Shine a light

The Rolling Stones may be the stars on the du Arena stage on Friday, but they are backed by a set of cracking musicians and a professional technical crew. We speak to some of the key personnel on their way to the capital with the legends.

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 12: The Rolling Stones perform at TD Garden on June 12, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. Paul Marotta/Getty Images/AFP

The Rolling Stones 14 on Fire tour is a celebration of more than 50 years of the band’s existence. Beginning in Abu Dhabi, the tour then moves on to China, Singapore and Australia before concluding in New Zealand in April. Since The Rolling Stones are not releasing any new material, the shows are mostly a greatest-hits affair with a few obscure tracks and covers to keep seasoned fans engaged.

Shape-shifting show

Despite being involved in mammoth tours by the likes of AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Madonna, 14 on Fire’s tour manager Dale Skjerseth says there are always nerves on opening day.

“It’s a completely different tour,” he says. “We want to make sure that everything is right. I don’t relax until the last chord is played.”

With the band playing at a range of venues and in front of different-size crowds – more than 30,000 tickets were sold for the du Arena show, while Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium will host about 50,000 people – Skjerseth says The Rolling Stones’ backstage army differs in size throughout the tour.

“People come out, people go back home, depending on the show we are doing,” he says. “The number of people it takes to get the show up, running and take it down will change with the needs of the different stages and different venues. There are a whole lot of moving parts to this tour.”

Interactive platform

The du Arena gig is going to be as up-close and interactive as a stadium show allows. The interactive stage design is based on the band’s iconic tongue and lip logo.

The band will be stationed at the tip of the tongue; they can also interact with the crowd via a large, T-shaped platform reaching as far as the middle of Golden Circle. Those who shelled out the whopping Dh3,295 for early access to the Fire Pit can rush to the edge of the platform for a good chance of touching Mick Jagger’s shiny boots.

Visual highlights

Elegant and dynamic are the visual themes for this tour, explains the lighting director Patrick Woodroffe.

The British designer has been casting artists – from Bob Dylan and Bee Gees to Take That – in the best rays for four decades.

“This is not a group that needs a lot of special effects,” he says. “What they require is a solid performance area – ‘the office’, as Keith Richards calls it – and then a wonderful array of lighting and video to surround them to enhance their performance and to make it easier for them to connect with the audience at the very back of a large auditorium or stadium.”

Backed up

Long-term Rolling Stones fans will know some of the low-key musicians performing behind the group. Backing Jagger on the vocal front are the American R&B singers Bernard Fowler and Lisa Fischer. Both have been performing with the singer for more than two decades.

On the bass is Darryl Jones, who has been the unofficial fifth member of the group ever since Bill Wyman retired in 1993. On the keys is the former Allman Brothers Band member Chuck Leavell, who has been gigging with the Stones since 1981.

“It is an amazing experience,” Fowler says from the band’s rehearsals in Paris. “We have been preparing for over a month and everyone is excited to go out and visit new places.”

Fowler, whose three-decade career has seen him perform with a wide array of artists, from Herbie Hancock to Pearl Jam, labels Jagger as rock and roll’s greatest frontman.

“He is very generous. He has taught me a lot,” says Fowler. “The biggest lesson is to be healthy. To treat my body as an instrument.

“The thing about Jagger is that he is one hundred per cent live. What you will hear is him. There is absolutely no backing tapes like some other acts. He is simply incredible.”

• The Rolling Stones perform at du Arena on Friday at 7.30pm. A limited number of tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.ae. To read an extended interview with Bernard Fowler, go to www.thenational.ae/scene-heard