DARTFORD’S favourite sons The Rolling Stones are having quite the 50th birthday celebration.
Unsurprisingly Mick and Keith are not heading back to their old manor but tribute band Not The Rolling Stones are. They are scheduled to play at Dartford Festival on Saturday, July 20.
The band’s Mick Taylor, otherwise known as Laurence Whitley from Eltham, said: “We model ourselves more on the golden era, around Exile on Main Street.
“We play all the hits. If you are going to do a Stones tribute you can’t not do songs like Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash, Brown Sugar or Gimme Shelter.”
“It is great fun, it is rock and roll but we work hard to get the sound right.
Vibe looked at how the two bands shape up:
THE ROLLING STONES
Formed: 50 years ago
From: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are from Dartford.
Met: Mick and Keith met at Dartford Train Station
Members: It has fluctuated, but for the most part five.
Most recent gig: Glastonbury, estimated crowd 170,000 plus millions on TV
Biggest gigs: To more than one million at Copacabana beach in Brazil in 2006.
Reaction: Five stars in The Guardian, The Mirror and Telegraph.
“The astonishing thing was that just short of 70 Mick Jagger and his band put so much of what had gone before at Glastonbury in the shade.” Gavin Martin, The Mirror
NOT THE ROLLING STONES
Formed: About five or six years ago
From: Laurence is from Eltham, other members are from Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Gloucestershire.
Met: Having played in other bands for years, a part time university professor and professional Mick Jagger lookalike got in touch and suggested they form a tribute band.
Laurence said: “We started off just trying it out and we got such a great response.”
Members: Seven
Most recent gig: The Globe Nightclub in Cardiff
Biggest gig: “We have played festivals around Europe – in Croatia, Belgium and Holland.
“Last year we did the British Consulate in Kuwait. We did a private gig for the Ambassador and about a thousand people there and flew back. Doing things like that is incredible.”
Reaction: “On Saturday night we were in Cardiff playing our own set,” Laurence said “I think they stole our audience a little bit.
“We strive really hard to get that Stones sound every time we play.”
For more information go to Dartford.gov.uk/festival
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