Mick Jagger, Keith Richards Hint at Rolling Stones Tour Surprises
The Rolling Stones‘ upcoming “50 and Counting” shows are only hitting nine cities in May and June, but the rockers could add more gigs, along with a few other surprises. “Normally when you announce a tour like this, you announce part of it, you leave it to be, you see what happens, you might do a date here and another date there,” Mick Jagger told The Associated Press. “You don’t want to be completely hand fast, so you do leave some dates in between. So we’ll see what happens.”
The “50 and Counting” schedule noticeably leaves a gap of at least a few days between each show, suggesting either a nice break for the band or the potential for more concerts – in fact, the Stones today added second shows in Chicago and Toronto. “I think it’s a little bit of both,” Keith Richards said. “The band wants to pace themselves, but at the same time . . . I guess what’s been announced is the bare-bones and we will play it by ear from there.”
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The last string of shows featured guests including Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, and though the band didn’t go into specifics, they hinted at possible surprises for the upcoming gigs. “I have a feeling there’s more openness about playing it the same way,” Richards said. “I can’t name names or make promises, but that area of the show is open.”
Jagger also called the Stones’ shows in New York, New Jersey and London last year as a way to gauge the audience and themselves. “We just said, ‘Let’s do these five shows before Christmas and see how it goes and see if we enjoy it, see if the audience seems to have a good time, and if that works, then we’ll try to see if we’ll do more,'” he said. “We still wanted to keep it kind of limited. We didn’t want to have that yawning [tour] of hundreds of shows lined up for the next 18 months. I just thought it would be good if we booked a small tour, and then, you know, if we want to do more, we’ll do more.”
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Though he’s getting older, the 69-year-old Jagger knows his limits. “I just have to train a lot and keep really fit. I want to do these moves, but I can’t do them because if I did, I’d probably screw up,” he said. “You just got to do what’s within your capabilities. I don’t want it to look wrong, so I’m going to stay within my boundaries.”
The Rolling Stones kick off the next leg of their “50 and Counting” tour at Los Angeles Staples’ Center. The exact date is still to come, though the next show is set for May 5th at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. They’ll also visit San Jose, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Toronto, Chicago and Boston before closing out at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on June 18th. The band will then head to England to play the Glastonbury festival on June 29th.