The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and other legendary rockers take to the stage for mega show
With a combined age of 724, some of the biggest acts in history performed at the first of two weekends of the Desert Trip festival in California
“MONEY doesn’t talk, it swears” spat a young, bitter Bob Dylan back when he was feted as the coolest counter-culture icon of the Sixties. The times have indeed been a-changin’.
On Friday night the 75-year-old sauntered on to a stage in the Palm Springs desert to appear — on the same bill as five other legendary acts of his generation — at the most cash-soaked live music event ever.
Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, The Who and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters each pocketed £8million for the Desert Trip event.
It was a bonanza for organisers, too. The festival, held on a polo ground in Indio, California, is tipped to make £128million over two sell-out weekends.
Billed as a dream opportunity to see some of the biggest acts in history, it was also an astonishing display of wealth.
The payday is more than double that at Coachella, the world’s current highest-grossing music festival hosted at the same venue.
Glastonbury turns over less than a third at £37million.
Stones frontman Mick Jagger kicked off the party — dubbed “Oldchella” owing to the average age of the performers being 72 — with his band’s headline show on Friday night.
The 73-year-old hollered: “Welcome to the Palm Springs retirement home for genteel English musicians!”
Bandmate Keith Richards, 72, added: “It’s really nice to be here. It’s really nice to be anywhere.”
Revellers joke the drug of choice here is Viagra.
But the old rockers are clocking up the ailments too. Richards suffers from arthritis in his fingers, Young survived a life-threatening brain aneurysm in 2000 and The Who stars Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are both nearly deaf.
Around 75,000 fans — with an average age of 51 — packed into the stunning site for every night of the three-day festival.
The same number is expected to attend next weekend.
Each paid serious cash to see their idols, either in the flesh or on a 240ft-wide screen — the biggest ever seen at a live show.
A three-day ticket for the standing pit at the front of the sprawling venue costs £1,285.
The cheapest tickets in the general admission section, more than the length of a football pitch away from the stage, set fans back £320.
There are 1,000 flushing toilets and top chefs offer four-course meals with a “programme of wineries crafted by a world- renowned sommelier” in a fine-dining setting for an extra £160.
Fans can escape the sweltering heat in an air-conditioned tent hosting an art exhibition charting the acts’ five-decade careers.
The site is known for its awe-inspiring sunsets that turn the backdrop of mountains and palm trees into a stunning silhouette.
Once dusk fell on Friday, Dylan treated fans to some of his biggest hits.
The songwriter often avoids playing crowd-pleasing favourites, but he gave the crowd what they paid for with Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue and Make You Feel My Love, the ballad given a new lease of life by Adele’s 2008 version.
It was the Stones up next and they picked up the pace from the moment they burst into opener Start Me Up.
Jagger’s energy put younger members of the crowd to shame as his band blasted out hits including Gimme Shelter and Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
They covered Beatles hit Come Together, with Jagger cheekily introducing the song as a track by “some beat group you might remember”.
McCartney watched on from a VIP cabana at the top of one of the site’s grandstands.
Jagger and Co also played a track from their upcoming release Blue & Lonesome, their first studio album in more than a decade.
A Stones insider explained the preparation that goes into putting on such a spectacular show, saying: “Mick is in training for a show like this for about two months.
"He works out every day and brings his personal trainer on the road. He’s like an athlete preparing for the Olympics.”
McCartney, 74, picked up the gauntlet from his peers to headline on Saturday.
The former Beatle — the richest of the rockers to take to the stage, with a fortune of £730million — played an incredible set packed with Fab Four classics, including A Hard Day’s Night, Let It Be and Eleanor Rigby.
He told fans: “Welcome to the desert. I do believe we’re going to have some fun here together.
“We’ve got some old songs, some new songs and some in-between songs. We’re going to have a party tonight — Liverpool style.”
related stories
In a set that felt intimate despite the huge crowd, Macca dedicated tracks to wife Nancy, his late wife Linda, producer George Martin and former bandmate John Lennon.
He was joined by Neil Young, 70, for a medley including Give Peace A Chance.
Young played the sunset set ahead of McCartney, performing classics including Heart Of Gold and Harvest Moon before closing on Rockin’ In The Free World.
Wearing a T-shirt reading “Water is Life” his political set covered a range of issues including women’s rights.
Mocking US presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Canadian legend said: “Come back tomorrow because Roger is going to build a wall and make Mexico great again.”
Waters, 73, and The Who closed the show last night as the acts headed to their sun-soaked California retreats to rest up before doing it all again next weekend.
Like those onstage, many of the celebs attending were of the more vintage variety.
Jagger was hanging out with Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood. Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas were there, while supermodel Cindy Crawford was in the crowd.
West Wing star Rob Lowe flew in on a private helicopter.
With the amount of cash on offer, it seems likely festival organiser Goldenvoice will repeat the event in future.
Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen are among the acts tipped to appear if Desert Trip returns next year.
Let’s just hope everyone survives that long.
