Deep Purple are already lining up tour dates for the tail end of 2017 — and it looks like they might be among the band's last.

The venerable rockers have announced the first dates in what's being billed as the Long Goodbye Tour, which is currently scheduled to begin Nov. 17 and run through Nov. 23 — five U.K. dates in total, all of which you can check out below. Tickets for the shows are set to go on sale Dec. 9, and they're almost certainly just the first round in a run of shows that will continue into 2018.

That year, presumably not coincidentally, marks Deep Purple's 50th anniversary — which would seem to be a pretty good time to walk away from the road if, as rumored, the band members are looking to retire from touring. Recent reports have cited sources "very close" to band management as indicating the group is ready to scale back, and drummer Ian Paice's recent health woes would seem to lend further credence to the idea.

As previously reported, Paice — the only constant in Deep Purple's frequently shifting lineup over the years — was diagnosed with a "mini-stroke" last summer after waking up and discovering "that the right side of [his] body was feeling numb and [he] could not control [his] right hand and fingers." Deep Purple were forced to pull out of a string of shows while he recuperated — the first dates Paice had ever missed.

If Deep Purple's Long Goodbye Tour really does end up living up to its name, it should find the band going out on a creative high: their 20th studio album, Infinite, is scheduled for release next year.

Deep Purple The Long Goodbye Tour
11/17 - Barclaycard Arena Birmingham
11/18 - Manchester Arena
11/20 - Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
11/22 - SSE Hydro Glasgow
11/23 - The O2, London

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