Rolling Stones' drummer Charlie Watts has wowed a jazz club crowd in Perth, playing with the band's saxophonist Tim Ries in a brief impromptu performance.
Ellington Jazz Club manager Jess Herbert said Watts received a rapturous reception from Wednesday night's capacity crowd.
"The audience just went absolutely bananas," Herbert told Fairfax Radio.
Herbert said she believed frontman Mick Jagger had returned to the US a day or two after learning on Monday that his partner of 13 years, fashion designer L'Wren Scott, had died in New York.
Her suicide prompted the postponement of the veteran band's 14 On Fire tour of Australia, possibly until October.
Watts's gig, which was not been promoted beforehand, followed a performance by Rolling Stones backing singers at the Ellington on Monday.
One of the singers, Bernard Fowler, was to perform at the Ellington alongside Watts but had to depart Perth after his flight was rescheduled, Ellington Jazz Club director Graham Wood said.
Mr Wood said Watts was "a lovely fellow" who was up for a relaxing night playing to a crowd much smaller than what he was used to.
"It was a real treat to be able to have Charlie down at the club and obviously he's got up and played a few numbers too," Mr Wood told AAP.
"It's always a bit of pot luck with famous names whether they show up or not. So it was great to see Charlie come.
"He went from 13,500 people to 135 people. That's capacity - it was a full house."
Some of the rockers remain in the West Australian capital after flying in on Sunday night and are rumoured to be departing mid-afternoon on Thursday.
Watts and guitarist Keith Richards were seen dining at an Indian restaurant in the Perth suburb of Highgate on Wednesday night. It's not clear whether guitarist Ronnie Wood is still in Perth.
Watts and Wood have released a statement reassuring Australian fans they will continue their tour. But they say their first priority is to support Jagger, who had been in a 13-year relationship with Scott.
"Needless to say, we are all completely shocked but our first thought is to support Mick at this awful time," Watts said.
"We intend to come back to Australia and New Zealand as soon as it proves possible."
Wood said he was confident the Stones would soon be back on stage.
"This is such terrible news and right now the important thing is that we are all pulling together to offer Mick our support and help him through this sad time," he said.
"Without a doubt we intend to be back out on that stage as soon as we can."
It's not the first time a Rolling Stones tour has been marred by death.
In 2006 Jagger's father, Joe, died from pneumonia in a British hospital at the age of 93.
The rocker was in Las Vegas for a concert when he learnt the news.
