The Rolling Stones’ Zip Code tour: Five things you need to know

Those plucky upstarts in the Rolling Stones have announced a new round of touring and a reissue of their beloved 1971 LP “Sticky Fingers.” Here are a few facts you should know going into the mania for Mick & Co. on Tuesday morning.

1. There’s no L.A. date yet.

The last time the Stones dipped through L.A. for a tour, they started their SoCal run with a stop in Echo Park at the Echoplex, which sent fans into paroxysms of glee. But local fans will need to hold tight for now – while the “Zip Code” tour kicks off in San Diego on May 24, there’s no immediate L.A. date in the works. Let the surprise Coachella-set rumor-mongering begin! (Do not let that begin, that’s nuts.)

2. It’s tied to a “Sticky Fingers” reissue, which will include plenty of new material.

It’s maybe not the band’s most universally regarded “best” album (that would probably be 1972’s “Exile on Main Street,” fight among yourselves if you must), but 1971’s “Sticky Fingers” has a lot going for it. From the Andy Warhol-designed, unzippable-crotch cover (which likely scandalized your mom back in the day) to the addition of new guitarist Mick Taylor to undisputed classic singles like “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses,” it’s a fan favorite and worthy of fresh ears.

The band promises that the revisited LP will come in all contemporary formats (so rest easy, vinyl vermin) and will come with a slew on unreleased tracks and live recordings. Drummer Charlie Watts previously described the album to Rolling Stone as inspired by Jagger’s “very strange rhythm guitar... very much how Brazilian guitarists play, on the upbeat,” so this is an excellent occasion to see how that asessment holds up.

3. The tour, however, has some sad undertones as well.

It’s the band’s first tour since the death of longtime saxophonist Bobby Keys, who played on “Sticky Fingers” and other classic Stones albums and died from liver cirrhosis last year. It’s also the their first extended tour since designer L’Wren Scott, Jagger’s partner since 2001, died last March in the middle of the band’s international “14 on Fire” tour.

4. Onstage, they’ve still got it.

Back when they last swung through town, The Times’ Randall Roberts admitted that “When Jagger splashed some of his drinking water into the crowd, I got drenched — and then like any true fan, wiped the water all over my head, licked my lips to get some into my mouth. (This morning I feel like I’ve got some of Jagger’s DNA in my system.)” That’s good enough for us, and surely better than we’ll be doing after 50 years in our jobs.

The band said in a statement that the set will feature all the usual hits with some deep-catalog surprises. “People say, ‘How come you’re still doing this?’ but I can’t believe I did this when I was 20,” said Jagger in a promotional video for the tour. The stage will feature “a section that juts far into the crowd,” according to the Associated Press, though whether it can beat the set design from their 50 and Counting tour in 2012-2013 remains to be seen.

5. Tickets might be cheaper than you think.

At the Stones’ Staples Center stand in 2013, the band released a last-minute brick of tickets for $85 a pop. That’s much less than the stereotype of paycheck-eating tickets they’re known for these days (last time, it was $250-$600 each). So if the April 13 on-sale date rolls around and your eyes bug out at the entry fees, don’t lose hope quite yet.

Follow @AugustBrown for breaking music news.

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