The Rolling Stones performing at the Echoplex in Los Angeles on Saturday

(AP) – The legendary group Rolling Stones rocked a small club in Los Angeles on Saturday night for a minuscule crowd compared to the thousands set to see them
launch their "50 and Counting" anniversary tour a week later on May 3 at the
Staples Center.

The band kicked off Saturday’s hush-hush 90-minute concert at the Echoplex in the
hip Echo Park neighborhood with "You Got Me Rocking" before catapulting into a
mix of new and old material, as well as their bluesy covers of classics from Otis
Redding ("That’s How Strong My Love Is"), Chuck Berry ("Little Queenie") and
The Temptations ("Just My Imagination").

"Welcome to Echo Park, a neighborhood that’s always coming up — and I’m glad
you’re here to welcome an up-and-coming band," lead singer Mick Jagger joked
after the second song of the evening, "Respectable."

Despite clocking in several decades as a band, Jagger, drummer Charlie Watts
and guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood showed no signs of slowing down Saturday.

"[This is] the first show of the tour, probably the best one," Jagger said at the end
of the 90-minute set.