'Still standing' Stones play sellout surprise Paris gig

The Rolling Stones played for one hour 20 minutes, instead of the announced 30 minutes, at their first gig five years … a surprise “warm-up” for four 50th anniversary concerts that took place in a small Paris venue on Thursday night.

RFI/Silvia Celi

"I can't believe we're all still standing up. You'd think by now one or two of us would be sitting down, but we're not," 69-year-old lead singer Mick Jagger told the small crowd at the Trabendo club in north-east Paris.

Tickets for the concert sold out within minutes after the band announced that it would take place on Twitter.

Rumours had already spread that the “short warm-up gig” would take place in Paris, where the Stones have been rehearsing for the four official concerts.

A long queue had formed before the announcement outside the Virgin megastore on the Champs Elysées where they were on sale, forcing the store to open ticket sales two hours early.

And there could be more.

Guitarist Ronnie Wood earlier hinted at a surprise, telling Britain's NME magazine that there were "going to be little club gigs that we're gonna surprise ourselves to do as well...I don't know who we'll be billed as but we'll turn up somewhere and put a few to the test. Tiny, 200, 300 people kind of places."

The 350 tickets were only 15 euros each, substantially cheaper than the 406 pounds (500 euros) some fans will pay to attend the concert at London’s 02 Arena on 25 and 29 November.

Two other concerts are planned in the US and Jagger has said that they will be followed by more although they have yet to be announced.

US music magazine Billboard reported in August that the band will earn a total of 25 million dollars (19 million euros) for the four shows.