“The Rolling Stones, sponsored by AARP” still hasn’t gotten old for me (see what I did there!). The spritely Stones released Hackney Diamonds in October, their first new music since 2005, and then announced their AARP-sponsored 2024 tour a few weeks later. Tickets for the 16-date tour went on sale December 1, but sponsor AARP granted its members early access for the last two days of November. And what happened? Boomers crashed the site, y’all! A fleet of salt-n-pepper haired fans were left screaming “C’mon, start me up!!” at their stalled computer screens. Just getting the hiccups out of the way early, right AARP? The New York Post chronicled this inauspicious launch:
After six decades, the Rolling Stones’ oldest fans still can’t get no satisfaction.
That’s what didn’t happen on Wednesday morning when the AARP site crashed after tickets for the Stones 2024 “Hackney Diamonds” tour went on presale for members of the oldie org, which is sponsoring the stadium trek.
But what was supposed to be an early-bird special proved to be anything but that.
A message on the site read: “We are currently experiencing technical difficulties and are unable to complete your request. Our team is actively working to fix the issue, and we hope to resolve it soon. Thank you for your patience.”
So much for those senior perks.
Of course, the Rolling Stones are rock-star seniors themselves. Mick Jagger, 80; Keith Richards, who turns 80 Dec. 18; and Ronnie Wood, 76, will be a combined 236 years old when the tour backed by the organization once known as the American Association of Retired Persons kicks off April 28 in Houston, Texas.
The two-month trek — which includes a headlining show at the New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 2 and a MetLife Stadium stop in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 23, before wrapping up in Santa Clara, California, on July 17 — is behind the Stones’ new album “Hackney Diamonds.”
The band released its first LP of original material since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang” — and its first since the 2021 death of beloved drummer Charlie Watts — in October.
Reflecting on the 18 years since their last album of new material in September, Jagger quipped, “We’ve been very lazy.”
Yes, Mick, very lazy indeed. I only wish I were that kind of lazy! And speaking of, NY Post is also reporting that the Stones have already added dates due to the high demand. Chicago, Los Angeles, and East Rutherford, NJ (where New Yorkers will be going) have each gotten a second show date. The tour stops were fairly spread out to begin with — like they said, the band is a collective 236 years old, rest time must be carved out! — so I imagine these additional dates weren’t too difficult to drop in. I tell you, between the Rolling Stones tour and the Spinal Tap sequel filming next year, 2024 is shaping up to be a renaissance for the ‘70s and ‘80s. As in the ages, not decades.
Photos credit: IMAGO/Sergio Ruiz / PRESSINPHOTO / Avalon, PA Images/INSTARimages and via Instagram
Cool! This is all just in time to celebrate my 75th next year. I’m not quite old enough to be a member of The Stones. Just in the demographic. Start me up! 🫨💓👏
Man, I still remember trying to get tickets back in, I think it was 2006, for The Stones and Paul McCartney too, thinking that as a 20-something at the time, it would have been my first and possibly last chance to see them play and yet here we are almost 20 years later! They were still amazing then and I hope I get tickets to see them now!
Great writing Kismet. You had me laughing out loud several times.
Nope. Just nope.
I saw the Stones a few DECADES ago and even then I was tired of the playlist (yes I realize new music, but again, Mick IS going to sing “Start Me Up”. NOPE!).
At this point in my life, when I spend precious dollars on concert tickets, I DO want to hear new music — preferably from a fine looking group of youngins. 👅
I would love to see The Stones, but the ticket issue and well honestly, Charlie’s passing, I’m still deciding.
We have tickets!
We had some problems with the AARP site when we tried to login early because they didn’t send my aunt the presale code and it kept freezing or prompting us to open a new account, until I put ROLLING STONES PRESALE CODE in the search 🔍 and it popped right up along with the Ticketmaster link. Six minutes later we had 6 tickets to Foxboro. My great aunt has not decided whether she will actually go or not – depends on the weather, but she has a group ranging in age from 15 to 85 going
I’d love to see The Stones live in concert! 💕
Can I just say that the AARP sponsorship tickles me to no end. Every time I hear the ticket ads on the radio in the car I giggle to myself. It really is the perfect marketing gimmick.
I am old enough for AARP but I got our tickets through the Stones website with their early code.
FWIW – my 13 year old son was the one who really wanted to go see them perform!!
Well, Can’t believe the Rolling Stones are in high demand right now cause they’ve never truly left anywhere… Sure, it might be their first new music since 2005; but they’ve been touring.
I just saw them in Los Angeles in 2021. It was a quick trip to LA and we got ticket last minutes, so they didn’t sell out the venue back then. Charlie Watts had just died months before so there was a very touching section of the concert to remember him.
My point is, don’t know why people are acting like the stones are back after a long hiatus or something.