We went backstage at the rolling stones concert in vegas. Here’s what we saw | members only access

3 P.M. The musicians have started to arrive. Tim Ries, 64, who’s played saxophone with the Stones since 1999, strolls through the garage, near the tour’s massive bank of now-empty trucks.

“So, what’s it like touring with the Rolling Stones?” I ask. “They treat us like family,” he says, referring to how the three principals — Mick, Keith and Ronnie — interact with the other

musicians. “If you have that good vibe offstage, that’s going to translate onstage,” adds Ries, who’s also a jazz musician. “And the audience … you’re going to feel that good, really cool

energy.” He notes that he misses Charlie Watts, who “was a dear friend” and a fellow jazz aficionado. (Watts, the drummer for the Stones since 1963, died of cancer at age 80 in 2021.) “In

every city we’d go to jazz clubs,” when they toured together, and he even came to know Watts’ children and grandchildren. Ries then pulls out his sax and starts jamming. It sounds

incredible. And it’s just a warm-up. He packs it back up, smiles, then strolls off, headed to his dressing room to get his four saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone) and their reeds

ready, before showing up for the sound check. (He’ll be joined onstage by Karl Denson on saxophone.) 5 P.M. Photos and videos are not permitted during the hour-long sound check, when the

band takes the stage. And there’s Mick, in jeans and a baseball cap, running through a few of the songs from the show’s set list with Keith, Ronnie and the band. They work through “Let’s

Spend the Night Together” (tonight’s the first time they’ll be playing it on this tour), “You Got Me Rocking,” and “Like a Rolling Stone,” a Bob Dylan cover that the audience will go wild

for. Keyboardist Chuck Leavell Christina Ianzito 6 P.M. The sound check’s over, and I corner keyboardist Chuck Leavell, 72, before he heads back to his dressing room, which he shares with

bassist Darryl Jones, 62, “my roomie.” Jones joined the band some 20 years ago, after Bill Wyman left the group. Leavell, a former member of the Allman Brothers Band, has been with the

Stones since 1982, and serves as their musical director. (Fun fact: He’s also a big environmentalist and owns a tree farm outside of Macon, Georgia.) “When I started, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t

it be great if I could get maybe four or five years with [the Rolling Stones]. That would just be amazing. Forty-two years later, here we all are. It’s really remarkable.” And no, Leavell,

who sports a white beard and near-shoulder-length hair, is not anxious, a few hours before showtime. “It’s really more for me focusing on what is it going take to put on the best show

possible, to keep those people happy, to keep the smiles on their faces.” Then he’s off to see his pal Jones and pick out what he wants to wear tonight. (Left to right) Ronnie, Margaret and

Thomas Sokol Christina Ianzito 7 P.M. Shooed away from the backstage area, I hang out by an entrance to watch fans as they walk into the now-buzzing arena. Some look positively giddy,

including Margaret Sokol, 54, from Houston, who’s joined by her husband, Ronnie, 69, and their (comparatively unenthused-looking) 20-year-old son, Thomas — all three in matching black

Rolling Stones T-shirts. “I wanted to see the Stones when I was 11 years old in New Orleans at the Superdome,” Sokol says, “but my parents absolutely put their foot down and refused to let

me go.” With a grin, she adds, “I’m rebelling now!”