Mick Jagger, Waldbühne Berlin - West Germany, 1965

Mick Jagger sings his heart out to adoring German fans during the Stones’ controversial West Berlin show at the Waldbuhne on September 15, 1965. The Stones rocked the outdoor amphitheater – built during the Third Reich by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels as part of the 1936 Olympic complex and was a place where Hitler had made some of his famous speeches – but not for long. A riot broke out after the first song and the Stones had to retreat to the underground bunkers for protection.  After the police got things under control the Stones went back on stage and finished out their set.  The real riot and damage happened after the Stones left.  What came next was ugly: riots broke out and police turned rubber truncheons and fire hoses on the crowd, who destroyed the venue to the tune of 270,000 deutsche marks. The final aftermath tallied 85 arrests, 87 injured and 17 ransacked S-Bahn trains – which prompted East Berlin to use the incident as anti-West propaganda. Officials declared, “These songs are straight from the madhouse.” But a Bild Zeitung reporter summed it up the show best: “I know Hell.” This photograph, quite literally, depicts the calm before the rock ‘n’ roll storm.
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