With the first rousing strains of “Under My Thumb,” the Rolling Stones held 60,000 fans firmly in their grip at Orlando’s Tangerine Bowl on Oct. 24, 1981. They didn’t let go until the concert ended with “Satisfaction.”
The Stones took the stage at the T-Bowl (now known as Camping World Stadium) shortly after 3 p.m. on an 80-degree Saturday afternoon, moving with athletic precision through 26 songs during a 2-hour, 20-minute show climaxed by a $4,000 fireworks display that sent tiny American flags and British union jacks parachuting down over the audience.
A 38-year-old Mick Jagger was “still singing like the devil,” the Sentinel reported.
The Rolling Stones perform at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando on October 24, 1981 as part of a concert tour to promote their “Tattoo You” album. (Orlando Sentinel file)
“Dressed in white football pants, a variety of shirts, football jerseys and a cape, he pranced and pleaded his way through paleolithic Stones numbers like ‘Honky Tonk Woman,’ ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’ and ‘Time Is On My Side.’ Jagger blew kisses, baptized the crowd with buckets of water and cakewalked his way down two 80- foot ramps leading to the east and west wings of the stadium.”
The Sentinel also reported back then about a very eager Stones fan and his ingenious plan to get into the concert early.
“The first fan to enter the Tangerine Bowl for today’s Rolling Stones concert passed through the gates in a portable toilet,” the newspaper report said. “The enterprising teen-ager spent Friday morning watching a forklift carrying the portable toilets into the stadium. By Friday afternoon, he had made the decision to become a stowaway. He locked himself in one of the portables, was transported the into T- Bowl, and remained there for more than two hours before being discovered and ejected.”