December 6, 2005 10:59

The Rolling Stones to tour again

The band hint that they won’t stop hitting the road

Photo Gallery: The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have hinted that they will keep on touring after their current world jaunt wraps up.

The band will kick off the European leg of their ‘A Bigger Bang’ global trek at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium on May 27 next year and wind up at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on August 29, but have said that if someone suggests extending the dates they will accept.

When asked whether this live jaunt was the Stones’ last, drummer Charlie Watts said: “I said ‘Yes it is’ in 1966. I remember coming down the stairs on an aeroplane and being asked. Yes it is, but no it won’t be. I don’t know - I don’t care if it is or if it isn’t.”

“If I’m standing at the end of Europe which is the last leg at the moment and they offer something else I imagine we’ll say ‘yes’ and off we’ll go,” he added. “What is hard is doing these things for a year long - they are quite tiring, being away that long.”

Speaking to Virgin Radio, Watts also revealed what would happen if any of the band died.

“If any of us dropped over we’d carry on,” he said. “I think with Mick (Jagger) - Mick and Keith (Richards) - it would be difficult to carry on but me or Ronnie (Wood) I think they could get (deputies) quite easy. I don’t know it would ever be the same. The Who was never the same without Keith Moon, mainly because Keith was such a character.”

“I don’t mean I am like that, but it is a different Who. It is getting a bit late in the day, if anything did happen I’d call it a day, well I’d call this band a day. I don’t think you could do it without Mick and you couldn’t do it without Keith. They’re such strong characters.”