The Rolling Stones are a well-respected live act, and they have been for quite some time. It has been a while since they were met with a lackluster reception from a crowd. But, there was a time when the band wasn’t the legends they are today and, as such, didn’t get the warmest reaction from an audience. There was one show in particular wherein the local crowd got so fed up with the Rolling Stones that they shoved them off stage and replaced them with their openers. Which, oddly, happened to be a band of trained monkeys.
Monkey Man
This fumbled show took place in San Antonio, Texas. Elsewhere on the lineup were George Jones and Bobby Vee, who inevitably had an easier time connecting with the crowd. As per usual, Texas stood loud, proud, and boooed the Stones off the stage. The Rolling Stones’ metropolitan look paired with their less-than-conservative songs didn’t go over so well with the crowd at this show
“Local singers were cheered wildly,” a news report of the event read. “But the long-haired Rolling Stones — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman — were booed.”
It wasn’t the reception they were used to back home, which didn’t bode well for their success in the American South. And, to add insult to injury, the band was upstaged by their opening act: a trained group of performing monkeys. We have to imagine that it was so offensive that it was laughable to this rising rock band.
Bill Wyman’s Thoughts on the Texas Show
Rolling Stones’ bassist Bill Wyman wrote about the show in his memoir, Stone Alone. He recalls being confused by the whole event, questioning why they were even there in the first place.
“The concert was in the open air and everyone got a poor reception from a mixed crowd of cowboys and kids,” he wrote. “What the hell were we doing here? People didn’t know whether to take us seriously or as a joke. What had we let ourselves in for? Crowds were great to us at airports and hotels, but these two shows set us back years!”
The Rolling Stones’ embarrassment at the Texas show didn’t end there. Wyman went on to write about the following day, when the group got mistaken for women.
“The next day, while we were sunbathing around the hotel pool in a temperature of 95°, a young waiter who was serving us drinks said that a guest had complained to the hotel that girls were at the pool, swimming and sunbathing topless — that was us,” he added.
We’re sure the Stones have more than rectified that awful Texas trip at this point. They’ve played to many adoring crowds in the Lone Star State. However, we’re sure thinking back on that fateful show still stings a little bit.
(Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns)