Mick Jagger on Rolling Stones tour: ‘I suppose it’s some kind of achievement’
Rolling Stones frontman says band is looking forward to May 25 Toronto show
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is seen performing at a concert in Hyde Park, London in July, 1969.
PETER KEMP / AP
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is seen performing at a concert in Hyde Park, London in July, 1969.
By: Ben Rayner Pop Music Critic, Published on Fri Apr 05 2013
Maybe Toronto clings a bit too desperately to the Rolling Stones, but this city is to be forgiven, perhaps, for feeling a bit like a jilted ex-lover at the news that it won’t be playing host to rehearsals for the band’s upcoming “50 and Counting” tour.
The Stones — thanks mainly to a long-standing relationship with local concert promoter Michael Cohl — have used Toronto as the launching pad for numerous North American road jaunts since 1989’s Steel Wheels tour, including their last lengthy outing in support of the album A Bigger Bang in 2005. Alas, with Los Angeles-based promoter AEG Live handling the nine looming “50 and Counting” dates in North America, including one at the Air Canada Centre on May 25, Hogtown will be deprived of pre-tour bragging rights this time around.
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Keith Richards, left, and Mick Jagger at 12-12-12, The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York last December. Jagger says the band decided to do more shows because they enjoyed playing and audiences seemed to like it. zoom
Rolling Stones members,from left, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger, arrive at a central London venue July 12, 2012, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stones' first performance. zoom
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When the opportunity to chat with frontman Mick Jagger arose on Thursday afternoon, one question clearly presented itself: why ya gotta do us like that, Mick?
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“I thought you might say something like that,” laughed Jagger. “But yeah, it is kind of funny. It just worked out slightly differently, as things go. You can’t always do things the same way, for different reasons. So we’re starting in L.A. this time.
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“People are very welcoming and friendly and we have great memories. We’re very fond of Toronto and look very much forward to coming there. It was always great. And at least we’re still coming to Toronto.”
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True, this. Dates for the “50 and Counting” road show, which quietly began with a handful of 50th-birthday dates in London and New York last year, are in much shorter supply than they have been on previous Rolling Stones tours. Besides the nine North American stops — which kick off with a Los Angeles date in early May on a date to be determined by the NHL playoff schedule — there are only two others on the books at present: a June 29 headlining appearance at the U.K.’s Glastonbury festival and an outdoor show in London’s Hyde Park on July 6.
After that, “I don’t know, really,” says Jagger. “They always tend to expand a bit, but it’s not going to expand that much. It’s just bite-sized pieces.”
The original plan, he points out, was to simply do one gig in honour of the band’s 50th anniversary. That didn’t last.
“We said we we’re not going to promise that we’re gonna do more unless we really think it’s enjoyable, and people like it and it makes sense,” says Jagger. “And I think everyone did enjoy it and the audiences seemed to like it. So we thought, ‘OK, let’s do some more.’ But I don’t think anyone wanted to plan for 100 straight off, y’know? Nobody wants to stare down a kind of endless tunnel. When you book 100, it does feel a bit endless at the beginning. It’s like doing 10,000 push-ups or something all at once.
“I just think it’s better to plan ‘OK, if we want to do more later, then we’ll do more.’ But we don’t want to be beholden to doing more.”
Keith Richards, left, and Mick Jagger at 12-12-12, The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York last December. Jagger says the band decided to do more shows because they enjoyed playing and audiences seemed to like it.
Dave Allocca / AP FILE PHOTO
Keith Richards, left, and Mick Jagger at 12-12-12, The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York last December. Jagger says the band decided to do more shows because they enjoyed playing and audiences seemed to like it.
Let’s not forget here that Jagger, for all his cultivated youthfulness, will be turning 70 on July 26. Keith Richards is 69. Charlie Watts will be 72 in July. Ronnie Wood, the baby of the bunch, will be 66 in June. Hitting the road for two years at a time might finally be losing some of its appeal for the Rolling Stones. There’s only so much rolling one’s back can take.
“There does come a time when you obviously have to take that into consideration, that you might not be able to do it. But I suppose that’s not right now, so it’s a ‘We should be doing it’ type of thing,” chuckles Jagger. “I don’t know. I’m just living by 20 gigs at a time . . .
“Fifty years is a long time, generally, to be doing anything and still be doing it and, of course, still doing the same songs, a lot of them. But I suppose it’s some kind of achievement. You’re out there in front of these people still doing this thing that you did in a club when you were 19, basically. You’re doing almost the same thing. So is this something to be achieved or is this just stupid? You should really be doing something more sensible.”
Don’t say this is the last time, then, but . . . well, you know how the song goes. So just in case, it might be prudent for fans to take up Jagger’s invitation to post set-list suggestions “on the Rolling Stones app or website or something.” He also quips that “any suggestions for Toronto-specific or Canada-specific guests would be greatly appreciated.”
“We rehearse all these unknown numbers and then we get to them and we go: ‘Uh, I don’t know if we should do that,’” he says. “On those anniversary shows in England and New York, we were a bit gun shy of doing too many unknown numbers because it just didn’t feel right. But I think because we’re doing more shows on this tour, we probably will spread out a bit. I mean, we rehearsed quite a lot of different songs that we never did and a few covers that we’ve never done and that sort of thing.
“I don’t know the set list. We’ll try to get a really good set list for Toronto. I’m open for any set-list ideas. You can tell your readers that if they post any set-list ideas, I’ll be happy to look at them.”
UPDATE:
The Rolling Stones has added a second Toronto show, June 6, to its “50 and Counting” concert tour.
It will be held at the Air Canada Centre. Earlier this week, the first date, May 25th, was announced.
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