Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary show in New Jersey notes Newtown

The final show on the Rolling Stones’ brief 2012 50th Anniversary Tour on Saturday contained several elements that could constitute a fantasy rock concert, but also included an acknowledgment of the horrific reality that had taken place a day before in Newtown, Conn.

“We just wanted to send our love and condolences to all the people who lost loved ones in the tragedy in Connecticut,” Mick Jagger told the crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and to the broader audience looking on during the pay-per-view live cablecast of the show. He further noted that people around the world were sharing the pain being felt throughout the U.S. after the shootings in Newtown left more than two dozen people dead, 20 of them children.

The remainder of the evening, however, was given over to celebrating the band’s half century together, an event for which founding members Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and longtime guitarist Ron Wood were joined by Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, the Black Keys, John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. as well as former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.

Shortly ahead of the concert, Springsteen noted in a video clip promoting the pay-per-view element, “I’m here rehearsing with the Rolling Stones -- never thought I’d hear those words coming out of my mouth.”

Springsteen helped out on “Tumbling Dice,” Gaga joined in on “Gimme Shelter,” the Black Keys turned up for “Who Do You Love” and Mayer and Clark exchanged licks with Richards and Wood on “Goin’ Down.” Taylor reconnected with his old bandmates for “Midnight Rambler,” one of the cornerstone tracks the Stones recorded and played live during his tenure with the group from 1969 to 1975.

There’s been no formal word about more shows next year, but it is widely anticipated that the Stones will perform more than the four recent anniversary shows they assembled to mark the 50th year since the group came together in 1962.

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Follow Randy Lewis on Twitter: @RandyLewis2

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