THE STONES – Teenpunk from Gelsenkirchen live at the "Beat Festival"

 

The Stones were a genuine Garage band, teenagers who’d bash it out as well as they could.

Okay, the sound quality of their three tracks is far from perfect, but do you know any other German band that had “The Burning Desire” in their live set?! The Five By Five’s version had been issued in Germany on the Vogue label. It did not do much, in fact, it did very little. Thus the original picture sleeve single has become a collectors item. The Stones, a bunch of young lads from the Ruhrgebiet town of Gelsenkirchen, however picked it up and performed it at the “Beat Festival” in Recklinghausen on 9^th February 1969. They added a self-penned tune and a Small Faces cover. Unfortunately, the bands competing (about 150 had signed in, but only a third of them actually were given stage presence) were limited to three numbers each. Most probably the Gelsenkirchen Stones had more aces up their sleeves.

I don’t have a photo, unfortunately, and no line-up of the band. 

1. THE STONES, Gelsenkirchen, live Vestlandhalle 9 Febr 69: The Burning Desire (Fire)
2. THE STONES, Gelsenkirchen, live Vestlandhalle 9 Febr 69: Flying Like A Butterfly
3. THE STONES, Gelsenkirchen, live Vestlandhalle 9 Febr 69: Patterns