<P> Initially, lead singer Mick Jagger was not interested in another tour, but guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood were, as were elements of the press and public, and Jagger eventually relented . As with previous tours, the American Tour 1981 was promoted by Bill Graham . </P> <P> The band rehearsed for the tour at Long View Farm, North Brookfield, Massachusetts, from August 14 to September 25, 1981 . The Stones pre-opened the tour with a warm - up show at the Sir Morgan's Cove club in Worcester, Massachusetts on 14 September . Though billed as Little Boy Blue & The Cockroaches, word got out and some 11,000 fans pushed and shoved outside the 300 - person venue . The Mayor of Boston Kevin H. White stopped the notion of any further public rehearsals, saying "The appearance here of Mr. Jagger is not necessarily in the public interest ." </P> <P> The tour's elaborate and colorful stage was the work of Japanese designer Kazuhide Yamazaki . According to Mick Jagger, "Most concerts that took place outdoors at the time were played during the day, probably because it was cheaper, I don't know . So we had the bright, bright primary colors...and we had these enormous images of a guitar, a car and a record--an Americana idea--which worked very well for afternoon shows ." Most shows later in the tour featured a cherry picker and the release of hundreds of balloons at the show's end . During the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum stops on the tour, the band played a Friday and Sunday show and USC had a football game in between on Saturday . As a televised football game, viewers could see the full stage set - up and often field goals would land on stage at the East end zone . Two of the three opening bands, George Thorogood, and The J Geils Band were received well, but the third act, a still somewhat unknown Prince barely got through three songs before being booed off the stage . </P> <P> The 1981 Tour was the largest grossing tour of not only 1981, but for several years to come . The tour grossed $50 million in ticket sales when the average ticket price was $16 . Roughly three million concert goers attended the concerts . The Stones set many ticket sales records that remain to this day unbroken . The ticket sales for Philadelphia's JFK Stadium shows received nearly 4 million request via post cards for tickets (a ticket selling method used at the time to prevent scalping); requests for the five arena shows in the New York metropolitan area were in the millions . The New York Times stated that, "The tour is expected to be the most profitable in the history of rock & roll; its sheer size has been staggering...ticket requests for these shows ran into the millions ..." The tour indeed did turn out to be profitable: the Stones were estimated to have reaped about $22 million after expenses . </P>

Who opened for the rolling stones in 1981