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On April 5, 1967 The Rolling Stones arrived in Bologna for two chaotic shows that revealed as much about their audience as the band itself. Contemporary reports from Corriere della Sera describe restless crowds, dancing in the aisles, police intervention, and constant screams drowning out the music. Led by Mick Jagger and featuring Brian Jones, the group delivered a short but intense set, while tension between order and excitement defined the atmosphere. More than a concert, it was a snapshot of youth culture in motion.
First show: The Last Time/ Paint It Black/19th Nervous Breakdown/ Lady Jane/ Get Off Of My Cloud/ Yesterday’s Papers/ Under My Thumb/ Ruby Tuesday/ It’s All Over Now/ Let’s Spend The Night Together/ Goin’ Home/(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction Second show: The Last Time/ Paint It Black/ 19th Nervous Breakdown/ Lady Jane/ Get Off Of My Cloud/ Yesterday’s Papers/ Ruby Tuesday/ Let’s Spend The Night Together/Goin’ Home/ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
More about The Rolling Stones in Bologna, Italy 1967 (Review from the Corriere Della Sera newspaper, April 6 1967):
Forty minutes of thunderous enthusiasm marked the debut in Bologna, at the Palazzo dello Sport, of the English group The Rolling Stones who performed in the afternoon, in front of two thousand young people, the songs of their repertoire, resonated throughout the world. The appearance of the quintet attracted, very punctually, mostly students and, among them, compact groups, picturesque long-haired, and girls in keeping with the fashion of their long-haired companions. The applause for the idols exploded endlessly. The large space of the Palazzo dello Sport, perhaps because of the afternoon hour, had large empty spaces.
The young people took advantage of this to accompany with various “shakes” the performances of the groups that preceded the arrival of the “Rolling”. Both on the last step of the steps and in the part behind the stalls, groups of boys and girls danced, under the watchful eye of the carabinieri and agents who at first had tried (in vain) to stop them. However, once the preliminary part dedicated to the Italian groups was over, attention was focused on the arrival of the “Rolling Stones”. There was a crowd near the stage and even the spectators in the stands climbed over the barriers to see their favorites up close, standing up on their chairs.
The presenter Silvio Noto then warned the young people that the English band, after the events in Vienna, would not go on stage if the audience did not sit down and the central aisle and the space between the first chairs and the stage were not cleared. Then the carabinieri and agents intervened, pushing back the most stubborn ones, and so the band was able to make its entrance greeted by the shrill screams of the girls and resounding applause.
Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull’s boyfriend, and his companions Brian, Keith, Charlie and Billy introduced themselves to the Bologna audience with their traditional repertoire that now distinguishes them and has elevated them to the fame of the Beatles. About ten songs were performed, including Paint It Black, 19th Nervous BreakdownandLady Jane. During the performance of the last songs, Jagger threw bunches of flowers into the audience that the girls avidly fought over.
During the entire duration of the “Rolling” performance, the girls’ screams covered the sound of the instruments, which were already amply amplified, while some young people, especially in the stands, accompanied the rhythms with “shake” gestures. The security service therefore prevented incidents and the show went on regularly. According to those in the know, the “Rolling Stones” cost the Italian impresario ten million a day. A figure that is far from negligible, even in relation to the fame of the band.
The second evening show, attended by about five thousand people, also went smoothly. Only at the end did a few hundred young people who had remained outside because they did not have tickets try to force their way in by breaking the glass of some of the building’s doors; public security officers intervened to remove them. Inside, the carabinieri had to intervene at the end of the show to calm down some fans who were rolling on the floor at the foot of the stage, screaming. Tomorrow the Rolling Stones will be in Rome; they will be in Milan on the 8th, and then they will move on to Genova.
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