For the first time in more than a decade, The Rolling Stones will spend the night together with Pittsburgh fans at Heinz Field on June 20.
The concert, which had been rumored for weeks, was announced at a news conference Tuesday morning at Heinz Field by Steelers president Art Rooney II standing in front of a Stones logo painted black and gold on the 50-yard line.
The legendary British Invasion band is launching the 15-city “Zip Code” tour beginning in May that coincides with the deluxe reissue of the classic 1971 album “Sticky Fingers” that featured the famed zipper cover conceived by Andy Warhol. The opening act has yet to be announced.
Tickets ($69 to $375) will go on sale at 10 a.m. April 13 at rollingstones.com. American Express Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public, beginning from 10 a.m. April 8 to 10 p.m. April 12.
The last time we saw the Stones in Pittsburgh was September 2005 at PNC Park on “A Bigger Bang” tour, which ran through 2007. Pittsburgh was not on the itinerary when the Stones regrouped for the “50 & Counting” tour, celebrating their 50th anniversary, in 2013.
“Obviously, they’re only doing 15 cities,” Mr. Rooney said. “One of the members of the team at [promoter] AEG, Paul Gongaware, is from Greensburg, and he had a little influence over the process. We had some hometown help, I guess you could say. We’re fortunate that we’re going to be one of the stops on the tour.”
The announcement was teased two weeks ago with cryptic billboards of the Stones logo and the words “Satisfaction Thursday.” That announcement, expected to be on March 19, was postponed till now, teased with new billboards last week that said “Tuesday.” It had been rumored on fan sites that the Stones might be playing “Sticky Fingers” in its entirety, but that was not part of Tuesday’s announcement.
The Stones, arguably the second most important band in the history of rock ’n’ roll after the Beatles, are ageless wonders with three of the four core members being septuagenarians: Singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards are both 71, drummer Charlie Watts is 73 and guitarist Ron Wood is 67. The Stones played their first Pittsburgh show 51 years ago on June 17, 1964, at West View Park Danceland and followed that with a Civic Arena show in 1965. Since then, the band also has played Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park.
“We are looking forward to being back onstage and playing your favorite songs,” Mr. Jagger said, in a promo video for the tour. He added, “People say, ‘How come you’re still doing this?’ but I can’t believe I did this when I was 20.”
The Stones bring the number of major concerts at Heinz Field this spring/summer to four, joining Kenny Chesney (May 30), Taylor Swift (June 6) and One Direction (Aug. 2). U2 and AC/DC both have announced stadium tours that do not have Pittsburgh dates — at least not yet.
For a number of years in the ’00s, the Chesney tour was the only one stopping at the stadium, and last summer, Luke Bryan was the lone concert at Heinz Field. In 2011, there were four scheduled — Mr. Chesney, Ms. Swift, U2 and Brad Paisley — but Mr. Paisley canceled, bringing the total to three.
“This was the first time we’ve ever done four shows here,” Mr. Rooney said, “so we’re looking forward to it.”
Heinz Field management estimated that the Bryan concert, which drew more than 50,000 fans, generated nearly $500,000 in direct taxes and another $150,000 in fees.
With better trash management, that show and the stormy Jason Aldean concert at PNC Park last summer calmed some of the concerns about the parking lot mess that came in the aftermath of the Chesney show in 2013.
See photos from the band’s most recent visit in 2005.
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com; 412-263-2576. Twitter: @scottmervis_pg.
First Published: March 31, 2015, 12:40 p.m.
