Rolling Stones in Las Vegas: A step back in time

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The Rolling Stones perform at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery / Invision/Associated Press)

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Keith Richards, left, and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones perform in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery / Invision/Associated Press)

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Ronnie Wood, left, and Darryl Jones of the Rolling Stones perform in concert in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery / Invision/Associated Press)

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Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones performs in concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery / Invision/Associated Press)

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Ronnie Wood, left, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones perform in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery / Invision/Associated Press)

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Mick Jagger, left, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones performs in concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery / Invision/Associated Press)

By John Corrigan

May 12, 2013 12:52 PM PT

LAS VEGAS -- Even in their dotage, the Rolling Stones look great and sound even better.

Their fans? Time has not been on their side.

At the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night, the crowd was decidedly less hipper than the throngs coming out of Cirque du Soleil’s “Zumanity” across the Strip.

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It was as if everyone playing Keno in the casinos suddenly decided, “Let’s go see the Stones!”

The men were resplendent in Triple X-size aloha shirts and T-shirts over dress slacks.

The women -- well, ladies, you all looked fantastic. But if you’re in the 60-plus club, consider going with the Mom jeans and sensible shoes instead of hot pants and platform pumps, no matter how long you’ve been tanning and starving yourself.

In short, this was not a great show for pre-concert people-watching. Yet when the Stones finally took the stage, blasting their 1965 hit “Get Off of My Cloud,” a transformation began to take place.

The capacity crowd leapt to its feet, not to sit again for the next two hours. Years peeled away with each awkward hip shake, each tuneless sing-along.

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This Stones tour isn’t about musical adventures and stretching boundaries. It’s about getting in a time machine and going back to a place you haven’t been in awhile.

It might be the first time you heard “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” during a summer vacation long, long ago. Or the time “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” came on the car radio at just the right time, with just the right friends along for the ride.

And by the end of the night, who cared about style? It was all about a shared experience.

Rock had worked its magic yet again, if only for a couple of hours on a hot Las Vegas night.

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