I've heard a story told by Bernard Fowler. He says it happend in Austria either on Urban Jungle or Voodoo Lounge tour. He was detained by the police in front of the venue when one of the concert goers accused him of stealing his ticket. Despite showing his laminate pass he was detained by the police for 45 minutes before being released without any apology.
When he told this story to Keith he got angry and demanded to find these "motherf***ng policemen". According to Bernard the show was delayed by 2 hours before the head of security found the head of police, the deputy head, the mayor, the promoter of the gig. Keith angrily accused them of racism and demanded to apologise to Bernard. Only after that the show could go on.
I wonder if there are other versions of this story told by others. Maybe it was covered in media? Anyone remembers this?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023-01-26 07:19 by bv.

Never heard about it before. Disgusting if true (and why not). But a big kudos to Keith - that's the way to deal with shit like that!

- Doxa

Respect for Keith.

No idea if the story is true but Keith's reaction is plausible and true to his character , i think

Was anybody there as an attendee of this show? I assume those who were there may well remember as it was delayed by two hours long — which show was it, the location, the venue and the date?

Yes, this happened at Zeltweg 1995. Mick is joking between the songs about it. But I didn't listen to this show in ages.
I remember that the newspaper Kronen Zeitung also reported about this.

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silkcut1978_
Yes, this happened at Zeltweg 1995. Mick is joking between the songs about it. But I didn't listen to this show in ages.
I remember that the newspaper Kronen Zeitung also reported about this.

This one?

[www.setlist.fm]

Quote
NashvilleBlues

This one?

Yes, Austria had only one date per Tour:

Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour: 31-Jul-1990, Vienna, Praterstadion,

Voodoo Lounge European Tour: 1-Aug-1995, Zeltweg, Österreich-Ring - [iorr.org] , [iorr.org] .

I was there too. They started around 11pm.
It was an extremely hot day. People collapsed by the dozen and the long wait led to a high potential for aggression. I don't have good memories of the show at all.

i have read about this before quite some time ago but do not remember where (may be it was even here on IORR)
if true great reaction by KR, seems typically him. what a jerk of cop

Respect to Keith for trying to make things right by demanding an apology to Bernard.
Happy the show went on after all albeit delayed late in to the night.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

I think it's funny that the 1995 gig is always named as the "Zeltweg" concert while the 2017 Gig is named "Spielberg". Both took place in Spielberg but not in the exact same Location.

"Zeltweg" is a pretty unglamorous address. It's less the name of a venue than of the road into a field where you can put up your tent.

Quote
RisingStone
Was anybody there as an attendee of this show? I assume those who were there may well remember as it was delayed by two hours long — which show was it, the location, the venue and the date?

Certainly not 1990 Urban Jungle in Vienna. I was at that show (a good one, btw) and it started round the usual time. Also, if some such incident had occured there it would have made the newspapers.

I haven't been at the Zeltweg Show (too far away in a different province to get there after work) but if that show started at 11pm only, two hrs delay sounds realistic. Can't recall the piece in the Kronenzeitung, but then the "Krone" never was my paper of choice ...

A Vienna show that started with several hours delay was the 1982 show, when the MC told the audience they were having problems with Keiht's guitar as an excuse (as if Keith had only one single guitar ...). Bill Wyman later said the delay was due to an accident his driver to the stadium was involved it (hit a pedestrian) and he refused to go on stage before knowing about the injured person and whether he was alright.

Thank you everybody for the info.
Sounds like a tough situation.

Quote
franzk
I've heard a story told by Bernard Fowler. He says it happend in Austria either on Urban Jungle or Voodoo Lounge tour. He was detained by the police in front of the venue when one of the concert goers accused him of stealing his ticket. Despite showing his laminate pass he was detained by the police for 45 minutes before being released without any apology.
When he told this story to Keith he got angry and demanded to find these "motherf***ng policemen". According to Bernard the show was delayed by 2 hours before the head of security found the head of police, the deputy head, the mayor, the promoter of the gig. Keith angrily accused them of racism and demanded to apologise to Bernard. Only after that the show could go on.
I wonder if there are other versions of this story told by others. Maybe it was covered in media? Anyone remembers this?

Detained by the police because "one of the concert goers accused him of stealing his ticket"??? Sorry, but this sounds a bit fishy imo.

Quote
franzk
I've heard a story told by Bernard Fowler. He says it happend in Austria either on Urban Jungle or Voodoo Lounge tour. He was detained by the police in front of the venue when one of the concert goers accused him of stealing his ticket. Despite showing his laminate pass he was detained by the police for 45 minutes before being released without any apology.
When he told this story to Keith he got angry and demanded to find these "motherf***ng policemen". According to Bernard the show was delayed by 2 hours before the head of security found the head of police, the deputy head, the mayor, the promoter of the gig. Keith angrily accused them of racism and demanded to apologise to Bernard. Only after that the show could go on.
I wonder if there are other versions of this story told by others. Maybe it was covered in media? Anyone remembers this?

where did you him tell this story?

could you post a link?

Well I had to go and find a recording of the gig. Found It!
There's mention of loud clapping and talking. We'll see.
Gonna be awhile to download.

not blind, was blindmansbluff, is acetboy

Quote
retired_dog

Quote
franzk
I've heard a story told by Bernard Fowler. He says it happend in Austria either on Urban Jungle or Voodoo Lounge tour. He was detained by the police in front of the venue when one of the concert goers accused him of stealing his ticket. Despite showing his laminate pass he was detained by the police for 45 minutes before being released without any apology.
When he told this story to Keith he got angry and demanded to find these "motherf***ng policemen". According to Bernard the show was delayed by 2 hours before the head of security found the head of police, the deputy head, the mayor, the promoter of the gig. Keith angrily accused them of racism and demanded to apologise to Bernard. Only after that the show could go on.
I wonder if there are other versions of this story told by others. Maybe it was covered in media? Anyone remembers this?

Detained by the police because "one of the concert goers accused him of stealing his ticket"??? Sorry, but this sounds a bit fishy imo.

Here's the quote:

"Two cops with submachine guns appear, and they speak to him. “This guy
says that you stole his ticket,” says one of the cops. What? I show them my
laminate to prove that I’m with the band. But instead of going the right
way, they go the other way. They take me off to some trailer and hold me
for forty-five minutes. I kid you not. Finally a guy comes in and just says
to me, “You can go.” No explanation, no apology, nothing."

It's from the book "The Stone Age" by Lesley-Ann Jones published last year.

You can find the whole story if you click at "look inside" sample at Amazon: [www.amazon.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-01-25 11:54 by franzk.

That book is horrible

Quote
franzk
You can find the whole story if you click at "look inside" sample at Amazon: [www.amazon.com]

Bernard says, "it was an outdoor gig", so it must have been Zeltweg 1995. Urban Jungle in Vienna 1990 was a stadium gig.

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doitywoik

Quote
franzk
You can find the whole story if you click at "look inside" sample at Amazon: [www.amazon.com]

Bernard says, "it was an outdoor gig", so it must have been Zeltweg 1995. Urban Jungle in Vienna 1990 was a stadium gig.

Irix determined this above...

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NashvilleBlues

Quote
doitywoik

Quote
franzk
You can find the whole story if you click at "look inside" sample at Amazon: [www.amazon.com]

Bernard says, "it was an outdoor gig", so it must have been Zeltweg 1995. Urban Jungle in Vienna 1990 was a stadium gig.

Irix determined this above...

Actually, bernard90mike did by saying the 1995 gig started by 11pm only.

Quote
doitywoik

Quote
NashvilleBlues

Quote
doitywoik

Quote
franzk
You can find the whole story if you click at "look inside" sample at Amazon: [www.amazon.com]

Bernard says, "it was an outdoor gig", so it must have been Zeltweg 1995. Urban Jungle in Vienna 1990 was a stadium gig.

Irix determined this above...

Actually, bernard90mike did by saying the 1995 gig started by 11pm only.

Nope. Irix's comment was before that. Regardless, it had already been determined it was 1995 before your comment. Nothing personal, just letting you know.

Neue Zeit, Graz, 03. August 1995

Quote
child-of-the-moon

Neue Zeit, Graz, 03. August 1995

Translation via Online-OCR + DeepL:

"Show almost cancelled

The Open-air on the Ö-Ring narrowly missed being cancelled. The reason was the behaviour of a man from the gendarmerie's mobile task force.

The catastrophe did not take place by a hair's breadth. An officer of the mobile task force of the Styrian gendarmerie almost caused the Stones to cancel their show at the Ö-Ring, and it happened that way: In principle, the officers of the mobile task force were not supposed to enter the backstage area, i.e. the private lounge of the Rolling Stones. This is even stated in the regulations for the Stones' show at the Österreich-Ring, because already at Bon Jovi four officers of this group did not want to leave the private area and caused a twenty-minute delay of the show. This time it was worse. A member of the brass ensemble, a black musician, did a few rounds on his moped in the backstage area. The police officer obviously didn't like that at all. He stopped the musician and wanted to remove him from the dressing room area. Assurances that he was a musician and had a backstage pass were of no use. "You stole a pass," said the officer, who also made it clear that he obviously had difficulties in dealing with people of a different skin colour. When Keith Richards joined in and heard the story, he winced. "Racists!" he yelled, raging and retreating. He didn't want to go on stage. For an hour, promoters and bandmates talked down to the guitarist, and one apology followed another. Finally, Richards did go on stage and the show started an hour late. The biggest security risk - just imagine what happens when 90,000 don't get what they expect - was thus a single gendarmerie officer. Will that be enough for promotion? V.R.

Keith Richards freaked out completely. (Lohr)"


The Austrian OCR-Text:

"Show fast geplatzt

Das Open-air am Ö-Ring ging knapp an einer Absage vorbei. Auslösender Grund war das Verhalten eines Mannes der mobilen Einsatztruppe der Gendarmerie.

Die Katastrophe fand nur um Haaresbreite nicht statt. Ein Beamter des mobilen Einsatzkommandos der steirischen Gendarmerie hätte fast die Stones zur Absage ihrer Show am Ö-Ring veranlaßt, und das kam so: Im Prinzip sollten die Beamten der mobilen Einsatzgruppe den Backstagebereich, also den privaten Aufenthaltsraum der Rolling Stones, nicht betreten. Das steht sogar in der Verordnung für die Stones-Show am Österreich-Ring, da schon bei Bon Jovi vier Beamte dieser Gruppe den Privatbereich nicht verlassen wollten und eine zwanzigminütige Verzögerung der Show bewirkten. Diesmal war's ärger. Ein Mitglied des Bläserensembles. ein schwarzer Musiker, drehte im Backstagebereich ein paar Runden mit dem Mofa. Das gefiel dem Einsatzbeamten offenbar ganz und gar nicht. Er stoppte den Musiker und wollte ihn aus dem Garderobenbereich entfernen. Beteuerungen, daß er Musiker sei und einen Backstage-Paß habe, nützten nicht. „Du Paß gestohlen", sagte der Beamte und gab auch sonst zu erkennen, daß er offenbar Schwierigkeiten im Umgang mit Leuten anderer Hautfarbe hat. Als Keith Richards dazukam und die Geschichte erfuhr, zuckte er aus. „Rassisten!" brüllte er, tobte und zog sich zurück. Er wollte nicht auf die Bühne gehen. Eine Stunde lang redeten Veranstalter und Bandkollegen auf den Gitarristen ein, und eine Entschuldigung folgte der anderen. Schließlich ging Richards doch auf die Bühne und die Show begann mit einstündiger Verspätung. Das größte Sicherheitsrisiko - man braucht sich nur vorstellen, was passiert, wenn 90.000 nicht das bekommen, was sie erwarten - war somit ein einziger Gendarmeriebeamter. Ob das für eine Beförderung ausreicht? V.R.

Keith Richards zuckte völlig aus. (Lohr)"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-01-25 18:15 by Irix.

Keith has some traits that I like very much. Outrageous.

Quote
Irix

Quote
child-of-the-moon

Neue Zeit, Graz, 03. August 1995

Translation via Online-OCR + DeepL:

"Show almost cancelled

The Open-air on the Ö-Ring narrowly missed being cancelled. The reason was the behaviour of a man from the gendarmerie's mobile task force.

The catastrophe did not take place by a hair's breadth. An officer of the mobile task force of the Styrian gendarmerie almost caused the Stones to cancel their show at the Ö-Ring, and it happened that way: In principle, the officers of the mobile task force were not supposed to enter the backstage area, i.e. the private lounge of the Rolling Stones. This is even stated in the regulations for the Stones' show at the Österreich-Ring, because already at Bon Jovi four officers of this group did not want to leave the private area and caused a twenty-minute delay of the show. This time it was worse. A member of the brass ensemble, a black musician, did a few rounds on his moped in the backstage area. The police officer obviously didn't like that at all. He stopped the musician and wanted to remove him from the dressing room area. Assurances that he was a musician and had a backstage pass were of no use. "You stole a pass," said the officer, who also made it clear that he obviously had difficulties in dealing with people of a different skin colour. When Keith Richards joined in and heard the story, he winced. "Racists!" he yelled, raging and retreating. He didn't want to go on stage. For an hour, promoters and bandmates talked down to the guitarist, and one apology followed another. Finally, Richards did go on stage and the show started an hour late. The biggest security risk - just imagine what happens when 90,000 don't get what they expect - was thus a single gendarmerie officer. Will that be enough for promotion? V.R.

Keith Richards freaked out completely. (Lohr)"


The Austrian OCR-Text:

"Show fast geplatzt

Das Open-air am Ö-Ring ging knapp an einer Absage vorbei. Auslösender Grund war das Verhalten eines Mannes der mobilen Einsatztruppe der Gendarmerie.

Die Katastrophe fand nur um Haaresbreite nicht statt. Ein Beamter des mobilen Einsatzkommandos der steirischen Gendarmerie hätte fast die Stones zur Absage ihrer Show am Ö-Ring veranlaßt, und das kam so: Im Prinzip sollten die Beamten der mobilen Einsatzgruppe den Backstagebereich, also den privaten Aufenthaltsraum der Rolling Stones, nicht betreten. Das steht sogar in der Verordnung für die Stones-Show am Österreich-Ring, da schon bei Bon Jovi vier Beamte dieser Gruppe den Privatbereich nicht verlassen wollten und eine zwanzigminütige Verzögerung der Show bewirkten. Diesmal war's ärger. Ein Mitglied des Bläserensembles. ein schwarzer Musiker, drehte im Backstagebereich ein paar Runden mit dem Mofa. Das gefiel dem Einsatzbeamten offenbar ganz und gar nicht. Er stoppte den Musiker und wollte ihn aus dem Garderobenbereich entfernen. Beteuerungen, daß er Musiker sei und einen Backstage-Paß habe, nützten nicht. „Du Paß gestohlen", sagte der Beamte und gab auch sonst zu erkennen, daß er offenbar Schwierigkeiten im Umgang mit Leuten anderer Hautfarbe hat. Als Keith Richards dazukam und die Geschichte erfuhr, zuckte er aus. „Rassisten!" brüllte er, tobte und zog sich zurück. Er wollte nicht auf die Bühne gehen. Eine Stunde lang redeten Veranstalter und Bandkollegen auf den Gitarristen ein, und eine Entschuldigung folgte der anderen. Schließlich ging Richards doch auf die Bühne und die Show begann mit einstündiger Verspätung. Das größte Sicherheitsrisiko - man braucht sich nur vorstellen, was passiert, wenn 90.000 nicht das bekommen, was sie erwarten - war somit ein einziger Gendarmeriebeamter. Ob das für eine Beförderung ausreicht? V.R.

Keith Richards zuckte völlig aus. (Lohr)"

wow!

i've never heard this story before how is it not better known?

makes me proud to be a fan of keith

poor bernard feel sorry he has to go thru this sh-t

keith's responses to this and sticking up for him might explain why he's been so loyal to the band for so long

Quote
Irix

Quote
child-of-the-moon

Neue Zeit, Graz, 03. August 1995

Translation via Online-OCR + DeepL:

"Show almost cancelled

The Open-air on the Ö-Ring narrowly missed being cancelled. The reason was the behaviour of a man from the gendarmerie's mobile task force.

The catastrophe did not take place by a hair's breadth. An officer of the mobile task force of the Styrian gendarmerie almost caused the Stones to cancel their show at the Ö-Ring, and it happened that way: In principle, the officers of the mobile task force were not supposed to enter the backstage area, i.e. the private lounge of the Rolling Stones. This is even stated in the regulations for the Stones' show at the Österreich-Ring, because already at Bon Jovi four officers of this group did not want to leave the private area and caused a twenty-minute delay of the show. This time it was worse. A member of the brass ensemble, a black musician, did a few rounds on his moped in the backstage area. The police officer obviously didn't like that at all. He stopped the musician and wanted to remove him from the dressing room area. Assurances that he was a musician and had a backstage pass were of no use. "You stole a pass," said the officer, who also made it clear that he obviously had difficulties in dealing with people of a different skin colour. When Keith Richards joined in and heard the story, he winced. "Racists!" he yelled, raging and retreating. He didn't want to go on stage. For an hour, promoters and bandmates talked down to the guitarist, and one apology followed another. Finally, Richards did go on stage and the show started an hour late. The biggest security risk - just imagine what happens when 90,000 don't get what they expect - was thus a single gendarmerie officer. Will that be enough for promotion? V.R.

Keith Richards freaked out completely. (Lohr)"


The Austrian OCR-Text:

"Show fast geplatzt

Das Open-air am Ö-Ring ging knapp an einer Absage vorbei. Auslösender Grund war das Verhalten eines Mannes der mobilen Einsatztruppe der Gendarmerie.

Die Katastrophe fand nur um Haaresbreite nicht statt. Ein Beamter des mobilen Einsatzkommandos der steirischen Gendarmerie hätte fast die Stones zur Absage ihrer Show am Ö-Ring veranlaßt, und das kam so: Im Prinzip sollten die Beamten der mobilen Einsatzgruppe den Backstagebereich, also den privaten Aufenthaltsraum der Rolling Stones, nicht betreten. Das steht sogar in der Verordnung für die Stones-Show am Österreich-Ring, da schon bei Bon Jovi vier Beamte dieser Gruppe den Privatbereich nicht verlassen wollten und eine zwanzigminütige Verzögerung der Show bewirkten. Diesmal war's ärger. Ein Mitglied des Bläserensembles. ein schwarzer Musiker, drehte im Backstagebereich ein paar Runden mit dem Mofa. Das gefiel dem Einsatzbeamten offenbar ganz und gar nicht. Er stoppte den Musiker und wollte ihn aus dem Garderobenbereich entfernen. Beteuerungen, daß er Musiker sei und einen Backstage-Paß habe, nützten nicht. „Du Paß gestohlen", sagte der Beamte und gab auch sonst zu erkennen, daß er offenbar Schwierigkeiten im Umgang mit Leuten anderer Hautfarbe hat. Als Keith Richards dazukam und die Geschichte erfuhr, zuckte er aus. „Rassisten!" brüllte er, tobte und zog sich zurück. Er wollte nicht auf die Bühne gehen. Eine Stunde lang redeten Veranstalter und Bandkollegen auf den Gitarristen ein, und eine Entschuldigung folgte der anderen. Schließlich ging Richards doch auf die Bühne und die Show begann mit einstündiger Verspätung. Das größte Sicherheitsrisiko - man braucht sich nur vorstellen, was passiert, wenn 90.000 nicht das bekommen, was sie erwarten - war somit ein einziger Gendarmeriebeamter. Ob das für eine Beförderung ausreicht? V.R.

Keith Richards zuckte völlig aus. (Lohr)"

Aaah, this version of the story sounds a bit more plausible.

However, I can't praise Keith here for his behaviour:

Some decades ago, I discussed a problem with my now deceased friend Jim Callaghan, then head of the Stones security as some here might remember. He replied with a grin: "Look, that's not a problem! Do you want to know what a problem is?" He pointed to the packed stadium and said: "Look at this crowd and imagine what could happen when for one reason or another the show would have to be cancelled! Can you imagine the riot it could cause? Nothing, absolutely nothing could stop these masses of people. All we could do is reach our cars and leave as quick as possible!"

Keith should have known this, too. You simply don't risk a desaster like that with possibly many people hurt or even worse.

It strikes me as puzzling that I had never heard of this incident before. Either it had only local but not nation-wide news coverage or it simply escaped me. Normally all the big newspapers have reviews of Stones show, wherever in the country they take place. Maybe they just mentioned a delay but didn't dwell on (or know about) the reason. Looks like I should search some online archives.

The show was at the Österreich Ring, Zeltweg, Austria, August 1, 1995.

Bjornulf