| Orchestra or Band | The Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger - vocal, Charlie Watts - drums, Bill Wyman - bass guitar, Brian Jones, Keith Richards - guitars)
The Ike and Tina Turner Revue
The Yardbirds (Jim McCarty - drums, vocal, Paul Samwell-Smith - bass guitar, Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck - lead guitars, Keith Relf - vocal)
Peter Jay and The New Jaywalkers (Peter Jay, Pete "Buzz" Miller - guitar, Tony Webster - rhythm guitar, Mac McIntyre - tenor saxophone, flute, Lloyd Baker - piano, baritone saxophone, Geoff Moss, Johnny Larke - bass guitars, Terry Reid) |
| Set List | Peter Jay and The New Jaywalkers
The Ike and Tina Turner Revue
The Yardbirds
INTERVAL
The Rolling Stones:
'Paint It Black',
'Under My Thumb',
'Get Off of My Cloud',
'Lady Jane',
'Not Fade Away', The Crickets,
'The Last Time',
'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?',
'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' |
| Performance Notes | Top of the bill at the Royal Albert Hall for the first time, The Rolling Stones introduced their British fans to the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, whose sensational opening performance included a young boy singer called Prince Albert. The first half of the show also featured The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page as lead guitarists.
As exciting as it must have been, all were somewhat upstaged by the mini riot that took place at the start of the Rolling Stones set an incident that would have been but a hazy memory were it not for the incredible footage captured by film-maker Peter Whitehead. The scenes were later edited into the promo for the Stones single 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?'
The witness accounts of how it started differ slightly but, whatever song the Rolling Stones were playing, it was soon halted by dozens of frenzied fans who pushed past the ushers and clambered on stage to grab a handful, or whatever they could, of their heroes.
Keith Richard was knocked to the ground, Mick was almost strangled, while Brian Jones and Bill Wyman took to their heels, followed closely by dozens of determined fans. Charlie Watts sat quietly behind his drums watching the scene, reported Norrie Drummond, who was reviewing the pop worlds social event of the year for the New Musical Express.
Managers, agents and PRs rushed from their front-row seats to assist the security guards, who were perhaps more accustomed to sedate chamber music recitals and easily overwhelmed by the relentless volley of teenage bodies hurtling past them. The announcement came that unless everyone returned to their seats the show would be cancelled.
On the spot and recording it all was Peter Whitehead and, thanks to his 16mm hand-held camera and his brilliant eye for detail, the viewer is virtually participating in the scene, in what Village Voice called a frenzied there-ness. We see a dolly bird with long blonde hair and a striped dress thrown roughly back into the crowd. A boy plants a kiss on Keith Richards before he is pulled away and flung into the seething throng below.
Mick Jagger makes a cursory attempt to shake off a girl who is swinging around his neck, putting less energy into escaping her clutches than he does at batting his tambourine. Bill Wyman hangs onto his bass like grim death as fans claw at him from all sides; meanwhile, Keith Richards is doggedly refusing to let a helper take away his precious guitar.
The NME reporter wasnt entirely accurate, however, in his observation about Brian Joness haste to leave the stage. On the contrary, one of the most striking images of Peter Whiteheads film is the sight of the dandified lead guitarist hugging his knees and laughing like a mad prince, revelling in the chaos and destruction around him.
Peter Whitehead revealed in a 1994 interview, that the Stones front man primed him to expect action at the Royal Albert Hall, Mick said, Ill tell you when Ill get the girls up on stage. After a couple of songs, he turned around and said Ready? and within 15 seconds the kids were on stage swinging around his neck. Hed toss a couple of girls off and hed look around as if to say Got enough? in the middle of singing this song. Its demonic, its voodoo, its Satan.
"I attended the Stones' concert at the Albert Hall which was fun though it turned out to be almost more of a happening than a concert. The voices of all the acts were almost entirely inaudible, due to an ineffective mike system, and most of the instrumental sound was lost or distorted in the vastness of the hall itself. Most of the first half of the show was taken up by the Ike And Tina Turner show, which was superb. The power of Tina's voice almost managed to overcome the problems of the hall, and her dancing would overcome anything. The Ikettes leapt and shouted joyously, the band sung, Ike played a chorus or two of his immaculately soulful guitar and they went off to very considerable applause.
Then the compere, who, incomprehensibly, was Long John Baldry, had the almost impossible task of holding the attention of a screaming audience while the Stones' equipment was set up. He could hardly have done worse. He did nothing but mutter "It's about to happen, It's about to happen" over and over again until finally they came. No judgment can be made of the Stones' musical abilities under such circumstances, but even just as performers they were disappointing.
I had not seen them work for almost a year and had got the impression from other reports that Jagger had, in this time, turned into an effective and dynamic stage performer. Far from it. Standing in a flowered jacket that glittered as with pearls or sequins, with his head between his legs and his arms outstretched, he looked more like a gymnast in fancy dress than he ever did. Certainly the Stones generate great excitement on occasions, and perhaps this was an off night. Either way, their effect on the audience can hardly be denied, and we were treated to all the visual goodies that usually accompany one of their shows sobbing fans pouring on to the stage in hundreds and the beautiful Mr. Oldham waving his expensively suited arms decorously in the air.
I was most surprised, to discover at the reception that the Stones gave afterwards, not only the inevitable collection of pop stars and disc jockeys, and the even more inevitable Miss Barbara Rubin, but a stoned and bemused Michael Horovitz wandering about eating all of the free food that he could. He himself did not seem at all sure why he was there."
(Miles, International Times, 14 October 1966)
This was the first night of a UK tour.
The event was recorded, B&W footage exists.
Original photographs are held by Mirropix. |
| Related Archival Material | Programmes (RAHE/1/1966/133-134),
Digital Photograph |