When The Rolling Stones kicked off their "50 and Counting" tour at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on May 5, 2013, Keith Urban wasn't in the audience. He was onstage playing with Mick Jagger and the boys.
That night Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood played an extraordinary 23-song set to a sold-out crowd. Fans got a special treat when they played "Emotional Rescue" live for the very first time, as well as "Honky Tonk Women," "Start Me Up," "Miss You," "Tumbling Dice," "Brown Sugar," "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll," "Paint It Black" and "Gimme Shelter."
Many fans were on their feet throughout the entire show. The Stones ended their two-hour-plus show with a three-song encore of "Can't Always Get What You Want," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Satisfaction."
The band was joined on stage by special guests, Gwen Stefani on a moving rendition of "Wild Horses," former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor on "Midnight Rambler" and Urban on a smoking performance of "Respectable."
The country superstar and popular "American Idol" judge recently recalled the performance in an interview with the Times Colonist.
When asked what the night's experience was like, Urban declared that it was "phenomenal." He went on to say, "It's hard to describe that one. Surreal, obviously. I just wish it was a longer song, really. Mick picks a two-and-a-half minute song ('Respectable') and it's like, bummer, I wish we could have chosen 'Sympathy for the Devil' or something that's a little bit longer. It was really fun playing with him. I just loved it."
Urban reveals that he first met Jagger because the country star's wife, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman, had been long-time friends with designer L'Wren Scott, Jagger's partner of 13 years until her suicide on March 17 of this year.
"You know, I had met Mick a couple times. My wife and L'Wren Scott had been friends for like 20 years, so that's how Mick and I met, was through my wife and his partner. So the whole thing was quite organic."
Urban remembers the show's rehearsals and Jagger's musical "ferocity."
"The great thing was getting to rehearsals in the afternoon when we were playing at the Staples Center, and there's all the boys up there running through all the songs for the show," explained Urban. "Their ferocity, particularly Mick's, it's really matchless. He's one of the great, great frontmen of all time, and to be inches away from him singing on the same mic, was a really surreal experience."
Watch Urban's performance with The Rolling Stones here:
