The Rolling Stones are creating a new record by playing in front of the oldest crowds in rock ’n’ roll history.
All sixteen concerts are being sponsored by AARP – formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons – whose 38 million members are being offered the chance to buy up to eight tickets each before they go on general sale.
A stampede of golden oldies is expected on Wednesday when a special “first come first served” 36-hour online presale opens for every venue on the Stones’ Hackney Diamonds Tour, which opens in Houston, Texas on April 28 and ends in Santa Clara, California on July 17.
Fans under fifty who aren’t AARP members will have to wait until Friday to snap-up tickets for the concert series that some have already dubbed Steel Wheelchairs after the band’s famous 1989/90 Steel Wheels Tour.
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But, astonishingly, the wrinkly rockers themselves are still likely to be among the most senior citizens at every stadium gig – with the average age of AARP members reckoned to be a mere 65.
Sir Mick Jagger will turn 81 on July 28 – just nine days after their final performance in America – and fellow founding member Keith Richards will be 80 when he hits the stage following his birthday next month. Fellow “core member” Ronnie Wood, who joined the Stones in 1975, will celebrate turning 77 midway through the tour in June.
The group last played in North America on the No Filter tour in 2021, just weeks after the death of drummer Charlie Watts, who had missed only one concert through illness since joining the Stones in 1963, at the age of 80.
At least three songs from their extensive playlist – Start Me Up, Ventilator Blues and Harlem Shuffle – would definitely strike a chord with their upcoming US audiences……and here’s a selection of slightly-tweaked hits we think might appeal to the pensioners and senior citizens who will be cheering them on:
· Stumblin’ Jack Flash
· Time Is (Not) On My Side
· You Can’t Always Hear What You Want
· It’s (Almost) All Over Now
· Angie-oplasty