The Stones in the Park

Hyde Park Festival, 5 July 1969
Free concert by the Rolling Stones
VenueHyde Park, London
Date(s)5 July 1969
Attendance250,000[1]–500,000 (estimated)[2][3][4]
the Rolling Stones concert chronology

The Stones in the Park was a free outdoor festival held in Hyde Park on 5 July 1969, headlined by the Rolling Stones and featuring Third Ear Band, King Crimson, Screw, Alexis Korner's New Church, Family and the Battered Ornaments,[1] in front of an estimated audience between 250,000 and 500,000 spectators.[1][3][4][5]

It was the Stones' first public concert in over two years, and was planned as an introduction of their new guitarist, Mick Taylor, though circumstances inevitably changed following the death of former member Brian Jones two days earlier. The band rehearsed at the Beatles' studio in a basement on Savile Row, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards came up with a 14-song set; the Hyde Park concert would be the first time many of the songs had been played before a public audience. The PA system was supplied by Watkins Electric Music, who had handled amplification at previous Hyde Park events.

Fans started to arrive at the park with candles on 4 July in tribute to Jones, and by the morning of 5 July, 7,000 people had already gathered. Jagger read a short eulogy on stage before the Stones' set began, reading two stanzas of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem on John Keats's death, Adonaïs, from a calf-bound book. After this recital, several hundred cabbage white butterflies were released. The setlist for their performance was "I'm Yours & I'm Hers", "Jumpin' Jack Flash". "Mercy Mercy", "Down Home Girl", "Stray Cat Blues", "No Expectations", "I'm Free", "Loving Cup", "Love in Vain", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Honky Tonk Women", "Midnight Rambler", "Street Fighting Man" and "Sympathy for the Devil". During the 18-minute-long rendition of "Sympathy for the Devil", a number of African tribal drummers joined the band.

While the event is considered a memorable one by several critics, they also agree that it was not one of the Stones' best performances, and the guitars played during the concert were out of tune. In a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Richards evaluated their performance, "We played pretty bad until near the end, because we hadn't played for years ... Nobody minded, because they just wanted to hear us play again." The Stones' portion of concert was filmed by Granada Television and broadcast that September. It has since been released on DVD[6] and Blu-ray.[7] In April 2013, the band announced their intention to play two return concerts on 6 and 13 July, although the performances were not free.[8][9]

  1. ^ a b c Hjort, Christopher (2007). Strange Brew: Eric Clapton and the British Blues Boom, 1965–1970. London: Jawbone Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-906002-00-8.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference normy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "Requiem For A Stone". The Observer. London. 6 July 1969. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference keef was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "The Stones in the Park". UK Rock Festivals. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Stones in the Park". Film 4 Reviews. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Stones in the Park". HMV. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBCr5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Rolling Stones add second Hyde Park concert in July". BBC News. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.