3 of the Craziest Touring Moments From 1960s Rock Stars

Rock music has some pretty crazy touring moments throughout its history. While some of the more well-known infamous moments came in the 70s and 80s, the earlier days of rock were just as insane. Below revisit three 1960s rock concert moments that have gone down as some of the craziest moments in the genre’s history.

Videos by American Songwriter

The Beatles’ US Tour, 1966

The Beatles’ 1966 US Tour was so bad that it caused the band to hang up their touring hats altogether. From controversial comments about Jesus and fame, earning a grudge from the Ku Klux Klan, to crowds that were impossible to scream over, there wasn’t much that was successful about this tour.

[RELATED: The Beatles Rejected This Song Three Times Before It Became One of George Harrison’s Biggest Hits in 1970]

It was truly a crazy turn of events for a rock band as popular as The Beatles were in the 1960s. Despite being the biggest band in the world, this tour wasn’t the kind of thing one would expect from someone of their stature. They decided that a show at Candlestick Park in San Francisco would be their final time touring. They retreated from this crazed run into the relative safety of the studio.

Pink Floyd’s ‘The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ Tour, 1967

Frontman Syd Barrett was free-falling into mental decline by the time of Pink Floyd’s The Piper At The Gates of Dawn Tour in 1967. He stopped showing up for shows, purposefully detuned his guitar on stage, and rampantly used drugs. If a frontman were this publicly bad off in today’s world, it would be a much bigger, crazier story than it was back in 1967.

The band had to tap David Gilmour to take over Barrett’s duties. That did the trick, but it likely wasn’t the trajectory Pink Floyd saw themselves going in, especially given their monumental success up to this point.

The Rolling Stones’ US Tour, 1969

The Rolling Stones’ 1966 US tour didn’t just alter their career, but changed rock music as a whole. The “peace and love” sentiment of the mid to late 60s was effectively ended by the most infamous moment from this tour: the murder of an audience member at Altamont Speedway.

Meredith Hunter was stabbed by the security for the evening, Hells Angel Alan Passaro. Needless to say, that changed the perspective of The Stones’ US tour. Moreover, it shifted the cultural tides of rock music, paving the way for a much darker 70s.

(Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns)