It was wet and slick and the crowd wanted more.
A sudden burst of April showers didn’t cool the ardour of boisterous fans, not much anyway, at the Rolling Stones first-ever concert in India at the sprawling Palace Grounds here yesterday.
“We don’t mind the rain,†screamed a fan.
Acknowledging the presence of over 20,000 music afficionados, lead-singer Sir Mick Jagger said, “Dhanyavadâ€.
“Bangalore, it had to rain… it will drain away… I like India,†said the band’s lead guitarist Keith Richards, as the rain-soaked fans cheered on.
Starting with Brown Sugar, Glimmer Twins Jagger and Richards held the audience in sway. As the music and the pyrotechnics on the mammoth backdrop picked up pace, what started off as a benign shower gathered power too.
But the sizzling hot lips and the slithering red tongue, the raunchy gyrations of Jagger and Richards and the sultry Lisa Fischer’s (backing vocals) little steamy act with Jagger generated enough heat.
Came one after the other — It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll, Start Me Up and Don’t Stop that segued into Angie.
Looking like colourful birds in bright jackets — gold, pink, electric blue — the band was hyperkinetic. The grey-locked rockers pranced up and down, putting youth around them to shame.
At the audience end, it was a veritable mummy, daddy and kids yatra. Entire families had turned out for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Video images of fans and the band were interspersed and displayed with graphics on the giant plasma screen, as a backdrop to the stage.
Gathered were also hundreds of fans from abroad, including Sri Lanka, Japan and Britain and Stones lovers from Coimbatore, Delhi, Chennai and Pune.
From school-going kids and young techies to Stones fans of over 60, they were all there, swaying hands and crooning during the two-and-a-half hour performance.
Forget the sedate corporate boxes, the standing-only area was the only place to rock.
Of course, those who paid up Rs 5,000 for a seat were treated to goodies like free French wine. But alas not even a fleeting meeting with the band backstage.
Spotted amongst these pampered beings Infosys Managing Director Nandan Nilekani, Wipro Technologies Vice President Suresh Vaswani, Philips Software CEO Bob Hoekstra, film actor and DMK MP Sharath Kumar, Vijay Kirloskar, Manoviraj Khosla and actress Radhika. Dr Vijay Mallya had a box to himself.
The finale was the famous album Satisfaction, which ended with fireworks and confetti.
A pity that fewer people turned up for this awesome show compared to other international gigs in recent months. Blame that on the Mumbai show on Monday and advancing of concert dates.