TV station that the rest of the tour had been cancelled, 60,000 people attended the first-ever concert at England's national rugby ground.
Rugby featured prominently at the merchandise stalls, with special Stones rugby shirts on sale for �80 each and commemorative Twickenham show T-shirts, featured a rugby ball on the back, going for �20.
Following support act Starsailor, the Stones kicked off with 'Brown Sugar'. Jagger strutted around the stage in time-honoured fashion with no signs of discomfort. He commented on the fact that "this was not supposed to be the first night and you weren't supposed to be the first night audience".
The show featured many songs from the band's classic run of albums from 1968 to 1972. The full set list was as follows:
'Brown Sugar'
'You Got Me Rocking'
'Don't Stop'
'Rocks Off'
'Wild Horses'
'You Can't Always Get What You Want'
'Paint It Black'
'Tumbling Dice'
'Slipping Away'
'Happy'
'Sympathy For The Devil'
'Star, Star'
'I Just Want To Make Love To You'
'Street Fighting Man'
'Gimme Shelter'
'Honky Tonk Women'
'Start Me Up'
'Satisfaction'
Encore: 'Jumping Jack Flash'
During their three-song set on a small stage in the middle of the stadium, the Stones revisited blues standard 'I Just Want To Make Love To You', a staple of their live set when they played clubs around the Twickenham area in their formative days. Following an encore of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', the show ended with a thunderous volley of fireworks.
The Stones continue their UK dates with an intimate show at the Astoria Theatre in London's West End on Wednesday (August 27th). Tickets for this concert have been selling for over �1,000 each on auction websites.
Their remaining UK dates run as follows:
August 27 - London Astoria (with support from The Thrills)
29 - Wembley Arena (with support from Feeder)
September 1/3 - Glasgow SECC (with support from Idlewild)
5 - Manchester MEN Arena (with support from Tim Burgess)
14/15 - Wembley Arena (with support from Tim Burgess on the 14th and The Darkness on the 15th)
