It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)

If you were to walk in my room this second, you would immediately comprehend which band I idolize from one glance at the posters plastered on the walls. If you were to open my T-shirt drawer, you would grasp the same information by tallying the number of this band's T-shirts in my posession. If you were to read the title of this post and recognized it as a song title, you might also conjure a guess at my favorite band. I'll give you a hint: it's The Rolling Stones.

They're old, they're wrinkly, and Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood have succumbed to dying their signature hair to hide the gray hues that Keith Richards and Charlie Watts proudly display. Despite their looks, they can still play the hell out of their songs. I was lucky enough to see them perform this past Saturday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto with a friend.

We waited anxiously in our seats as stage hands and audio engineers all dressed in black tuned various guitars and plugged in different cords. We leapt to our feet as soon as Mick came skipping out on stage, and didn't dare sit back down again that evening. Mick kept us on our feet the whole time with an energetic and captivating performance. Lisa Fisher poured her soul into the microphone during "Gimme Shelter," much to my delight. I was only slightly worried something else was about to pour out of the top of her extremely low cut, tight fitting black gown. "Midnight Rambler" had the crowd cheering excitedly in the middle as it slowed way down before speeding back up at the end.

Keith can't sing well, but it was still great to see him take the mic and mumble out most of the lyrics to "You Got the Silver" and "Happy." At one point I heard him murmur "...better late than never.." before letting out a growling laugh, flashing his perfectly white, fake teeth. My friend miraculously discerned a string of Keith's jumbled utterances, and explained "gold rings on you all," is a phrase Keith says regularly. What a cheeky British thing to say.

Mick pulled out all the stops during "Sympathy for the Devil," donning a ridiculous black feathered cape that hungrily swallowed his skinny frame. A phenomenal rendition of "You Can't Always Get What You Want"was performed with the help of the renowned Cawthra Park Chamber Choir. This sweet symphony of sound was then followed by a snappy performance of "Jumping Jack Flash" as Mick flitted about after his fiftieth costume change into a ruby red sparkly crop jacket with coattails flailing behind his legs as he darted across the stage.

And despite the title of this post, "It's Only Rock 'n Roll But I Like It" was not the highlight of the show. Carrie Underwood has an impressive set of lungs, but an awkward, shifty eyed blonde chick following Mick around stage like a lost puppy is not what I expected from a six-time Grammy Award winning singer. Despite Underwood's disappointing performance, Mick and the rest of the gang solidified my love of the Stones and the rock and roll music that never gets old.

Mick and his massive cape

End of the show