Dogs, Tear Gas, and The Rolling Stones: On This Day in 1967, the Stones Went Behind the Iron Curtain and Riots Ensued

Numerous rock and roll bands have incited fights, stampedes, and other violently destructive moments. However, there is one rock band that caused chaos on the regular. That band is, of course, the one and only Rolling Stones. Trouble and The Rolling Stones just seemingly go hand in hand; there are too many stories to count about things going south at their concerts. However, there is one story that is memorable and arguably the most impactful. That is when The Stones played behind the Iron Curtain in Warsaw, Poland, on April 14, 1967.

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For a bit of context, in 1967, The Rolling Stones recorded and released their hit album, Between The Buttons, and scored major success with the singles “Ruby Tuesday” and “Let’s Spend The Night Together”. Consequently, they were ripping through the world one country at a time. One of those countries was Poland, and at the time, Poland was under Communist control and fell behind the infamous Iron Curtain.

One could probably guess that The Rolling Stones and Communist control don’t mix. Well, that guess is correct, as their show at Warsaw’s Palace Of Culture ended in disaster. Frankly, it could likely be tagged as one of the most disastrous concerts of all time, yet also one of the most iconic of all time.

Dogs, Tear Gas, and The Rolling Stones

It was the 60s, the whole world was experiencing political aggression, and tempers were flaring in every corner of the globe. Thus, riots and political acts of protest happened on a regular basis. Now, it is unclear if the riot at the Warsaw’s Palace of Culture transpired due to political reasons. However, given the Stones’ rebellious allure and the cultural oppression at the time, it is fair to surmise that political ideals had something to do with the outburst.

Regardless, that night, people both in favor of and against the Communist regime were in attendance, and the Stones were seemingly the perfect catalyst to a night of outrage. Well, that is exactly what happened, as after a few songs, a riot ensued in the crowd. It was a riot so bad that officials used tear gas and dogs to break it up.

Despite the apparent alarmingness of this situation, the concert and riot did mark a major milestone in Polish cultural history. After all, nothing articulates ideological liberation better than electric guitars, taboo lyrics, and, of course, Mick Jagger’s provocative stage presence.

The Rolling Stones Arriving In Zurich Per Getty Images