Mega-band the Rolling Stones rocked Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night – playing to 60,000 fans at the city’s world-famous Maracaña football stadium. The ageing British rockers were delayed in starting their gig by a torrential downfall of rain which washed down upon Rio two hours before curtain up at 9.30 pm.
A water-logged screen to beam the band to their fans caused the delay. The Rolling Stones were in the Brazilian party city for the third stop on their epic 8-leg América Latina Olé Tour of south and central America, having started in Santiago, Chile on 3 February, and played Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay, already. All the venues for the tour are football stadia.
They are scheduled to play three stadia in Brazil before moving on to Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia. Their last stadium gig of their ‘lips and licks’ in Latin America act is booked for Mexico City on 14 March.
The carioca music fans saw the full Stones line-up of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts take to tage. Lead singer, Mick Jagger, even interacted with fans speaking to them in Portuguese. The show opened with the classic number, Start Me Up, following by It’s Only Rock n ‘ Roll (But I Like It ) and Tumbling Dice. In all, the band belted out 19 favourite songs.
This was the second show that the Rolling Stones have done in Brazil. Ten years ago, on 18 February 2006, the band stormed the city of Rio de Janeiro. The event was free on Copacabana beach and public statistics estimate the crowds as ranged between 1.2 million and 1.5 million people.
The Stones’ new Olé tour has dates in two more Brazilian cities – São Paulo and Porto Alegre.
