I have attended many impressive concerts over the years. Few of them, however, have been as exhilarating as The Rolling Stones' “50 & Counting” show, which is now on tour (in London, New Jersey and New York City). Never mind the timeless appeal of their numbers, or their slick and witty staging (songs such as “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction” were belted out on a stage shaped like a vast Mick Jagger-esque mouth). What really made me cheer and dance (badly) was the sight of men in their seventh and eighth decades of life wiggling their hips and rocking out.

True, the supernatural Jagger does not look 69: he still exudes extraordinary athleticism and sexual magnetism, dressed in skin-tight black jeans. In contrast, Ronnie Wood's haggard face showed his 65 years; Keith Richards, 68, and Charlie Watts, 71, both sported shocks of grey hair. Yet while their average age is apparently higher than that of the US Supreme Court judges, the group kept dancing for hours. Not bad for men who are technically old enough to draw a pension in the US and Europe.

Is there a wider message here? Most notably, if “pensioners” can now dance so wildly on stage, might it be time to rethink that whole concept of retirement? It is an intriguing issue, not least given the vicious fight about fiscal reform now under way everywhere from Athensto Washington.