Rolling Stones add Poland to Europe tour

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones will play Poland for the first time in nine years during their upcoming European tour, the band confirmed on Monday.

The July 25 date at Warsaw's Sluzewiec Hippodrome was posted at the band's web site (http://www.rollingstones.com), and takes place one day before singer Mick Jagger turns 64.

It substitutes for what would have been the band's first show in Ukraine. No new date has been slotted for the country. A spokesman for the band did not respond to requests for information on the switch.

The Rolling Stones have played in Poland on two other occasions: in 1967 at Warsaw's Palace of Culture, when riot police fired tear-gas at thousands of fans who tried to storm the building; and in 1998 in Chorzow, a more genteel event attended by the wife of the Polish president.

The band had scheduled a show in Warsaw last year, but it was one of many that were pulled after guitarist Keith Richards hit his head while on vacation in Fiji.

The Rolling Stones begin their European tour on June 5 in Belgium.