NEWARK — What do London and Newark have in common?
The Rolling Stones.
If you want to see the world's most venerable bad boys in action in 2012, you've got two choices. You can jump the pond and catch them in November at the O2 Arena in London. Or you can head to the biggest concert venue in the biggest city in the Garden State.
"A legendary band is going to do a once-in-a-lifetime performance at Prudential Center," says Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek, the managing partner of the organization that books the arena. "It doesn't get any better than that."
The long-running firm of Jagger, Richards, Watts and Wood is celebrating its 50th anniversary (sure, Ronnie Wood wasn't there in 1962, but let's not quibble) with the briefest tour in Stones history: four dates, two of them at the Prudential Center on Dec. 13 and 15. In a video announcement, the band promised guest performers at the concerts.
"You think it's going to last a couple of years," singer Mick Jagger told the London Evening Standard on Monday about the longevity of his band. "At the time that seemed like a perfectly rational thing to say — why would you think it would go on for any longer? That was about the shelf life of a pop group at the time.
"Obviously at the beginning you didn't have any inclination. It's a nightmare idea, really, that you'd do anything for 50 years at that age."
This won't be the group's Newark debut. In 1965, the Stones performed twice at Symphony Hall. They were relative newcomers then, but were playing material that has echoed loudly ever since.
Tickets for the first Symphony Hall show were $3. Tickets for the Prudential Center — going on sale at noon on Oct. 26 — run from $95 to a wallet-thinning $750 for the best seats. On Oct. 20, there will be a noon presale for American Express cardholders.
The mini-tour is the pilot flight for Virgin Live, a new entry into the concert business run by British businessman Richard Branson and veteran concert promoter Paul Dainty. The Stones are, as they've been for decades, big business.
"Clearly they're not doing this just for a payday," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, a publication that covers the concert industry. "If they were, they could go play a domed stadium somewhere. I think they're doing it because they want to perform live. And at their age, if they don't want to mount a full tour, they've earned the right not to work that hard."
Guitarist Keith Richards, 68, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 2006 hindering plans to do the kind of lengthy circuit Stones fans have grown accustomed to. Jagger and drummer Charlie Watts are both healthy and fit, but they're 69 and 71, respectively. Wood is the baby at 65.
The shows are another in a string of impressive bookings for the Prudential Center, which faces tougher competition for touring acts now that the Barclays Center has opened in Brooklyn. Prudential lost basketball team the Nets, who were temporary tenants, to Brooklyn earlier this year. Barclays was also a rumored landing place for the Stones. But the Barclays calendar is crammed with December happenings, which may have interfered with the Stones' plan to shoot the concert for a pay-per-view event. "One More Shot," to be filmed at the Dec. 15 show, requires substantial set-up time for cameras — something the Newark arena will be able to provide.
Vanderbeek believes that acoustics were the decisive factor. "Many of the artists who play here speak to the quality of the sound," he said, citing Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion and Alicia Keys. "We spent a lot of time and money to make this arena sound great.
"Their advisers did certainly come see the building."
The Prudential Center shows may provide the Stones with a launching pad for a longer tour. Should the Stones decide not to tour beyond Newark, it's possible that the second show at Prudential Center could be the last the band ever plays.
Bongiovanni believes it's just as likely that the Stones will keep going strong. "The train keeps rolling for those guys. If they wanted to, there's no reason they couldn't announce a full tour. They're not creaky old men. They really do put on a great show."
Bill German, author and former publisher of Beggars Banquet, the band's longtime newsletter, concurs. "I'm confident that there'll be more Stones dates beyond Newark," he said. "I know that they're definitely looking into it. The rest is up to logistics and economics."
Richards is sanguine about the possibility of more Stones shows in 2013. "Nobody has given us a heads up," he told BBC Radio on Mondau, "but this band isn't going to wind up with four shows. Next year looks like it is on."
The Stones' tour announcement comes amid a flurry of activity. "Crossfire Hurricane," a documentary about group by director Brett Morgen, will premiere at the London Film Festival on Oct. 18 and air on HBO on Nov. 15. "Doom and Gloom," a new song discharged with a quintessential Stones-y sneer, was made available through iTunes on Oct. 1. "Doom" teases a new 50-track greatest hits collection, "Grrr!," due in stores on Nov. 13.
The dates will be the band's first in North America since the 2005-07 circuit promoting "A Bigger Bang." That tour grossed more than half a billion dollars and included two sold-out Giants Stadium shows, in 2005 and 2006.
Mick Jagger - The Last Time - SNL 5-19-12 by IdolxMuzic
The Stones have sold more than 200 million records, and nine of its 29 albums have topped the American charts. But sheer numbers cannot measure the impact of the group, which has epitomized rock 'n' roll swagger for decades.
Jagger and Richards have penned some of the most enduring popular music of the last half of the 20th Century, including "Paint It Black," "Ruby Tuesday," the still-audacious "Brown Sugar" and the urgent "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."
And at the height of the give-me 1960s, they told people they can't always get what they want.
Well, maybe not in Brooklyn.
Related coverage:
• Rolling Stones make December Newark dates official3
• Rolling Stones rumored to be coming to Newark in December
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