perfectly imperfect rock'n'roll at Sydney concert Keith Richards during the Sydney concert at Allphones Arena. Reviewer rating: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Rolling Stones Allphones Arena, November 12 Everyone has had their go at declaring the Rolling Stones a parody or an overused cliche. I know I have. Jumping Mick Jagger. And when they did those big props/big gesture/small emotion shows in the '90s and early 2000s those descriptions were alarmingly true at times. But it is harder to maintain the rage when they come across as loose, occasionally creaky but in-the-moment musicians. When they don't so much throw off the years or hide them as make them part of the story. It is what gives Honky Tonk Women, already a greasy bit of work, a level of dirt that means it is too working class to be called louche. Like, what's that mean orright? It is what takes Midnight Rambler - with not only Mick Jagger on harp but drop in, one-time Stone Mick Taylor on thrilling, all-along-the-watchtower guitar - from arena to bar to the kind of low rent juke joint where you don't talk to the barman, you don't even dare look at him. Warmed up by Taylor and Midnight Rambler after a somewhat tentative start to the night, they fall gleefully on Miss You, which builds and builds on its disco in the slaughter yard fee. Then on Gimme Shelter, which rumbles and threatens harm and yet gives Lisa Fischer a powerhouse vocal spotlight that is no poorer for being exactly how she's always come across in this spotlight spot. Jagger, who had been off for three songs - allowing Keith Richards a longer than usual stint up front that culminated, as ever, with a messy but good Happy - compensates for vocal flaws (and there is no hiding them in something like Brown Sugar) with an even more dynamic than usual physicality. It is almost enough to save Start Me Up, always a flashy but empty moment and tonight a series of miscues that are so comical Keith Richard and bassist Darryl Jones exchange a sheepish grin at the end. But the point isn't to save an ordinary song; it is to say simply that this is what they do, imperfections and all. If this is to be the last time - and I for one doubt it - the Rolling Stones are going out the way they came in: just doing it for the pleasure of doing it. Which isn't too bad a return, is it? The Rolling Stones play the Hope Estate on Saturday