Unless you’ve been on an internet sabbatical the last few days, you’ve likely heard that The Rolling Stones Australian Tour has been postponed following the sad and sudden passing of Mick Jagger’s long-term girlfriend L’Wren Scott.
What you might not have heard, is that although the legendary rock band cancelled on the opening Perth date of their ’14 On Fire Tour, one fourth of the lineup actually treated fans in the WA capital to a surprise gig the very very same night.
Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts drew from his jazz roots to play an impromptu show on Wednesday night at the Ellington Jazz Club, a small 135-capacity venue in Perth’s Beaufort Street on Wednesday night, as Perth Now reports.
In front of a handful of surprised patrons, Watts was invited to the stage by Rolling Stones touring saxophonist Tim Ries, treating the small crowd to jazzy renditions of Stones classics ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ (as the fan-shot footage below shows).
“He didn’t make a grand entrance or anything, it was all low key,” the jazz club’s co-owner Graham Wood tells Perth Now. “He was there really just to enjoy the music. Then he got up and played a couple of numbers.” In front of a handful of surprised patrons… Watts treated the small crowd to jazzy renditions of Stones classics ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Honky Tonk Woman’.
After playing for around 45 minutes, the 72-year-old sticksman then took his place back in the audience and enjoyed the rest of the set until the Ellington’s 1am close.
Tom Beech was one of the lucky few that witnessed Charlie Watts’ surprise show, telling The Music that the drummer did “get pretty rocky” adding: “It was obvious that he comes from a jazz background; he was improvising a lot, and just working a lot through a jazz routine.”
Since the secret gig, Watts – along with his Stones bandmates – issued messages of support for the grieving Jagger.
“Needless to say we are all completely shocked but our first thought is to support Mick at this awful time,” said the drummer. “We intend to come back to Australia and New Zealand as soon as it proves possible.”
That timeline could still fall within the latter half of this year, according to a statement from promoters Frontier Touring. “At this very sad time we would like to reassure Rolling Stones fans and ticket holders that every effort is currently being made to reschedule the postponed Australia and New Zealand dates for October/November 2014.”
The rescheduled Rolling Stones tour dates will be “announced as soon as possible. If the new dates are not suitable, rest assured you will be able to secure a refund,” say Frontier, who have encouraged ticketholders to hang tight to be reissued with new passes.
No such refund or reissue satisfaction is likely for those who purchased Stones tickets through third party sellers or scalpers, with both consumer group Choice and Frontier Boss Michael Gudinski emphasising that only those who have bought tickets through official vendors will be honoured with refunds and replacements.
