Rolling Stones Announce '50 and Counting' North American Tour Dates

This morning the Rolling Stones finally released dates for their "50 and Counting" North American tour.

SEE THE TOUR DATES / '50 AND COUNTING' PHOTOS

The U.S. dates, which were first reported by Billboard last month, will begin early next month on the West Coast, with announced markets including a stop at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, (date TBD, depending on NHL playoffs); May 5 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.; May 8 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose; May 11 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas; May 15 at the Honda Center in Anaheim; May 25 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto; May 28 at the United Center in Chicago; June 12 at the TD North Garden in Boston; and June 18 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. CitiCard members will have access to presale tickets beginning Friday through Citi’s Private Pass program, with details at citiprivatepass.com.

As reported earlier, AEG Live will promote the North American shows. A source confirmed to Billboard that AEG Live has 18 shows to work with; only nine shows have been announced thus far, so multiples are a given. Essentially, the Stones are treating these shows as “destination” events, which -- given the international appeal of the five 50th anniversary shows last December in London and the New York area -- is an approach they can undertake with confidence.

A New York play is notably absent from this year's route, but that metro market was covered in December with shows at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. At this point, though, it looks like Texas and the Southeastern U.S. will get no satisfaction, at least in this first part of the band's "50 and Counting" tour. As always with the Stones, there could be more to come; for updates, exclusive content and other Stones goodness, fans should check out the Official Rolling Stones App Presented by Citi, a deal that, along with the presale with Citi, was brokered by New York City-based agency MAC Presents, on behalf of the Stones.

The "And Counting" part of the tour’s title is no accident, as the Stones will not end their 2013 touring in Philadelphia. The band will move its touring machine overseas, first back to the U.K. for the Glastonbury Festival on June 29, and then AEG Live will promote two dates at London’s Hyde Park on July 6. If those shows blow up as expected, more dates could well follow in global markets, and sources tell Billboard that Australian promoter Paul Dainty will probably be involved in international shows.

That should be some consolation for Dainty. As reported in March, a deal was initially struck for Dainty and Virgin Music to promote the North American tour, but that plan fell through for financial reasons. AEG Live, a bidder to work with the Stones dating back to well before the December dates, got their shot with an (unconfirmed) guarantee of about $80 million.  It was Dainty and Virgin that ponied up an estimated $25 million to present the band’s 50th Anniversary shows late last year, which grossed a total of $38,687,010 and sold 73,702 tickets, according to Boxscore.

Rolling Stones North American Tour Dates:

Early May   Los Angeles  Staples Center
May 5        Oakland        Oracle Arena
May 8        San Jose       HP Pavilion
May 11      Las Vegas     MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 15      Anaheim       Honda Center
May 25      Toronto         Air Canada Centre
May 28      Chicago         United Center
June 12     Boston           TD North Garden
June 18     Philadelphia    Wells Fargo Center