page_title: The Stones in the Park
section_title: Performance
hierarchical_section_title: The Stones in the Park / Performance
caption_attribution_description: English: Hyde Park, Tour de France Day Many of the estimated two million people who were around Hyde Park for the Prologue stage of the Tour de France were content to lie back and soak up the atmosphere and following the race on several large TV screens dotted around the course. In the distance is The Serpentine.
context_page_description: The Stones in the Park was a free outdoor festival held in Hyde Park on 5 July 1969, headlined by The Rolling Stones and featuring Third Ear Band, King Crimson, Screw, Alexis Korner's New Church, Family and the Battered Ornaments, in front of an estimated audience between 250,000–500,000 spectators.
  It was the Stones' first public concert in over two years, and was planned as an introduction of new guitarist, Mick Taylor, though circumstances inevitably changed following the death of former member Brian Jones two days earlier. The band rehearsed at the Beatles' studio in a basement on Savile Row, and Jagger and Richards came up with a 14-song set; the Hyde Park concert would be the first time many of the songs had been played before a public audience. The PA system was supplied by Watkins Electric Music, who had handled amplification at previous Hyde Park events.
  Fans started to arrive at the park with candles on 4 July in tribute to Jones, and by the morning of 5 July, 7,000 people had already gathered. Mick Jagger read a short eulogy on stage before the Stones' set began, reading two stanzas of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem on John Keats's death, Adonaïs, from a calf-bound book.
context_section_description: The performers at the festival included Third Ear Band, Screw, King Crimson, Alexis Korner's New Church, Roy Harper, Battered Ornaments, Family and The Rolling Stones.
  Fans started to arrive at the park with candles on 4 July in tribute to Jones, and the police allowed the park to be opened late so they could stay. By the following morning, there were already 7,000 people.
  As with the Stones' performance at the infamous Altamont Free Concert later that year, the Hells Angels were hired as stewards to protect the stage and equipment, something suggested by the Grateful Dead's manager Rock Scully, who was used to the Angels performing this service at free festivals in California. According to Cutler, Jagger said that he was keen on doing a similar free concert in California at some time in the future. At Hyde Park, fifty Angels patrolled the vicinity of the stage, though there was little resemblance other than a superficial one to their American counterparts. They performed their duties in exchange for a cup of tea. In the event, there were only twelve arrests on the day and a subsequent police report claimed that the Angels were "totally ineffective".
  King Crimson at this point still consisted of the original line-up of Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Michael Giles and lyricist Peter Sinfield. They had not yet released an album, and were invited to play on the strength of word of mouth after their live performances in venues such as the Marquee Club. Sam Cutler introduced them on stage, stating the "new band is gonna go a long way".
  The band's setlist was "21st Century Schizoid Man", "The Court of the Crimson King", "Get Thy Bearings", "Epitaph", "Mantra", "Travel Weary Capricorn" and "Mars".
  Three of the tracks appeared in studio form on the band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, albeit with different lyrics compared with the performance here. The band's set has since been released on CD, with some bonus material. Recalling the event, Fripp remembers the sense of community at the event and the good weather, particularly noting a sense of goodwill backstage.
  Alexis Korner's involvement with Blues Incorporated had been a key ingredient in the Stones forming in 1962, and he had played onstage with several group members during this time. New Church had been formed with guitarist Peter Thorup after the demise of Blues Incorporated.
  Roy Harper had been regularly appearing at a number of Hyde Park festivals since 1968 and saw his popularity increase as a result of these. This eventually resulted in Blackhill's Peter Jenner managing him, leading to a contract with Harvest Records. For 5 July gig, he contributed a one-song set between equipment changes.
  The Battered Ornaments had been the backing band for Cream collaborator Pete Brown. They performed without Brown for the festival, who had been fired from the band the previous day. Guitarist Chris Spedding took over lead vocals. The band supplied the armoured personnel carrier that carried the Stones from their hotel to the park.
caption: Hyde Park, seen here in 2007
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