Start Me up: The Stones Kick off North America Tour in Houston

 Mick Jagger of the rock band The Rolling Stones performs, as the band kick off their 2024 Hackney Diamonds tour at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, US April 28, 2024. (Reuters)
Mick Jagger of the rock band The Rolling Stones performs, as the band kick off their 2024 Hackney Diamonds tour at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, US April 28, 2024. (Reuters)
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Start Me up: The Stones Kick off North America Tour in Houston

 Mick Jagger of the rock band The Rolling Stones performs, as the band kick off their 2024 Hackney Diamonds tour at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, US April 28, 2024. (Reuters)
Mick Jagger of the rock band The Rolling Stones performs, as the band kick off their 2024 Hackney Diamonds tour at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, US April 28, 2024. (Reuters)

The Rolling Stones kicked off their North America tour at a sold-out venue in Houston on Sunday, with people traveling from various cities to watch one of the world's most enduring rock bands amid worries that this could be their last tour.

The show was the first of 16 performances, set across the US and Canada through July.

Fans flocked to the NRG Stadium in Houston in Rolling Stones T-shirts showcasing the band's iconic lips and tongue logo.

The band, formed more than six decades ago, opened with "Start Me Up" with Mick Jagger walking onto the stage in a shiny striped jacket, a gray sequined shirt and black jeans. People immediately started to dance along to the 1981 classic.

Jagger, who is 80, danced, skipped and ran across the stage while showcasing his vocal range.

"Hello Houston, it's good to be back in the lone star state," Jagger said, adding that band visited NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston and making quips about Texas-based convenience store chain Buc-ee's.

He performed alongside Keith Richards, 80, and Ronnie Wood, 76, the surviving core of the band.

"Every time I see them, it's such a joy. They're amazing. They take such true joy in playing," said Greta Brasgalla, 56, who traveled from El Paso, Texas, to watch the band for the seventh time. She also plans to watch the Rolling Stones in Atlanta in June.

The band attracted people of all ages to the stadium, with a significant proportion of the audience over 60.

The 18 songs played over two hours included a mix of classics and three from the latest record "Hackney Diamonds", the Stones' first album of original material since 2005 and the first recording since drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021.

Other songs they played included "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Out of Time", all to massive applause.

Richards, whose song-writing partnership with Jagger is one of the most enduring and successful in rock, sang "Little T&A."

The Stones closed the show with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". They head to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for a special performance this week.

Fans, however, worried that this could be one of the last tours by the Stones.

"Every time we see them, we wonder if it's going to be the last. That's our fear," said Savannah Welch, who traveled from Austin and brought along her son Charlie.



Director Steve McQueen Shows War through Child’s Eyes in New Film ‘Blitz’

 This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)
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Director Steve McQueen Shows War through Child’s Eyes in New Film ‘Blitz’

 This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)

Oscar winner Steve McQueen had long wanted to make a movie about the Blitz - Germany's wartime aerial bombing of British cities - but it was seeing a photo of a Black boy waiting to be evacuated that inspired him to explore the theme through a child's eyes.

His film "Blitz" is based on thorough research and true events, the British director of "12 Years a Slave" and "Hunger" told Reuters in an interview.

While researching another project, he came across the photo of the boy at a train station - one of hundreds of thousands of British children to be evacuated from towns and cities during World War Two.

The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Rita, a Londoner who sends her son George, played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan, to the countryside for safety during the war. But George is determined to return home despite the dangers ahead.

Many of the characters and events George encounters are based on extensive research and documented by author Joshua Levine, who joined the project as a historical adviser, said McQueen.

"I thought, 'you've got to get it right'," McQueen said.

"In fact, the research sort of just propelled me and inspired me to the story and George's odyssey through London at that time. It was exciting because you found all these characters, all these facts, which most people unfortunately didn't know, and you want to sort of illuminate them on screen."

The Blitz - from the German word Blitzkrieg, or "lightning war" - lasted from Sept. 1940 until May 1941. For Britons it conjures up images of Londoners huddling in underground shelters and rallying to battle blazes and rescue people from the rubble.

McQueen said he had discovered a diverse, "quite cosmopolitan" London through his research.

"There was a large Chinese community and there was a Black presence. There was all kinds of presence here in London. I wasn't trying to push some kind of narrative. It was just what one found within the sort of everyday of London," he said.

Like George, 11-year-old Heffernan embarked on a transformative journey with the movie.

"It was a big adventure being on my first film, seeing how films are made and going out on different locations," said Heffernan, who was nine at the time of shooting.

The movie also proved new territory for four-time Oscar-nominee Ronan, who spent months working with a vocal coach to prepare for scenes which see her singing live.

"It's the kind of thing I've always been terrified to do in front of everyone, but I've always wanted to do it," Ronan, 30, told Reuters.

"It was incredible to see how strong you can become at something that you're just not a professional at after a few months. It gave me a lot of confidence."

"Blitz" is out in select cinemas on Nov. 1 and will stream on Apple TV+ from Nov. 22.