Stones’ Keith ‘nervous’ ahead of London gigs
EVEN old pros get stage fright, it turns out, as Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards admitted to nerves ahead of the band’s first London show in five years.
The Stones last played live in the capital in 2013 when they headlined two shows at Hyde Park.
Now Richards, singer Mick Jagger, guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Charlie Watts will play two dates at the London Stadium in Stratford — one tonight, supported by Liam Gallagher, the other on Friday, supported by Florence + The Machine — and another at Twickenham in June.
When asked about the group’s return to the city in which it formed in 1962, Richards joked about the weather and admitted to a little apprehension about the shows.
Richards said: ‘Depending on the weather! It will be great, I’m sure.
‘I mean, we started there, and they will probably be our most critical audience.
‘Playing your home town makes you nervous!’
Richards added that despite more than five decades of playing live together, none of his bandmates are planning to quit anytime soon.
‘It’s a habit! Its a lovely habit. It’s one of the few I haven’t given up!
‘It’s a joy to play with these guys, you know. And they all want to do it.
‘I mean, who’s going to be the first one of us to say, “I want to get off this bus”? Get out of here, right?! ‘Til you drop, you know?’
The Rolling Stones will kick off the UK leg of their No Filter tour with two shows at the home ground of Premier League club West Ham United, having played Dublin’s Croke Park on May 17.
As well as London, the rockers will also play stadiums in Southampton, Coventry, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Richards’ fellow guitarist Wood expressed his excitement about the band’s last UK show of the tour, which is at the home of English rugby.
Wood said: ‘I’m really looking forward to Twickenham because my dad came there when he was alive and kicking back in the ’70s.
‘I put him with Michael Caine and they had a great time in my dressing room!’
Author: Andrew Arthur
