"Like a Rolling Stone": digging for the Stones in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

Marseille

Rock‘n’roll is here to stay!

Marseille and the Rolling Stones… A story that kicked off in defiantly rock’n’roll style! In March 1966, after a gig in Paris, the Stones went on the road to Marseille. It was their first concert in France outside the capital. At the time, the band were rising stars, but not yet a legend. The organisation that day left much to be desired. The Stones were playing at Salle Vallier, where two concerts were scheduled one after the other. But after the first concert, many of the rowdy up fans didn’t leave as planned. The room was packed solid. Result: the bay windows were smashed and the venue trashed. And the cherry on the cake, Mick Jagger, the group’s iconic singer, was hit in the face with a chair and taken to hospital to have stitches in his brow bone. Welcome to Marseille!

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• Marseille

Saint-Jean-Cap Ferrat, Arles, Grasse, Mougins…

A Rolling Stone gathers no moss…

The Rolling Stones also explored other parts of the South of France during the Villa Nellcote era. In addition to Villefranche-sur-Mer (where Keith Richards’ boat was moored), the band explored the Côte d’Azur and Provence. Richards and his wife Anita Pallenberg were often seen on the beaches and café terraces of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Drummer Charlie Watts bought a farm in Arles, where his wife bred horses. Bass player Bill Wyman stayed in Grasse for a while, before settling down in Vence. Meanwhile, guitarist Mick Taylor took root at a gorgeous villa on the heights of Grasse. Mick Jagger preferred Mougins. The band’s front man was already familiar with the Côte d’Azur as he had spent holidays at Camping du Pylône in Antibes with his parents as a child.

Return to Marseille

Tripe & trotters and strolls in the Panier quarter

The Rolling Stones returned to Marseille in 1990 for their “Urban Jungle” tour, when the 1966 concert fiasco was just a distant memory… This time there was no fighting in a packed room: the band headlined at the Orange Vélodrome – the mythical stadium of the Olympique de Marseille football team. They returned to the same venue thirteen years later for the “Licks World Tour”. Nice, the Côte d’Azur‘s capital city, has also pulsated to the sound of the Stones – they played at Palais Nikaïa in July 1982 and August 2006. But their last French concert took place in Marseille in June 2018, when Mick Jagger also took time to wander around the historic Panier quarter, famed for its little old lanes and street art. With a white cap perched on his head and dark shades perched on his nose, he posed at the heart of “Marseille’s old town” and posted the pic to his Instagram account. Later that evening, on stage, he told thousands of fans that he had “spent the afternoon in a bistro watching the France football match and eating tripe & trotters”. Not quite as rock’n’roll as a chair in the face, but a lot tastier!

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Une publication partagée par Mick Jagger (@mickjagger)