Following a leak of plans for The Rolling Stones to return to tour Australia next year, touted to play as the first band to open the redeveloped Adelaide Oval, it’s now official.
Following persistent rumours since they began touring again for their 50th Anniversary last year, the legendary quartet of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts will be playing their first South Australian show in two decades in 2014.
The Rolling Stones will perform a blockbuster concert to an audience of 70,000 people to christen the upgraded Adelaide Oval in the South Australian capital on Saturday 22nd March, right at the tail-end of the city’s busy festival season, which includes the Fringe and Adelaide Festivals, the Clipsal 500 V8 Race and Womadelaide – just a week after the state election.
Frontier Touring, who were namechecked by South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill as one of the “two of Australia’s biggest concert promoters” that were pitching offers to the Rolling Stones are the ones to have ensnared the band for the redeveloped Adelaide Oval grand re-opening, presenting the concert in association with AEG Live and International Entertainment Consulting (IEC).
As for a full Australian Tour from the band, a press statement confirms that “more Rolling Stones concerts in Australia, and one in New Zealand, will be announced by Frontier Touring & AEG Live in the next few weeks.”
Rumours had pegged the offers from Mushroom mogul Michael Gudinski’s Frontier at “at least several million dollars” to get the Glastonbury Festival headliners to perform at the $500 million dollar renovated venue, in a city they have skipped over on their previous two Australian visits – including their latest Down Under check-in: the 2006 A Bigger Bang World Tour. “More Rolling Stones concerts in Australia, and one in New Zealand, will be announced by Frontier Touring & AEG Live in the next few weeks.”
“Hi everyone down in Adelaide, it’s been a while since we were in your back yard,” teases Keith Richards of the show, “see you on March 22 when we’ll take over your new stadium and make it our own, look forward to it.”
For their grand Adelaide return in March 2014, the band are pulling out all the stops, with Frontier Touring hyping the concert as “one of the biggest, if not the biggest, stage and production Adelaide has ever seen with nearly 60 trucks required for all the staging and production.”
Along with the usual arena rock effects and visual trimmings, the band will be able to interact with the audience via a stage design that includes a massive 30-metre-long ramp that extends into the crowd.
The best news of all for diehard fans, is that The Rolling Stones will be bringing guitarist Mick Taylor, a Stones member from 1969-1974, along for the ride as a special guest.
Tony Cochrane, of IEC adds: “Adelaide Oval and the Government asked me to come up with the biggest night I could think of for this one off event to re-open Adelaide Oval – that made it easy – it had to be The Rolling Stones and it had to be on a massive scale! ”
Despite bluffing that the Rolling Stones return was “pure speculation”, Previous reports had indicated that Premier Weatherill’s office had used less than $500,000 of taxpayer money to help lure the Stones as the opening band of the new Adelaide Oval, which has undergone a $500 renovation.
The venue’s CEO, Andrew Daniels, says that the legendary rock band will hopefully be the first of many to hit South Australia as a result of the redeveloped Oval. “To have The Rolling Stones perform at what will be the first major non-sporting event at Adelaide Oval is outstanding and we’re thrilled it will take place at our new stadium,” he says.
The Rolling Stones At Adelaide Oval
Saturday 22nd March 2014 – Adelaide Oval, SA
w/ special guest Mick Taylor
Pre-sale tickets will go on sale from 11.00am ACST on Thursday 21 November until 6.00pm ACST Friday 22 November (or earlier if pre-sale allocation is exhausted)
General public tickets will go on sale at 9.00am ACST Monday 25 November
Tickets will be available through Ticketek either by visiting www.ticketek.com.au or www.adelaideoval.com.au
Ticket prices will start at $79 for General Admission tickets.
More Rolling Stones concerts in Australia, and one in New Zealand, will be announced by Frontier Touring & AEG Live in the next few weeks.
