While The Rolling Stones‘ Australian leg of their highly anticipated 14 On Fire tour did not go ahead as planned, the legendary outfit’s drummer, Charlie Watts, couldn’t seem to keep himself from a stage, throwing himself behind a kit at the 135 person-capacity Ellington Jazz Club in Perth.
As theMusic.com.au reports, the iconic drummer joined saxophonist Tim Ries and the band onstage for an impromptu jam. Punters inside the expectedly cramped venue were treated to some jazz improvisation, as well as a few Stones classics, including Honky Tonk Woman and Satisfaction.
“It’s the Ellington, which isn’t a really big venue, so you can imagine everyone was huddled in, probably as many people as they could fit into the space. I’d found out about the show on the day… it was kind of a big surprise that he was going to play last night,” punter Tom Beech told theMusic.
“It was awesome. When he came on, there was a roar. Everyone just got very excited and started moving toward the front to just watch one of the greats. It was obvious that he comes from a jazz background; he was improvising a lot, and just working a lot through a jazz routine,” he continued.
“He did get pretty rocky, though. There was a cover of Satisfaction in there, and a few other big rocky moments.” Readers can check out a short clip of Watts, who’s been known to jam with jazz musicians while on tour, playing through the classic 1969 Stones cut Honky Tonk Woman below.
Watch: Charlie Watts on Drums at Ellington Jazz Club, Perth – Honky Tonk Woman
http://youtu.be/la-OAZ_CDjU
