The bionic brain in the head of Keith Richards has been beaten vigorously with drugs, alcohol, and rock 'n' roll for the last 45 years or so and demonstrated little apparent ill effect.
Then, in the brain's greatest challenge yet, it was hurled to the sands of Fiji from its coconut tree aerie by its owner in April, proving to even the most steadfast doubters that this was a brain that could indeed take a licking and keep on ticking.
However, this time the brain did require a bit of an adjustment in the form of a craniotomy, involving drilling and/or cutting into the skull to remove pressure on the brain from internal bleeding.
But after this little 62-year tuneup and a little time to grab its bearings, the brain and its proud owner have made a "full recovery" and are ready to hit the road again as co-leaders of the Rolling Stones.
The Stones announced today — Charlie Watts' 65th birthday — they will now kick off their "A Bigger Bang European Tour" at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday, July 11, and do 21 stadium dates in 11 countries across Europe.
The concerts that were originally announced to take place in Barcelona, Madrid (Spain), Brussels (Belgium), Gothenburg (Sweden), St Petersburg (Russia), Brno (Czech Republic), Warsaw (Poland), Athens (Greece), Zagreb (Croatia), and Frankfurt (Germany) are still postponed. Concert promoters CPI/TNA are reportedly in the process of rescheduling these cities and ask ticket holders to hold on to their tickets and await further announcements.
The concerts originally scheduled for Nurnberg and Leipzeig, Germany, however, are cancelled.
Promoter Michael Cohl said, "We are delighted to announce the Stones tour is back on track and thank all the fans and ticket holders for their patience. 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."
Article comments
1 - Joey
Wow, 65. How much brain matter does it take to slog through the same R&R material for 40+ years. I saw them in '72 at RFK... they were terrible then (Stevie Wonder was great) and they're still baaaad! And that ain't good.
2 - Eric Olsen
actually, they were much sloppier in he '70s than they are now
3 - Mark Saleski
hey, i saw them this year and they were great. i mean, i was expecting sloppy (though i have to admit that i loved some of their sloppy play....the ugly appearance on saturday night live being the primo example) but was pleasantly surprised.
4 - F
My mom and I have been following your commentary on the Richards-Fiji incident and it has provided us with great amusement. This is the best one, I couldn't make it past the second paragraph/sentence for quite some time because I was laughing too hard, excellent choice of words.
I'm happy he is apparently ok and looking forward to the next opportunity I have to see the Stones.
"Good to be here, good to be anywhere"
5 - Eric Olsen
thanks to you and your mom, F, you made my day! Yes, none of it would be funny if Keith and his brain hadn't been so resilient - thanks again!