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Rock concerts usually ask fans to bring enthusiasm. In Anaheim some apparently packed extra footwear. During The Rolling Stones’ explosive 1978 stop on the Some Girls tour, the music wasn’t the only thing flying through the California air. While Miss You and the band’s new material proved they were still setting the pace for rock, the audience added its own unpredictable soundtrack with airborne shoes and even stranger souvenirs. Mick Jagger handled the chaos with the kind of effortless wit only he could manage, turning an interruption into another unforgettable chapter of Stones folklore. Normal concert etiquette clearly wasn’t invited that night.
July 23, 1978: Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California, USA (The Rolling Stones U.S. Tour 1978) Let It Rock/All Down The Line/Honky Tonk Women/Star Star/When The Whip Comes Down/Beast Of Burden/Lies/Miss You/Just My Imagination/Shattered/Respectable/Far Away Eyes/Love In Vain/ Tumbling Dice/Happy/Sweet Little Sixteen/Brown Sugar/Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s July 1978 and the Some Girls tour has landed at Anaheim Stadium for night one of a two-show blitz. The Rolling Stones are mid-performance, oozing swagger and sweat under the California sun, when suddenly—a shoe cuts through the air. Not a metaphor. An actual shoe, followed by something even less expected: a thong. Yes, Anaheim came prepared.
In classic fashion, Mick Jagger doesn’t flinch (much). The famous lips twitch ever so slightly, and he fires back with a command: “Hey, stop throwing your shoes!” It’s the same elastic voice that once delivered such iconic lyrics as: “You mumble got to mumble mumble mumble tumbling dice.” Translation? Who cares. It’s not about the words—it’s the vibe, darling.
Lucifer in Lip Gloss, Apparently
Back in 1978 it was still trendy for music writers and breathless biographers to frame Jagger as some dark, slithering Lucifer figure—rock’s own serpentine overlord, seducing crowds with nothing more than a shimmy and a pout. And sure, he had the moves, the cheekbones, and the uncanny ability to look both threatening and fabulous in glitter. But let’s be honest: this wasn’t some ritualistic summoning of the devil. It was a sweaty stadium show with flying footwear and a whole lot of pelvic thrusting.
If anything, Anaheim 1978 proved that the Stones didn’t need myth to make magic. Just volume, charisma, and the occasional airborne undergarment. And somehow, Jagger still made it all look like part of the plan.
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