Stones European Tour Back On
The Stones are finally rolling.
Temporarily postponed after guitarist
Keith Richards accidentally injured his head in a fall while on holiday in Fiji, the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang trek is starting up again with a newly revamped schedule that will take the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band to over 11 European countries.
Confirming on the Stones official Website that the axeman has made a “complete recovery,” tour promoters unveiled a fresh slate of stadium shows that will kick off in Milan, Italy on July 11 and make stops in over 20 cities including Vienna; Munich; Berlin; Paris; Amsterdam; Zurich; Porto, Portugal; Valladolid, Spain; London; Glasgow; and Bergen, Norway, among others.
“We are delighted to announce the Stones tour is back on track and thank all the fans and ticket holders for their patience,” promoter Michael Cohl commented in a statement. “We have put in as many shows in as many countries as was feasible. This is still going to be the most incredible rock show ever.”
For his part, Richards offered a mea culpa to fans for the delay.
“Excuse me, I fell off of my perch!” the 62-year-old rock god said. “Sorry to disrupt everyone’s plans but now–it’s full steam ahead! Ouch!!”
Two concerts in Nuremburg and Leipzig, Germany set for July 10 and 12 that were to feature a highly-anticipated reunion with Guns N’ Roses have been canceled. No word whether G N’ R will open any other dates.
The original itinerary kicked off May 27 in Barcelona and was supposed to hit 15 cities through June and July in Madrid; Brussels; Frankfurt; Athens; Warsaw; Gothenburg, Sweden; Zagreb, Croatia; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Brno, Czech Republic. Organizers added that they are in the process of rescheduling those affected gigs and will release an update in the coming days.
The European leg of the Stones A Bigger Bang jaunt was initially put into doubt after a little bang Richards suffered following a highly publicized spill he took on Apr. 27 while vacationing at Fiji’s posh Wakaya Club. The exact cause of the fall remains unclear. Various news accounts had the ageless fretman either falling on his melon while trying to pluck a coconut from a palm tree or falling off a Jet Ski.
Richards was flown to a New Zealand hospital where, according to his publicist, Fran Curtis, he underwent minor surgery to relieve pressure on his brain after sustaining a “mild concussion. Curtis denied Richards suffered any brain damage and repeatedly claimed he was on the road to recovery.
The rep also readily dismissed a story by the New Zealand Herald that the accident-prone wildman’s condition was more grave than initially thought.
The newspaper quoted sources saying Richards underwent a craniotomy for a subdural hematoma–a blood clot that forms on the outer membranes of the brain–and a major operation that requires drilling through and removing a portion of the skull.
The band’s camp denied the report and said the hard-living rocker had flown back to his Westport, Connecticut home in the U.S. to continue recuperating and was “feeling great…and looking forward to getting back on the road.”
Per the Stones’ Website, Richards has now made a “complete recovery” and was excited to get back onstage again. (E! Online)
