The Rolling Stones thrilled 60,000 music fans last night as they ended The Isle of Wight Festival with a bang.

The performance, the legendary band's first at a UK festival in more than 30 years, was the finale of the annual music festival and part of the group's European tour.

Their two-hour set, which featured a specially-adapted telescopic stage which came out into the audience, included the hits Satisfaction, Sympathy for the Devil, Brown Sugar and songs from their new album A Bigger Bang.

The Stones, who also performed duets with both Amy Winehouse and Paolo Nutini, arrived at the Isle of Wight on their own privately chartered ferry for their 200-strong entourage including five Winnebago trailers and private security team.

Guitarist Keith Richards told Virgin Radio, which is covering the festival, that he was pleased to be playing to a home UK crowd.

He said: "It's kind of weird you know, for us. Coming back home is always like a bit more special. We just carry Britain with us really, our little bubble of it."

Richards said that he was still enjoying the buzz of performing live and added: "I really love to play on stage, it's a miracle and every couple of days I get to go out there and I enjoy a lot of things with a lot of people."

The Rolling Stones, whose last UK festival was Knebworth Fair in 1976, kicked off their European tour in Belgium this week with a 30-mile traffic jam of fans queueing to see them in the town of Werchter.

But the critics and 33,000 fans were wowed by the old-timers' A Bigger Bang tour which will feature 30 gigs across Europe including performances in Belgrade, Serbia, and in St Petersburg, Russia, which the band has never visited before.

In addition to making stops in Eastern Europe, the band will play in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Scandinavia.

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