Editor’s Note: Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Rolling Stones playing Lynn’s Manning Bowl, where a riot broke out with thousands of teenagers “driven to near frenzy by the raw rock ‘n’ roll rhythm of the Rolling Stones quintet,” as Earle Stern wrote in this story, published in the Daily Evening Item on June 25, 1966. 

Police Hurl Tear Gas Bombs To Quell Rolling Stones Wild Melee At Bowl

By Earle Stern

Smashing through police lines, and tossing wooden barriers aside like matchsticks, 5000 rain-drenched and hysterically screaming teenager fans of The Rolling Stones rioted last night at Manning Bowl.

Police used tear gas to break up the wild melee, as rioters began to pound on doors and windows of two limousines into which their singing idols fled when the trouble began.

The teenagers ignored the repeated warnings of Boston disc jockey and M.C. Arnie (Woo-Woo) Ginsburg, who had vainly warned that the show would be stopped if the crowd did not remain in the seats.

Four Injured, Three Arrested

Four persons were injured, three youths were arrested for drunkenness, and more than a dozen were ejected during the night.

The riot started at 11 P.M. after 15,000 youths waited in a drenching downpour, listening to the music of several rock ‘n’ roll groups that preceded The Rolling Stones.

As soon as the famous British quintet appeared, the crowd surged to its feet and began pressing forward towards the stage.

About 2000 folding seats had been placed on the grass field in front of the stage, and the teenagers who occupied these seats triggered the melee. Once it started, other youths leaped onto the field from the stands.

Police Battle To Quiet Crowd

Police vainly battled to contain the crowd, and several officers were knocked to the ground and trampled as the mob broke through barriers in a headlong rush for the stage.

The tear gas containers, hurled by police to the front and rear of the stage, quickly quelled the rioters, who scattered in all directions and fled through exits to the streets.

Behind them, they left broken chairs, abandoned clothing, shoes, purses, and other belongings, strewn all over the field.

Injured in the crushing crowd were:

Donna Rubay, 19, 697 Lynnfield St., Lynn

Frances Porter, 18, of Milton

Usula Visconte, 16, 55 Glendale Ave., Everett.

Earle Boyce, 15, 32 Sigourney St., Lynn

Miss Porter was treated for multiple abrasions after she was trampled by rioting youths who knocked her to the ground. She struck the back of her head on one of the police barriers.

The Rubay girl was treated for similar injuries, and Miss Visconte received abrasions and lacerations.

Police Forced To Use Gas

Boyce was treated for inhalation of tear gas fumes.

Police were reluctant to use the tear gas, but said they were left with no alternative when the rioters ripped wooden planks from the stage and used them in attempts to smash windows of the autos in which The Rolling Stones were sped away to safety.

Another auto, nearly overturned by the mob, contained $11,000 in cash proceeds from ticket sales, police reported.

It was the first appearance this year in America for the unkempt appearing English quintet, who are scheduled to appear today in Cleveland on the second stop in a two-months tour of the U.S.

Peabody Man Put On The Show

Their appearance in Lynn was considered quite a coup for the Peabody man who arranged an promoted the event. Robert Walker, 4 Symphony Rd., West Peabody, president of Hub-Bub Productions of Boston. A native of New York and a Peabody resident for the past four years, he represents one of the largest lecture booking agencies in the country.

Walker has previously arranged speaking appearances for such luminaries as Author Pearl S. Buck, Ex-JFK Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, Cartoonist Al Capp and TV Commentator Mike Wallace.

Moments before the riot broke out, Walker had boasted to an Item reporter that “The Rolling Stones will put Lynn on the map.”

The Peabody promoter said a crowd of 25,000 would have attended if the bowl was linked to public transportation facilities. He explained that most of The Rolling Stones fans are under driving age. Walker has booked the group for a Syracuse, N.Y. show July 5.

Rain began to fall at 9:45 P.M. and became quite heavy just a few minutes before The Rolling Stones were to appear.

Teens Restless, Riot Feared

Teenagers were becoming obviously restless, and police feared a riot would occur if the program was canceled without an appearance by the British group, rivaled in world popularity only by The Beatles.

The Rolling Stones emerged and ran through the chill, wind-driven rain to take their positions on the stage.

They played and sang half a dozen of their more popular recordings, and the crowd of teenagers became more frenzied and hysterical with each song.

Some of the youths climbed on chairs, waving their arms and bodies in time with the pounding rhythms. Others seemed mesmerized, hypnotized by their shaggy-haired idols and the music.

Girls Managed To Evade The Police

As the tension mounted, police battled to hold the crowd behind wooden barriers. A few girls managed to slip through police lines and raced to the platform, extending their arms in vain efforts to touch The Rolling Stones.

One girl was carried off the field in a trance-like state, murmuring “I’ve got to see him,” over and over.

75 Policemen Hired At Bowl

Seventy-five police officers were stationed at the bowl and several Registry of Motor Vehicles Inspectors were also on duty.

The police said they received hundreds of telephone calls during the two days prior to the event. The calls were from parents who asked, “What’s it going to be like there? Do you think I should let my kids go?”

Retired Lynn Police Sgt. Francis Walsh, who lives near the bowl, was a spectator last night and witnessed the riot. He credited the use of tear gas as “the only thing that saved them from disaster.”

The rumored club members, the Hell’s Angels, failed to materialize, although a dozen bearded cyclists were observed among the rioting youths.

The program came close to not being held at all. The jet plane that brought the Rolling Stones and some other rock ‘n’ roll groups to Boston from New York ran into a storm and circled Logan International Airport for 90 minutes. It managed to land only minutes before a decision was made to divert the plane to another airport.

On the plane with the Rolling Stones were The Standells, The McCoys, and The Tradewinds.

The Standells received an enthusiastic response from the crowd when they performed their current hit recording of “Dirty Water,” a song about Boston’s Charles River, which the California quintet has never seen.

The Tradewinds and the McCoys preceded the appearance of the Rolling Stones, and also were warmly greeted by their fans.

Band Appears in Heavy Rain

Pandemonium broke out when The Rolling Stones finally appeared, making their way to the stage in a drenching downpour. The rain started at 9:45 and was occasionally heavy. Teenagers had waited in the rain for more than an hour when The Rolling Stones emerged from a dressing room.

The group ran through several numbers, including “My 19th Nervous Breakdown,” “My Sweet Lady Jane,” and “This Could Be The Last Time.”

Police Alert For Trouble

Deputy Chief S. Craft Scribner, Capt. Charles Rockwell and Lt. George A. Harney, surveying the crowd and recognizing signs of impending trouble, moved to the stage. The sound amplifying system was set up in such a way that all speakers could be shut down instantly and a single microphone placed in the hands of a police officer. But before action could be taken, the crowd surged forward and moved through the wooden barriers and police lines as if they were not there.

Moving towards the stage, they left dozens of persons dazzed and trampled on the ground. The vanguard of the rioting mob had just reached the stage and the nearby limousines when the first of the two tear gas containers was tossed into their midst. The performers ducked off into their limousine and the police then proceeded to bring conditions under control.