Lock up your mothers, the Rolling Stones are coming

Mick Jagger performs at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Picture / Reuters

The Rolling Stones, the sexagenarian rock'n'roll band, are returning to New Zealand for two shows.

They will play at Western Springs in Auckland on Easter Sunday, April 16, then at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Tuesday, April 18. Preferential ticket sales start on Friday.

Stones promoter Paul Dainty told the Herald there was no chance of a second Auckland show should the first sell out.

Reviews from the American leg of the tour suggest that the years haven't dulled the Stones' performance and last year's A Bigger Bang album was hailed in many quarters as the band's best since the 1970s.

Mr Dainty said the production required multiple 747s as well as 38 shipped containers to move the 300 tonnes of gear. The stage is 28m tall and 62m wide. Part of the 2 hour 15 minute performance is on a smaller stage in the middle of the audience.

The Stones' Auckland visit makes for a remarkable double - with U2 playing two shows next month.

The band's A Bigger Bang tour started last year in the United States and played to 1.2 million fans there.

Last weekend the group performed in front of two million people at a free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

* The first tickets go on sale to Visa cardholders through www.visaentertainment.com.nz on Friday at 9am.

General public sales for Western Springs start on Wednesday, March 8, through www.ticketmaster.co.nz or phone 0800 111-999.