ITEM FILE PHOTO
The original gig poster from when The Rolling Stones played the Manning Bowl in Lynn.
BY THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — Gov. Charlie Baker is among the fans seeking satisfaction after a downpour and tear gas shortened a Rolling Stones concert at the Manning Bowl 50 years ago.
The Item has asked the band to finish the concert they started on June 24, 1966. It ended 20 minutes later in a hail of rain and bedlam when Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones fled the stage after 10 songs and jumped into waiting limousines, according to news reports.
Fans swarmed the stage and police set off rounds of the noxious fumes. The Stones, who introduce themselves as “the world’s greatest rock and roll band,” never looked back.
The 8,000 fans who paid as much as $5 for tickets were left wondering if they were having their 19th nervous breakdown.
While in Lynn this week to celebrate construction of workforce housing on Washington Street, the 59-year-old governor veered from his speech to say “Fifty years ago, the Rolling Stones played Lynn, I wish I knew that.”
In an interview with The Item following the event, Baker said, “I just love the reference to that concert in the paper the other day. I’m old enough that I went to the Lynn Manning Bowl back in the day and I could see how you could put a band like the Rolling Stones there. I’m kind of bummed that they only played for 20 minutes.”
But when asked if he would help the newspaper secure a 50th anniversary concert date, Baker demurred.
“Governors have a lot of authority, but I think it begins and ends when you get to stuff like that.”
So the beast of burden remains with The Item to get them here.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.