Rolling Stones lure million-plus fans to Rio rockout

More than one million people have attended a free show by The Rolling Stones on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach, in one of the biggest-ever rock concerts.

The Stones kicked off the Saturday night gig with their 1968 classic, Jumpin' Jack Flash. The sexagenarian rockers blasted out 20 songs in total as eight video screens and more than a dozen sound towers broadcast the concert to fans far from the stage.

Fire department officials estimated that more than one million people had arrived by the time the music began.

As fans continued to pour in from across the country and beyond, they predicted that as many as two million people could eventually join the party.

The city deployed 10,000 police officers to keep watch at the concert, on streets and in volatile neighbourhoods.

They were joined by at least 600 firefighters, lifeguards and civil defence workers, while port authority crews patrolled the shoreline.

Some of the fans began staking out spots on the beach days earlier, sleeping there overnight.

The concert was part of the band's "Bigger Bang" tour, which opened in the United States in August 2005.

The concert organizers had touted it as the world's largest rock concert.

But an estimated 3.5 million people turned out to hear Rod Stewart play on Copacabana Beach on New Year's Eve in 1994.