Rolling Stones announce first British concerts in five years

[February 26, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - Rockers The Rolling Stones announced their first British concerts in five years on Monday, including shows at two different stadiums in London.

The band, first formed in 1962, are one of the most successful touring acts currently working. As part of their "The Stones - No Filter" tour, they will play five shows in Britain, as well as concerts in Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ireland.

The tour began in September and has seen the band play more than a dozen shows in European countries so far.

"It' such a joy to play with this band there's no stopping us, we're only just getting started really," guitarist Keith Richards, 74, said in a statement.

The new leg of the tour will commence in Dublin's Croke Park stadium on May 17, before moving to Britain and Europe in June, before the final shows in Prague and Warsaw in July.

The band last performed in Britain in 2013, when they played at the Glastonbury music festival and in London's Hyde Park.

Those one-off shows aside, the 2018 concerts in Britain will be the first time the band has toured their home country in 12 years.

The group's "A Bigger Bang" tour is still the second-highest grossing concert tour of all time, raking in $558 million dollars from 2005-2007, according to Billboard magazine's rankings. Only Irish rockers U2 have managed to best them, claiming the Billboard top spot with their U2 360° tour, which grossed more than $700 million from 2009-2011.

(Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London; Editing by Peter Graff)

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