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April 27 marks one of those dates in Rolling Stones history where chaos, charisma, and classic rock collide. From tearing through London’s Royal Albert Hall for the 1964 TV special Top Beat, to Ronnie Wood launching a fiery Scandinavian solo run in 1988, the day carries serious momentum. Then came Keith Richards’ infamous Fiji coconut tree fall in 2006—somehow becoming another chapter in his myth. By 2013, the band stunned Los Angeles with a secret Echoplex club show that fans still talk about. Few dates capture The Rolling Stones’ unpredictability, endurance, and legend quite like April 27.
April 27, 1964: The Stones perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the British TV special Top Beat(2 shows)
Top Beat was a 1964 BBC2 music TV series showcasing live performances by leading 1960s stars at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Presented by Alan Freeman and Jimmy Savile, the show ran for four episodes and highlighted many of the era’s biggest hits.
April 27, 1988: Ronnie Wood kicks off a Scandinavian solo tour in Malmö, Sweden (named Knock On Wood) backed up with the Swedish band Totta’s Bluesband. Line-up: Ronnie (guitar, vocals)/Totta Naslund (vocals)/Bengt Blomgren (guitar)/Nikke Strom (bass)/ Olle Niklasson (sax)/Gunnar Petersson (drums)/Bernt Andersson (keyboards, vocals, harmonica)
April 27, 2006: It was around this date that Keith fell from a coconut tree while on holiday in Fiji. As history has it, while vacationing in Fiji, Keith decided to climb a tree., but things didn’t go exactly as planned. He slipped, took a nasty fall, and ended up with a head injury that required surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. At first, news reports were all over the place — some saying he fell from a jet ski, others mentioning a small tree. Keith later joked it was just “a little tree,” downplaying the whole thing like the rock ‘n’ roll legend he is. But make no mistake, it was serious enough to delay the Rolling Stones’ European tour.
After a successful surgery in New Zealand, Keith bounced back in true pirate fashion, joking in interviews about his “close encounter” with gravity. Fans worried, but honestly — this is Keith Richards we’re talking about. It would take way more than a coconut tree to take him down. The incident only added to his already insane legend. Just another chapter in the How Is Keith Richards Still Alive? saga.
Keith on the accident (2006): “Everyone imagines it was a fifty-foot-tall palm tree (laughs). It’s embarrassing, really: I was sitting on this gnarled shrub about six feet off the ground. I was wet – I’d been swimming. I hit the ground the wrong way, my head hit the trunk and that was that… It’s not the first brush with death I’ve had. I guess what I learned is, don’t sit in trees anymore.”
April 27, 2013: Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA, USA (warm-up show) Revealed only hours earlier on Twitter, $20 tickets were distributed by lottery at the El Rey Theatre, as hundreds rushed for the rare intimate performance. Setlist (unconfirmed): You Got Me Rocking/Respectable/She’s So Cold/Live With Me/Street Fighting Man/That’s How Strong My Love Is/Little Queenie/Just My Imagination/Miss You/Love in Vain*/Midnight Rambler*/Start Me Up/Brown Sugar/Jumpin’ Jack Flash *With guest Mick Taylor
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