What are The Rolling Stones teasing?

A handful of mysterious posters with the only phrase “The Cockroaches,” a QR code, and no other information have surfaced across London during the past few days. But this is no typical name. The Rolling Stones actually used it as one of their legendary pseudonyms to perform unexpectedly in modest venues away from stadiums and the spotlight. You can register to get updates by scanning the code, which directs you to a special webpage. In the same font as the well-known “Who the f**k is Mick Jagger” T-shirt, one of the band’s most recognisable visual allusions, the site asks, “Who the f**k are The Cockroaches?“

A room with a 1970s look, vinyl albums (including David Bowie‘s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”), pinned-up concert tickets, guitar picks, a telephone and items suggesting the rock world are all present on the page. Additionally, a clock is stuck at 13:40 on April 11th, 2026, which could be the day the mystery is solved. Lastly, the website and newsletter are all connected to Universal, the band’s venerable record label. The description, “Making their return after 49 years,” provides the clearest hint, though. A blatant allusion to the band’s most well-known performance in 1977 under the name The Cockroaches.

The Rolling Stones performed under a fictitious name on March 4 and 5, 1977, at Toronto’s El Mocambo, a venue that could hold about 300 people. Although Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and the entire band performed, tickets had been sold on the impression that April Wine was being supported by an unknown band called The Cockroaches. Two epic nights that were only fully released in 2022 with the album “El Mocambo 1977” and from which one side of the iconic live album “Love You Live” was derived. The band replicated the tactic multiple times in the years that followed: last-minute performance announcements, fake names, and small crowds. A plan to get back to the core of rock.

So I guess we’ll have to wait a few days to discover what’s this all about…