On the same weekend the Rolling Stones played a gig in Los Angeles during their 50th-anniversary tour, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported this fact — the Stones’ first show in the United States took place in the Route 66 town of San Bernardino, Calif.
Local promoter Bob Lewis said the Stones’ show on June 5, 1964, at the Swing Auditorium was offered after a Beatles gig fell through. The Byrds were part of the tour with the Stones.
The concert wasn’t a sellout; just 3,500 tickets were sold in the 5,000-capacity Swing. But it had its moments:
“The previous weekend,” Lewis remembers ruefully, “San Bernardino High School had held their graduation ceremony at the Swing and stairs had been put in at the front of the stage so graduates could walk up and receive their diplomas. Well, we just left those stairs there for the Stones concert. We were so new at this. We didn’t know what to expect. Well, with those stairs, there were all these girls rushing the stage during the show. They could just run up there. In fact, one of those girls actually stole Mick Jagger’s tambourine. Somebody out there has a real nice souvenir of that concert.”
The Stones performed 10 songs that night, including the audience favorite, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” the lyrics of which mention San Bernardino by name.
Recalls guitarist Keith Richards, “Our first American gig was in San Bernardino. It was a straight gas, man. They all knew the songs and they were all bopping. It was like being back home. ‘Route 66’ mentioned San Bernardino, so everybody was into it.”
The reaction from the audience became so frenzied, the band ditched its customary bows and ran off the stage after its last song.
No recordings or footage from the San Bern show seems to exist. But here’s a recording of the Stones’ performing “Route 66” the same year at the Camden Theatre in London.
Alas, the Swing Auditorium had to be torn down after a plane crashed into it in 1981. A Facebook page devoted to memories of the venue is here.