Rolling Stones Rumored to Play Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Twice, 18 Date Summer Tour Planned
After playing a handful of dates last year in the U.S. and London, it looks like the Rolling Stones will finally get around to a North American tour that will include 18 concerts. Two of those will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Rolling Stone reports that a “concert business source” has confirmed the group will play 18 shows in North America, and that Australian promoter Paul Dainty and Virgin Music will promote the tour. No word yet on whether the dates will be officially part of the “50 and Counting” tour, which is how the dates last year were known.
“May 2nd is the launch day,” a different source told Rolling Stone. “I’ve heard West Coast cities – L.A. and Seattle. But I think they’re going to do some back East as well.”
Billboard also reports that the group will play less than 20 shows this year, and that an official announcement will be made later this month.
It might be assumed that if the Stones are going to tour North America they are likely to tour Europe or at least the U.K., as well – though no official word has been released. However, UK band Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno may have inadvertently shed some light on the matter when asked if his group’s performance at the Hard Rock Calling festival on June 29th will be the most talked about performance of that weekend.
“Yes,” he replied, “that would be a miracle because the Rolling Stones are playing Glastonbury. I can imagine there will be a lot of people there waiting to see them.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stones’ first album, and though many thought the band would tour extensively last year, the band said it would wait and celebrate the milestone this year.