Seats So Close You Can Read Mick’s Lips

The Rolling Stones again? Already?

Normally, the British rock institution takes a five-year or longer break between starting up its tours. But there’s already talk about a new Stones tour even though they haven’t finished the “Voodoo Lounge” tour, which played the U.S. last year and continues through Europe this summer.

Plans are being quietly drawn up for Mick and Keith and the boys to return as early as February ‘96--and the shows would mark the first 15,000-seat arena tour for the group since the mid-’70s.

The tour would presumably follow the release of an acoustic album just recorded during the band’s Amsterdam shows.

The inspiration for the proposed tour apparently came when the band took time out from its U.S. stadium shows last October to play two nights at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden, which was scaled to 12,500 seats. Compared to the 75,000-seat Rose Bowl, that’s pretty cozy.

The prospect excites the nation’s concert promoters, who are looking to such hotly rumored ’96 possibilities as this and a Bruce Springsteen tour with his reunited E Street Band to pick up the slack from what is looking to be a lackluster ’95 for the concert business.

“If the Rolling Stones come back and play arenas in the round, where you make more good seats, and they do an unplugged portion and a rock ‘n’ roll portion, it would give a specialness to the show that was lacking in the outdoor ones,” says Brian Murphy, president of L.A.’s Avalon Attractions.

There’s already speculation that the Vegas shows could wind up inspiring something else for the tour: premium ticket prices. The MGM tickets ran from $100 to $300.

Stones insiders report that there’s been no official talk whatsoever about how much to charge for the tour, but no one would be surprised if the prices are on the high end.

“If the Stones were in fact doing an arena tour, everything about it would be extraordinary,” says Gary Smith, director of operations for the concert trade magazine Pollstar. “Including the ticket prices.”

And what about Springsteen and the E Street Band? He has said he wants to record an album this summer with the band, which could mean a tour next year.