Mick Jagger strutted, Keith Richards hammered out chords and thousands sang along to classics such as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in Shanghai, China, Saturday.
But the song list was censored (five songs were banned), high ticket prices kept locals away and the guest star was a rocker who was temporarily banned after one of his songs became an anthem for pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Western rock and communism made for a strange blend Saturday night as the Rolling Stones finally made their debut on mainland China. As the audience in Shanghai showed, the Stones have yet to find a major following among the country's 1.3 billion people.