The Rolling Stones have opened their North America tour at a packed venue in Houston, with people travelling from various cities to watch one of the world’s most enduring rock bands amid worries this could be their final tour.

The show was the first of 16 performances scheduled 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, grey sequined shirt and black jeans.

People immediately started to dance along to the 1981 classic.

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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 the band visited NASA’s Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre 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,” said Greta Brasgalla, 56, who travelled from El Paso, Texas to watch the band for the seventh time.

“They take such true joy in playing.”

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While the band’s publicists declined to give an attendance figure, ticket sales website StubHub noted less than two per cent of tickets were available two hours before the show.

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

Other songs in the set included Jumping Jack Flash, You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Out of Time.

Richards, whose songwriting 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.

The band plays the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Thursday.

-Reuters