Rolling Stones in Hyde Park
Featuring wannabe bikers and dead butterflies.
Alex Q. Arbuckle
July 5, 1969
On July 5, 1969, the Rolling Stones headlined a free music festival in London’s Hyde Park, drawing a crowd between 250,000 and 500,000 fans.The blowout was the Stones’ first public concert in more than two years, meant as the grand debut of the band's new guitarist, Mick Taylor. The tenor changed, though, with the July 3 death of founding Rolling Stones member Brian Jones, who had left the band a month prior. Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. Coroners ruled it “death by misadventure."After the opening acts, Mick Jagger began the set by calling for silence and reading two stanzas of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Adonais in tribute to Jones. At the conclusion of the eulogy, they released hundreds of cabbage white butterflies into the air, many of which had already suffocated in the hot, stuffy boxes.The band then launched into a 14-song set, which concluded with an 18-minute rendition of “Sympathy for the Devil.” Providing security for the event were self-described members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. They were not actually affiliated with the notorious outlaw group but were merely fans of American biker culture.The real Hells Angels were later hired for the infamous Altamont concert later that year, which descended into violence and led to four deaths.
We turned it into a memorial for Brian. We wanted to see him off in grand style. The ups and downs with the guy are one thing, but when his time's over, release the doves, or in this case the sackfuls of white butterflies. - Keith Richards
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. - Keith Richards
