On This Day – July 12th

The Rolling Stones' first concert was on 12th July 1962, fifty six years ago. It took place at the Marquee Club which was at the time located on Oxford Street in London.

From small clubs and hotels in London with little room for Jagger to move around to selling out stadiums worldwide, Rolling Stones tours have changed significantly over the decades. The Stones' early setups were simple compared to what they became later in the band's career when elaborate stage designs, pyrotechnics and giant screens were used. By the time the Stones toured America in 1969, they began to fill large halls and arenas, such as The Forum in Inglewood, California. They were also using more equipment, including lighting rigs and better sound equipment than they had used in clubs.

The 1969 tour is considered a "great watershed tour" by Mick Jagger because they "started hanging the sound and therefore hanging the lights". Attributing the birth of arena rock to the Stones 1969 US tour, The Guardian ranked it 19 on their list of the 50 key events in rock music history. Before this tour the loudest sound at large-capacity shows was often the crowd, so the Stones used lighting and sound systems that ensured they could be seen and heard in the biggest arenas. The Guardian commented that their "combination of front-of-house excellence and behind the scenes savvy took the business of touring to an entirely new level." During the 1972 tour, the Stones developed a complex light show which included giant mirrors that bounced the light off them.

The band's most recent tour, The No Filter Tour began on 9th September 2017 in Hamburg, Germany and had its final show last week on 8th July in Warsaw, Poland.

Mick Jagger is 74, as is Keith Richards whose continued living status is something of a miracle. Charlie Watts, the drummer, is 77 whilst Ronnie Wood is the baby of the group at just 71.

Having toured for all but around fifteen of their years as a band, just how many concerts have The Stones performed?

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