Stones to add more tour dates

By MESFIN FEKADU

Associated Press

NEW YORK

If you’re upset that the Rolling Stones won’t be coming to your city on their upcoming nine-date tour, don’t be too stressed — the rockers say more dates may be added.

“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. You don’t want to be completely hand fast, so you do leave some dates in between,” said Mick Jagger in an interview Thursday. “So we’ll see what happens.”

The Stones announced that they’ll kick off their “50 and Counting” tour in Los Angeles; the date will be announced later. The second show is in Oakland, Calif., on May 5. They’ll also visit Las Vegas, Toronto, Chicago and Boston, and wrap in Philadelphia on June 18.

The announcement comes months after the foursome performed a sold-out, five-city stint in New York, New Jersey and London.

The Stones have at least three days in between tour stops, a sign that more shows may be added. Or the time could be used for rest.

“I think it’s a little bit of both,” Keith Richards said in a separate interview Thursday. “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.”

The Stones’ last global tour kicked off in 2005 and wrapped in 2007.

Jagger, 69, said he’s getting older — and performing can be tough.

“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, laughing. “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 veteran band, which also includes Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood, will headline the Glastonbury Festival on June 29 and will perform at London’s Hyde Park on July 6. Former bandmate Mick Taylor, who was a member of the Stones from 1969 through 1974, will be a special guest throughout the tour.

“I realized how much, not just [how I] myself have missed it, but I could tell from the other guys. They don’t say so, but I can tell,” Richards said of performing together. “It’s what we’re good at.”