Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger (left), Keith Richards and drummer Charlie Watts performing during a concert in the Telenor Arena at Fornebu in Baerum just south of Oslo, Norway, on Monday. Photo: Terje Bendiksby/NTB Scanpix/APThe Rolling Stones have returned to the stage for the first time since the suicide of singer Sir Mick Jagger’s girlfriend led to their 2014 world tour being interrupted.
They played a high-energy show lasting over two hours at Oslo’s Telenor Arena.
Playing to a sold-out crowd of 23,000, Sir Mick did not mention the death of fashion designer L’Wren Scott, but proved himself proficient in Norwegian-language between-song patter.
“It was a great rock ‘n roll show,” said Jan Martin Schultz, 55, who had travelled with two friends to Monday’s concert. All had seen The Rolling Stones several times before, and remarked on Sir Mick’s powerful energy.
“I saw them in Gothenburg in 1982, and I thought then they seemed old. They didn’t seem old tonight,” he said.
The band played hits from their decades-long catalogue, including a rendition of You Can’t Always Get What You Want featuring Bergen’s Edvard Grieg Youth Choir. The band ended their set with fireworks.
The band in March interrupted their tour and later rescheduled all their Australia and New Zealand tour dates upon news that Scott – Sir Mick’s companion since 2001 – had committed suicide.
The Rolling Stones’ next gig will be in Lisbon, Portugal tomorrow.