Zero hour is 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, with a repeat Saturday night. Opening act is teen blues sensation Jonny Lang. Tickets are $35, $45 and $65, with lots remaining, even for field seats. Call Connection, 545-4000.
In the meantime, here's a look at what you can expect.
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Mick Jagger struts his stuff on the Big Island last night in a private concert at Pepsi's anniversary celebration.
Let's spend two nights together
By Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinIlene Bragman first saw the Rolling Stones in 1969 in an outdoor concert at Hyde Park, a week after guitarist Brian Jones died. She recalls the show as "quite wonderful and emotional," but also pretty basic. "They just stood around on a stage and played music," Bragman said. The Bay area teacher also saw the Stones play Oakland a few months ago, and the show was altogether bigger and grander.
We contacted some Stones fans in the Bay area to find out what we're in for this weekend. In general, critical comment on the tour has been as positive as comment on the recent album has been negative. The Oakland "Bridges to Babylon" show was performed outdoors in a stadium setting, as it will be in Hawaii. Fans described a high-energy, professional production with design touches out of a Hollywood Bible epic.
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Keith Richards cranks it out at the private Pepsi bash last night..
The setting is essentially a large stage with wings on either side, surmounted by an oval projection screen. Speakers are supported by "Babylonian" statues; the "bridge" part occurs when the center of the mainstage is projected by hydraulics into a smaller stage in mid-audience."It was great fun," said Bragman. "The staging was phenomenal." Effects included spectacular fireworks and huge chunks of brown glitter an inch square raining on the audience during "Brown Sugar."
For Bragman's 14-year-old son Matthew, the best part was "the naked ladies projected on the round screen!"
"There was a woman doing back-up singing with a really phenomenal voice," said Bragman. "They played for more than two hours with no intermission. I don't know how they do it. Mick Jagger is in his 50s and it's like he's in his 20s. One of the cute things they did was show old footage of the band on the screen during songs."
The Stones' opening act in Oakland was Pearl Jam, which was the real draw for fan Laura Desmond, 24. "I love Pearl Jam, and you know, the Stones just blew away Pearl Jam," said Desmond, who sells photographic office equipment. "I was amazed . . . the best show I ever saw.
"The stage was huge, and to get around, they had an incredible amount of energy," said Desmond. "The pillars that supported the stage were very Babylonian - OK, like, as if I knew what Babylonian looks like - very Gothic, I guess. Not a bunch of steel and neon."
Desmond was also impressed by the audience demographics. "There were all sorts of people there; old, young, grandparents with grandkids. It was crazy! An extremely mixed crowd."
"Oh, the whole family went!" Bragman said. "I don't really go to that many concerts, and I was kind of put off by all the hype. 'Why am I falling for this?' I thought.
"But it's really an event, not just a concert. So we went as one big, extended family, 12 of us - parents, kids, friends. Even the rabbi from my temple went with us!"
Special to the Star-Bulletin
The Stones had the Pepsi corporate crowd in a fizz last night in Kona.
