I was just thinking....Altamont was of course outdoors, at night, a festival event. The real trouble happened after dark.

Everything I see in pictures for 1975, 1976, 1978, and 1981-82 tours, the outdoor (usually stadium) shows all took place during the daylight. The Stones would typically come on around 5 PM or so, in the summer.

Even most of the indoor shows in 1981 took place in the afternoon, while it was still light outside. I remember seeing them in the Superdome and the whole thing was over, as we were leaving it was kinda twilight and the sun hadn't really set yet.

Did that change in 1989, or later? What was the first outdoor show the band played after dark, after Altamont?

Seems like they purposefully avoided playing outdoors at night, for a while after Altamont. Any truth to that?

At least some concerts in 1976 (The Hague, Knebworth) took place at night. Before that I don't know. Some 1972 shows like Washington and Akron took place in Stadiums too but I don't know if it was dark or not.

Perhaps the next one outdoors at night was RFK Stadium, Washington, DC, July 4, 1972? The Stones came on at 9:10 pm according to one press report.

Basically the second show after Altamont was a stadium show: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, September 2, 1970. They did more stadium shows that tour: Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm, Liseberg in Gothenburg was an open field as far as I understand.

Mathijs

I think it was not just the Stones playing open air shows in daylight during the 70s

The Jack Murphy Stadium 1981 show (San Diego) started an hour late and was advertised [from the stage] as being the first night show of the tour.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-04-13 23:58 by Zotz.

OK, so maybe it's not what I thought. Seems like they did do some outdoor night shows during 1970, 1972 and 1976. I thought maybe it was a conscious decision or something. Interesting!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-04-14 18:09 by Turning To Gold.

I saw them at night outdoors in Memphis, July 4, 1975. It was about 107 degrees on the field at the stadium that afternoon when The Meters, Charlie Daniels Band and The J. Geils Band opened. The Stones conveniently delayed playing until it was nice & dark, and quite a bit cooler! Great memories from my 16 year old self!

Quote
Turning To Gold
OK, so maybe it's not what I thought. Seems like they did do some outdoor night shows during 1970, 1972 and 1976. I thought maybe it was a conscious decision or something. Interesting!

The lighting wasn't quite what it was today and a LOT of outdoor shows took place in the daytime. Not really a conscious decision to not play in the dark but more the way the industry worked then.

Concert lighting was revolutionized in the 1980's (by Journey their Nocturne Productions).

The band probably didn't start micromanaging / advancing every minute detail until later on too.