SAN DIEGO — It's a dream never fully dreamed come true for Electric Mud. The award-winning San Diego rock band, led by former U.S. Navy SEAL Marc Hansen, will perform as the opening act for the Rolling Stones' May 7 Arizona concert at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix.

The announcement was made Thursday morning in a press release issued by the legendary English band's New York representatives.

The concert at the 63,400-capacity Arizona stadium is one of 16 dates on the Stones' 2024 North American Hackney Diamonds stadium tour. It opened Wednesday in Houston, concludes July 25 in Santa Clara, just outside San Francisco, and includes July 10 and 13 performances at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

"The biggest show we've ever done up until now was at San Diego's House of Blues club," Hansen told the Union-Tribune late last week. "This Arizona concert with the Stones came out of the blue."

Out of the blue, perhaps. But not without some lobbying — and a fortuitous family connection — on the part of Electric Mud.

Three of the band's four members — brothers Marc and Matty Hansen, and their cousin, bassist Matt Sorena — are the nephews of Patti Hansen and her husband, Rolling Stones guitarist and vocalist Keith Richards.

Marc Hansen credits Keith Richards for giving him his first guitar and first guitar lesson as a teenager, and for encouraging Electric Mud early on. The band was formed in Staten Island, New York, in 2008, then relocated to San Diego, after guitarist/singer Marc and his drummer brother Matty enlisted in the U.S. Navy and relocated to San Diego.

"I had sent our Aunt Patti an Electric Mud promotional package to give to the promoters of the Stones' tour two years ago," Hansen, 37, recalled.

"We hadn't heard anything since then, so we all thought it was a shot in the dark. Then, just a few weeks ago, the promoters asked my aunt: 'Hey, where are your nephews? We want them to open for the Stones.' Then, they contacted us. They said Mick (Jagger) had a big hand in picking us — as he does with all the bands that open for the Stones — and told the promoters to give us a shot."

The Hansen brothers and Sorena each released solo albums last year. But Electric Mud, whose fourth member is guitarist Colton Cori, has been largely inactive as a band since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

Opening a stadium gig for the Stones is a singular reason for the band to kick back into gear — and a potentially nerve-wracking one — since the opening acts at other dates on the Hackney Diamonds tour includes such established artists as Gary Clark Jr., Widespread Panic, Tyler Childers and Lainey Wilson.

"I'd say we're a lot more excited than nervous," said Hansen, whose day job is as a civilian trainer for U.S. Navy SEALs. "We've never done anything this big, so there are a lot of extra details that go with it. I mean, we don't even have a soundman!"

To get ready for their very big show in Arizona, Electric Mud will do some recordings sessions here this weekend. The band will then rehearse all of next week at a studio near the Pechanga Arena San Diego, a venue the Stones have performed in a number of times over the past half-century. Electric Mud's goal is to hone a dozen or so of the band's songs, then select the best six for their 30-minute opening set at State Farm Stadium.

If all goes according to plan, Electric Mud will do a free warm-up concert here in San Diego on May 5. (Updates will be posted on the band's website at electricmudofficial.com/band.) Then, comes the May 6 drive with all their equipment to Arizona, and the big night on May 7.

"It will be the most awesome show we've ever done," Hansen said. "And even if we never do anything else, we'll have opened for the Stones, our favorite band and the greatest rock and roll band in the world. We will get on that stage and do the very best we can do. What really matters is that we crush that show."

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