How many of the close to 600 RTL employees remember that exactly 25 years ago, on 27 August 1995, Mick Jagger danced in front of a massive crowd right where the RTL offices are now located?
Claude Frisoni, the coordinator of the event, remembers the ruckus of the performance vividly: “We were faced with the enormous task of setting up this unique show. The only comparable event hosted in the Grand Duchy to that day may have been the start of the Tour de France, an experience on which we relied that day.”
The entire event only came about due to a coincidence. The Rolling Stones were actually supposed to play a show in Athens that day, which had to be cancelled. Upon hearing the news, Frisoni rushed to contact the band’s management to set up a show in Luxembourg. The Stones’ manager agreed on two conditions: One, the organisers needed a minimum of $1 million from ticket sales as a guarantee, and two, a sufficiently large area needed to be provided.
Frisoni remembers how one of his team members immediately contacted the then Minister of the Economy Robert Goebbels, who had just return from a trip to the US and was still jet lagged: “We got confirmation right away!”
Even more curious, the show in Luxembourg almost did not come to be since the police was on high alert after receiving a death threat addressed at the band from a convicted murderer and drug trafficker. Fortunately enough, then Mayor of Luxembourg City Lydie Polfer, managed to defuse the situation and get the permission from the police department.
The organisation team was left with some memorable moments. One of them was the frontman’s unusual request for a meeting with the Grand Duke or his son Henry. Although the latter was in Austria at the time, he made sure to come back for the occasion and the meeting actually took place. Another anecdote captures the moment a taxi driver could not believe that Mick Jagger was actually sitting in his car, despite the Englishman singing “Paint it Black”. The rockstar later also visited the castle in Vianden accompanied by his son.
The Rolling Stones show still counts as the first milestone in Luxembourg’s concert history. After that, large-scale events became more frequent, as for instance the Michael Jackson show two years later in Bettembourg.
Although officials stated that 62,000 spectators were at the show that day, it is estimated that a few more thousands must have been present. Who would have thought that 25 years later, the band is still rocking around the world fresh as ever. An upcoming new album is scheduled to be released in September.
You can watch the full set below.
Here’s the complete set list of the evening:
Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, It’s All Over Now, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Beast of Burden, Angie, Like a Rolling Stone, Rock and a Hard Place, Gimme Shelter, I Go Wild, Miss You, Honky Tonk Women, Happy, Slipping Away, Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
