Rolling Stones statue at Honeysuckle

We caught up with Dane at Honeysuckle, where a statue of the band’s iconic Hot Lips logo has been installed to promote a Rolling Stones exhibition in Sydney. 

Dane first became acquainted with the Stones’ music as a youngster.

“I got it drummed into my head by my mum and dad as a little kid. They’re big fans of the Stones, too,” Dane, 37, said.

“I got my first Stones CD when I was 10. My dad took me to my first Stones concert at the SCG in 1995 when I was 13.”

When the band toured Australia in 2014, Dane travelled to Adelaide and Perth to see them. He also attended the gig at Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley.

In 2016, he flew to Chile and Argentina to see the band perform there.

“It’s the buzz of it all. The music is like nothing else. You can’t explain it until you see them,” he said.

“There are no other bands that have Keith [Richards] and Mick [Jagger].”

Dane has several Rolling Stones tattoos, including the tongue logo, an image of Richards’ skull ring and song names.

He’s spent big on tickets, paying $900 for a VIP ticket in the “tongue pit” close to the stage in Perth. A ticket for the Adelaide show set him back $580. And the trip to South America wasn’t cheap, either.

“They’re doing a North American tour next year. I’m thinking about going to the show in Pasadena in LA in May,” he said.

The music, he said, makes him “feel incredible”.

“It brings back memories. It’s just in my blood, I think,” he said.

Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones Exhibit, is being held in Sydney at the International Convention Centre until February 3.

Dane received a special invitation to the exhibition shortly before it opened.

“It’s unbelievable. Even if you weren’t a Stones fan, it’d be good to go. Even if you were just a rock’n’roll or music lover. I walked around it for 3.5 to four hours. I’m looking forward to going back down.”

Topics reported yesterday on the Roman and Greek sea gods, King Neptune and Poseidon.

And, so, naturally, we wondered whether these all-powerful sea gods could help out the ailing Great Barrier Reef. If not them, perhaps the superhero Aquaman might help. We’re blaming this fantasy on the pending release of the Aquaman film.

Plus, it is the silly season. Funnily enough, things seemed to get even sillier when we received a press release from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

“A dose of good bacteria could prevent Great Barrier Reef corals from bleaching,” the press release said.

The foundation added that it had given $150,000 to Brazilian Professor Raquel Peixoto for an “innovative project” on “coral probiotics”.

“Laboratory testing by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro researcher has already shown promise for probiotics preventing bleaching in heat-stressed corals in an aquarium environment.”

Foundation managing director Anna Marsden said the idea of giving probiotics to corals to improve their health was “just like people taking probiotic yoghurts full of good bacteria to counter the negative effects of taking antibiotics”.

The foundation was embroiled in controversy earlier this year when the federal government gave it a $440 million grant.