Stones rock the house

NOT a single hand went up when Mick Jagger asked if anyone in the crowd was at The Rolling Stones' first concert on these shores at the Badminton Hall way back in 1965 - the year of Singapore's independence, no less.

"The building is still there - well, barely. Is there anybody here who was at that show? No? Didn't think so," joked the 70-year-old English rocker as he easily had the 5,500-strong audience eating from the palm of his hand throughout the band's sold-out gig last Saturday.

They promised 90 minutes, but the Stones gave more than two hours of their time at the Marina Bay Sands. Those who forked out anywhere from $250 to $700 for a ticket - one of the most expensive concerts ever in Singapore - to catch their idols in the flesh at the integrated resort's grand ballroom would have felt they got their money's worth.