On March 30, 1966, the Rolling Stones performed at the Salle Vallier in Marseille, a concert that ended in disorder when frustrated fans reacted to poor organization by smashing windows and throwing furniture. During the chaos, lead singer Mick Jagger was struck in the face with a chair and required stitches. Despite the turmoil, a photograph taken the following day aboard a train traveling to Lyon captures a more subdued scene, with Jagger concealing his injured eye behind red sunglasses gifted by French singer Antoine. Notably, the band—already internationally renowned with multiple Number 1 hits—was traveling to their next engagement by public train.
The photograph was taken by Jean-Marie Périer, a French photographer who had developed a relationship with the band. Périer first met the Stones a year earlier during a dinner in Paris, where he was accompanied by his then-girlfriend, singer Françoise Hardy. Recalling those early encounters, Périer noted that Mick Jagger stood out as the most polite member of the group, while guitarist Brian Jones appeared detached, and Keith Richards was difficult to understand. Hardy later revealed to Périer that Jagger had flirted with her throughout the evening.
Over the following decade, Périer continued to photograph the Rolling Stones for the magazine Salut les copains, documenting the band’s ascent to superstardom alongside his observations of their increasingly notorious lifestyle. He recounted scenes of excess, including a mass of cocaine backstage during a Boston concert that would have alarmed narcotics officers, as well as instances of fans pressing themselves aggressively against the band’s limousine, and even the tour doctor reportedly engaging in sexual activity with a female fan aboard their private jet.
The image of the Stones casually disembarking at train stations to buy sandwiches and orange soda starkly contrasts with the tumultuous moments before and the extravagant celebrity culture that would later surround the band. Périer highlighted the simplicity of that time, remarking on how very different it was from today’s high-security tours featuring private jets and bodyguards.
An exhibition featuring Périer’s work, titled *Jean-Marie Périer: My Pop Years*, is currently on display at the La Gacilly photo festival in Brittany and will run until October 4.