stones Tour97

(Dateline: May 2, 2002 -- New York City) It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the friggin' Rolling Stones!

That's right, the Stones are scheduled to touch down via blimp in The Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park in New York City next Tuesday, May 7, at around 1 PM. (Central Park was the preferred destination, but there were logistical problems.)

Once they disembark, they will announce their 2002-2003 world tour. (You can catch the press conference live on VH-1.)

The tour will most likely begin in Boston the first week of September. From there, the itinerary may include Chicago, Philly, and New York to round out the month, before hitting places like Washington, Cleveland, Toronto, and Atlanta during October. November could find them on the west coast, hitting cities like L.A., San Francisco, Oakland, and Vegas before they break for December. Things could resume in January, with them revisiting places like New York, Chicago, and Boston, before moving overseas to Australia, Japan (maybe even China) during the spring of 2003 and Europe that summer. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Right now, nothing's confirmed and a lot of it is still coming together. Tickets for some shows, however, may go on sale as early as Wednesday (the 8th), via the tour promoters' web site (cc.com), or on Saturday (the 11th), via the usual ticket outlets. Best advice is to stay tuned to all media. This page will try to update as frequently as possible, but perhaps not as often as you'd like. (You gotta remember, I did this for seventeen years as a full-time job. I'm retired.) Other Stones sites on the web may be more up to date.

Ticket prices may range from 50 to 150 bucks for the stadium shows, 90 to 350 dollars for the arena shows, and $100 or $150 for the theatre dates. (Rumored theatres: Orpheum in Boston, Wiltern in L.A., Tower in Philly, and Roseland or the Apollo in New York. But let's stress, it's all purely speculation at this point.) In some cities, you'll get a venue of each kind -- stadium, arena, theatre -- with the Stones' promoter cutting you a package deal if you take tickets for all three.

It'll all be clearer come Tuesday, May 7, and in the weeks to follow. (And I'm sorry to report, unlike tours past, Beggars Banquet will not be arranging tickets or passes for subscribers. See "retired" statement above. So please do not inquire. The tour hasn't been announced yet and a hundred-or-so requests have already poured in.)

Okay, so what have the Stones been doing in the last few weeks to prepare for life on the road?

Well, Mick met the press on April 11 when he turned up at New York's Beekman Theatre for the premiere of "Enigma," the film he co-produced with Lorne Michaels. (Getting good reviews.)

Keith's been keeping his chops together by playing with folks like Willie Nelson. He flew to Nashville to take part in an April 14 tribute to Willie at the Ryman Auditorium. There, he and Willie, joined by Ryan Adams and Hank Williams III, tackled "Dead Flowers." Sheryl Crow joined Keith for "The Worst." And then Keith returned to the stage for the all-star encore of "Move It On Over." It's supposed to be televised on the A&E Network, May 6, and on the USA Network, May 27.

As for Ronnie, he's been readying himself for the tour by having completed his well-publicized rehab stint at the Cottonwood-Meadows Clinic in Tucson, Arizona. Contrary to rumors, the boy is still a member of the Rolling Stones.

Following the press conference, the Stones will probably leave New York for a place like Paris, to lay down a few new tracks for their upcoming CD release. (A mixture of old and new songs.) Then, they'll head to Toronto late July to begin rehearsing for the tour. (Surprise warm-up gig there likely.)

Stay tuned to this page (and other outlets) for further details.

STONES TOUR 2002 - 2003