A NIGHT TO REMEMBER. THE END OF AN ERA
The last original concert performance by The Easybeats was held at the Amoco Centre in Orange, New South Wales, Australia, on October 26, 1969. This final show was part of an Australian tour and was reportedly cancelled after only 20 minutes due to a hostile audience.
It is remembered as the final live performance of The Easybeats.
The following is a download from information available on the Internet.
Key Events of the Night
The disruption:
During their set, the band faced intense hostility from the audience. The show was plagued by heckling and items being thrown, leading to the performance being cancelled after only 20 minutes.
The band’s breakup:
Following this disastrous gig, the band members went their separate ways, marking the end of Australia’s most successful rock group of the 1960s.
Context of the riot:
The term “pop riot” has often been used to describe the chaos of the night. Local reports at the time noted that the band had to endure “unpleasant people” and a crowd that appeared largely uninterested in their newer, heavier rock sound compared with their earlier pop hits.
The following is part of an extract from a TV Week article of the time.
POP RIOT
Fights broke out and a gun was produced in one of Australia’s most violent pop concerts—starring the Easybeats.
At one stage lead singer Stevie Wright defended himself with a piece of board and a microphone stand from youths who tried to drag him off the stage.
The Truth went on before the Easybeats and, in the middle of their performance, the singer was dragged from the stage by youths who punched him. He was later treated for a black eye and bruising.
An on-the-spot witness was Orange radio announcer Ray Kennedy, who compared the concert. He described it as a disgrace and said that at one stage a youth had threatened to punch his head in.
Things started getting out of hand when The Truth’s singer was dragged from the stage, but when the Easybeats came on they received a big reception.
A spokesman for the Easybeats said the group was appalled by the lack of police protection they received and would never visit Orange again.
“Truly, it was unbelievable,” he said. “At the start of the concert a small pistol was confiscated and later all hell broke loose. There were three six-foot policemen at the back of the hall, but they just stood there and didn’t do a thing. It was horrible. We were terrified and after it was over we had to rush away in a van.”
I was there that night with The Truth. My own recollection of the evening is somewhat different from some of the details reported in the press at the time. I remember tension in the crowd and George Kent being pulled down, but many of the incidents described in later reports are not as clear in my memory.
I kept the original article as a memento, though I had not looked at it for many years. Reading it again now reminds me how memories of events can differ from contemporary reports—but the night itself remains unforgettable.