San Diego gets what it needs: Rolling Stones

SAN DIEGO — If time has a mellowing effect, somebody forgot to tell the Rolling Stones.

The iconic British rock band, which has been playing since the early 1960s, grabbed hold of a giant stadium stage and mesmerized Petco Park for two hours and 15 minutes Sunday on the opening night of the group's 2015 Zip Code tour in North America.

The Stones, who came on after a vigorous 50-minute set by Gary Clark Jr., leaped right into Jumpin' Jack Flash before entertaining the sellout crowd with a wide range of their many hits, including a few treats from the 1971 album Sticky Fingers, which is being reissued in North America on June 9.

"Thank you very much, San Diego. Great to be back here," lead singer Mick Jagger told the crowd after a rousing rendition of It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It).

Or, as fellow 71-year-old bandmate Keith Richards, who has played with Jagger for more than 50 years, put it a little later: "We're really glad to be here. It's been a while," he said, acknowledging that they last played the city in 2005. "Can't be everywhere."

Highlights from the concert and the events surrounding it:

Stones draw a crowd, and then some. Tens of thousands — many with tickets and many seeking them — descended Sunday on downtown San Diego, whose streets featured festive red tongue banners promoting the concert.

Fans stood more than 15 deep at one souvenir stand outside the stadium before the gates opened. Some fans without tickets, including San Diegans Andrea Finch, 43, and Susan Pierce, 42, sat against a building across the street from the back of Petco Park, hoping to hear the concert from the sidewalk.

"I wasn't going to sit home knowing the Rolling Stones were in my backyard. I wanted to see the crowd," Finch says. "There's a vibe here. It's super rad."

From T-shirts to bandanas. Stones merchandise was selling briskly at various souvenir stands in and around Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. Zip Code T-shirts were going for $40, while Sticky Fingers shirts were a comparable steal at $30. Blue women's shorts, complete with the Stones tongue logo, were $40.

At another booth, an American flag bandana with tongues replacing stars was $20, while a Zip Code hoodie was $85.

Punctuality. Clark, who later joined the Stones for the Sticky Fingers' song, Bitch, started his set a few minutes ahead of schedule. The Stones took the stage — a giant structure nearly as tall as Petco's third deck with huge screens on both sides and in the center — within minutes of their planned 9:30 start time. No undisciplined rockers here.

Non-stop action. Jagger and his bandmates staged a high-energy show, with the lead singer a jaw-dropping sight as he strutted, danced, swayed and ran — at one point, late in the show, sprinting the length of what must have been a 60-yard stage. His stamina would dazzle at any age. Jagger also frequently ventured out to the middle of the stadium on an extended runway, imploring the crowd through voice and gesture to sing, clap and flat-out rock.

Guitarists Richards and Ronnie Wood, the former flashing frequent smiles, played behind Jagger, with Charlie Watts making up the fourth point of this rock diamond formation at his drum set behind them. The quartet was accompanied by more than half a dozen other skilled musicians, including vocalist Lisa Fischer, who went toe to toe with Jagger on a blazing Gimme Shelter.

Sticky Fingers tribute. At a warm-up club show in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the Stones played all 10 songs on Sticky Fingers. They offered an abbreviated version in San Diego, playing Bitch, Moonlight Mile and Can't You Hear Me Knocking before coming back with Brown Sugar later in the show. Knocking featured sublime drumming by Watts as Jagger, playing a not-infrequent cheerleader role, exhorted the crowd to rock before shaking the maracas during Wood's guitar instrumental.

Mick Jagger, man of many clothes and comments. Jagger's outfits ranged from a sparkly purple jacket to open the show to a red, feathered boa-style robe for Sympathy for the Devil to a dazzling maroon jacket, complete with tails, for (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction during the encore. Most of the time, however, he got down to business in a long-sleeve black T-shirt and jeans.

Jagger showed his comic side, pronouncing San Diegans so many ways, including the correct one, that it would have made Ron Burgundy proud. He also had some fun with a stadium named for a company that specializes in pet products. In 2005, "We were the first band to play Petco Park" after it had that name, he said, joking that the Petco people provided backstage catering, including chicken and venison "in a tin."

Versatility. Richards took the lead on Slipping Away and Before They Make Me Run, while Jagger added some soulful harmonica riffs to Midnight Rambler. The band also responded to a fan social-media vote with a rocking Street Fighting Man.

Encore. After the briefest of goodbyes, the Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir from California State University, Long Beach began the celestial-sounding opening to You Can't Always Get What You Want, which moved into Jagger's plaintive verses before building to a rip-roaring crescendo. The band closed with (I Can't Get No)Satisfaction. Concertgoers, many dancing on their chairs and in the aisles, apparently got plenty.

The 20-song set list: Jumpin' Jack Flash, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It), All Down the Line, Tumbling Dice, Doom and Gloom, Bitch, Moonlight Mile, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Street Fighting Man, Honky Tonk Women, Slipping Away, Before They Make Me Run, Midnight Rambler, Miss You, Gimme Shelter, Start Me Up, Sympathy for the Devil and Brown Sugar. The encore featured extended versions of You Can't Always Get What You Want and Satisfaction.

The Stones resume the 15-city Zip Code tour Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.