The Stones in the Park
| Free concert by The Rolling Stones | |
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| Venue | Hyde Park, London |
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| Date(s) | 5 July 1969 |
| Attendance | 250,000–500,000 (estimated) |
| The Rolling Stones concert chronology | |
| The Stones in the Park | |
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| Video by The Rolling Stones | |
| Released | 25 September 2006 2 September 1969 (TV) |
| Recorded | 5 July 1969 |
| Genre | Documentary film |
| Length | 56 minutes |
| Label | Granada Ventures |
| Director | Leslie Woodhead and Jo Durden-Smith |
| Producer | John Sheppard |
The Stones in the Park generally refers to 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, in front of a crowd estimated at between 250,000 and 500,000 fans.
It was the Stones' first public concert in over two years, and was planned as an introduction of 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 the basement of 3 Savile Row, and Jagger and 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 already handled amplification at previous Hyde Park shows.
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. Mick 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.
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Wikipedia