The Rolling Stones at Clemson University: A Historic Concert (1989)

Background and Booking the Show

By 1989, Clemson University had long wanted to host a major rock concert on campus. University Union director Buford “Butch” Trent had spent years laying the groundwork with Clemson’s athletic department to use Memorial Stadium (nicknamed “Death Valley”) as a concert venuewitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. Earlier attempts to land big acts (even Prince in the mid-1980s) had fallen through, and there was a campus sentiment since the 1970s that “Clemson will never get a supergroup to play on campus”witnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. That changed when the Rolling Stones’ 1989 Steel Wheels Tour was looking for stadium dates in the Southeast. Clemson, aided by promoter Allen Corbett (a Clemson alumnus), eagerly bid for a showwitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. This would be the Stones’ first tour since 1981, so demand was enormous. Notably, the University of South Carolina had passed on hosting the Stones at Williams-Brice Stadium – USC’s athletic director famously declared the stadium “dedicated to football” and worried that allowing a rock concert might “open the door to tractor pulls and those kind of things”witnosh.wordpress.com. (That remark became local legend among Clemson fans.) With USC stepping aside, Clemson secured the Stones for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, making it the only South Carolina stop on the tourtigernet.com witnosh.wordpress.com. The event was slated as the grand finale of Clemson’s year-long Centennial celebrationtigernet.com, and once it was officially approved, organizers were “half excited and half scared to death,” not quite believing it would happen until tickets actually went on salewitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com.

Date, Venue, and Ticket Sales

The Rolling Stones concert took place on November 26, 1989, at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium (“Death Valley”)tigernet.com. It was the first time the football stadium had ever been used for a concerttigernet.com. The show was part of the Stones’ Steel Wheels North American stadium tour, and the opening act was the funk-rock band Living Colourtigernet.com, who had recently risen to fame and earned critical acclaim. Promoters announced that over 60,000 tickets would be available, with gates opening at 5 PM for the 7 PM showtigernet.com. Tickets were priced at $31.50 each (a considerable sum for 1989) and were limited to 10 per buyertigernet.com. They went on sale at 10 AM on October 28 at multiple outlets across South Carolina (including Clemson, Greenville, Spartanburg, and Columbia) as well as via phone charge on Ticketrontigernet.com tigernet.com.

The demand was immense. Fans camped out for days to secure their spots in line. One man in Spartanburg began his ticket camp-out as soon as the concert was announced – literally within hours – determined to be first in linetigernet.com. At the Greenville ticket outlet, hundreds spent the night outside the box office. In fact, a humorous incident occurred when a rumor spread in the pre-dawn hours that tickets might be sold at a different window; this caused hundreds of people to suddenly sprint away and then circle back, accidentally forfeiting their original place in linefablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. “I’ll always thank them,” one Clemson fan quipped, noting that many who ran ended up losing their chance at ticketsfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. Thanks to such dedication, the concert sold out almost immediately. The crowd was announced at roughly 63,000 fans, filling the stadium to capacityen.wikipedia.org. (It was a record-setting attendance for a concert in South Carolina at that time, truly a sold-out “Death Valley” showen.wikipedia.org.) Clemson reserved about 7,500–10,000 tickets specifically for students (who were on fall break during the public sale) to ensure the campus community could attendtigernet.com. Even those sold out quickly on a later date. In short, tickets were a hot commodity – students and locals alike called it “the best thing that’s happened to Clemson in a long time”, excited that their town would host “the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world”tigernet.com tigernet.com.

Massive Stage and Preparations

Transforming a college football field into a Stones-worthy arena was a major operation. In the week leading up to the show, 35 tractor-trailers rolled into Clemson carrying the touring stage, sound, and lighting systemswitnosh.wordpress.com. The production boasted 500,000 watts of sound power – enough to ensure the music would carry clearly throughout the huge stadiumwitnosh.wordpress.com. The stage itself was gargantuan: a scaffolding structure 306 feet wide, 112 feet high, and 88 feet deeptigernet.com, which one writer noted was “bigger than most Clemson apartment complexes”witnosh.wordpress.com. It sprawled across the western end of the field, looming over the end zone. (In fact, it was so tall that it reportedly even had warning lights on top for low-flying aircraft!fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com) Memorial Stadium’s turf was completely covered with a special high-tech, breathable protective flooring to prevent damagewitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. Additional plywood was laid in heavy traffic areas (like under the stage and in front of it) to support the immense weight of equipmentwitnosh.wordpress.com. Clemson’s facilities staff didn’t leave anything to chance – they consulted with NC State’s groundskeepers (since the Stones had played Carter-Finley Stadium earlier that fall) and even visited the Stones’ show at Georgia Tech a few days prior to learn best practices for field protectionwitnosh.wordpress.com. Their preparation paid off: despite the foot traffic of 63,000 people, “the playing field survived okay” with minimal damage, according to Clemson officialswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com.

Behind the scenes, coordinating security and logistics was another challenge. Clemson’s own police force was relatively small (fewer than 30 uniformed officers on campus duty)witnosh.wordpress.com, so reinforcements were brought in from across the region. Sheriff’s departments from Greenville, Pickens, and Anderson counties contributed personnel, assembling a force of over 200 law enforcement officers for the eventwitnosh.wordpress.com. Many officers eagerly volunteered for the overtime duty just for a chance to be part of the big nightwitnosh.wordpress.com. This collaboration was critical, because hosting a concert crowd is different from a football crowd – as Clemson’s assistant public safety director noted, at games “people basically know where they’re going,” whereas at the concert many attendees had never been to Clemson and needed more guidancetigernet.com witnosh.wordpress.com.

The Concert Night – Performance and Setlist

November 26, 1989 turned out to be an unforgettable night. As evening fell on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Memorial Stadium buzzed with anticipation. When the lights went down and the Rolling Stones finally hit the stage, the crowd erupted. The band opened with the explosive riff of “Start Me Up,” accompanied by fireworks at the front of the stagefablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. From the first chords, it was clear this would be a high-octane show. What followed was a 25-song tour-de-force set (plus encore) that blended then-new material from the Steel Wheels album with two decades’ worth of Stones classicsfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. Below is the full setlist from that night:

Start Me Uptigernet.com
Bitchtigernet.com
Sad Sad Sadtigernet.com
Undercover of the Nighttigernet.com
Harlem Shuffle (Bob & Earl cover)tigernet.com
Tumbling Dicetigernet.com
Miss Youtigernet.com
Almost Hear You Sigh (live debut)setlist.fm
Ruby Tuesdaytigernet.com
Play With Firetigernet.com
Rock and a Hard Placetigernet.com
Terrifying (live debut)tigernet.com
Mixed Emotionstigernet.com
Honky Tonk Womentigernet.com
Midnight Ramblertigernet.com
You Can’t Always Get What You Wanttigernet.com
Can’t Be Seen (Keith Richards on lead vocals)tigernet.com
Happy (Keith Richards on lead vocals)tigernet.com
Paint It Blacktigernet.com
2000 Light Years from Hometigernet.com
Sympathy for the Deviltigernet.com
Gimme Sheltertigernet.com
It’s Only Rock ’n Roll (But I Like It)tigernet.com
Brown Sugartigernet.com
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfactiontigernet.com
Encore:
Jumpin’ Jack Flashtigernet.com

As the setlist shows, the Stones played for well over two hours, delivering hit after hit. Fans were treated to iconic anthems – “Gimme Shelter,” “Brown Sugar,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and “Satisfaction” – as well as newer singles like “Mixed Emotions” and deep cuts rarely heard live (for example, the psychedelic “2000 Light Years from Home” made an appearance)fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. Mid-show, guitarist Keith Richards took center stage to sing his two spotlight numbers (“Can’t Be Seen” and “Happy”), and then Mick Jagger returned, keeping the energy high.

Performance highlights: Many in attendance later recalled some spectacular visual moments. During “Honky Tonk Women,” a pair of gigantic inflatable women were brought out on the stage, fitting the song’s bawdy theme. At one point Jagger hopped onto one of the blow-up figures “bouncing on it” as it gyrated, provoking roars of laughter from the crowdtigernet.com. Later, as the band played the eerie space-outro of “2000 Light Years from Home,” the stadium went almost completely dark. Suddenly a single spotlight pierced the darkness, revealing Mick Jagger atop the towering stage scaffolding, high above the 50-yard line, to kick off “Sympathy for the Devil.” The audience erupted in astonishment and cheers, literally drowning out the band for a moment with their roarfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. Jagger then descended from the peak of the stage while singing, taking nearly the entire guitar solo to make his way back down to the main platformfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. It was, as one attendee described, “Easily one of the best concert moments of my life”, and it brought the already electric atmosphere to a fever pitchfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com.

Musically, the Stones were in fine form. Reviewers noted that despite the members’ ages ranging from mid-40s to late-40s (at the time), they performed with the energy and swagger of a much younger bandwitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. Mick Jagger, 46 years old then, pranced and danced “like he’s 25”, hardly ever standing stillwitnosh.wordpress.com. Keith Richards, at 45, was described as a “middle-aged madman” having the time of his life onstagewitnosh.wordpress.com. In fact, the whole band seemed rejuvenated by the long hiatus that had preceded this tour. The massive stadium setting was turned into an arena of pure rock spectacle – “more spectacle than concert,” as some put it, with huge video screens and pyrotechnics ensuring even those in the upper decks felt involvedfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. The sound system drew praise as well: fans could hear every riff clearly even up in the nosebleeds, thanks to that half-million-watt audio rig. One fan remarked that it “sounded like the band were playing in your living room no matter where you were within about a half-mile radius” of the stagefablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com. In short, the Stones delivered exactly what the crowd came for – an over-the-top rock ‘n’ roll extravaganza that Clemson would never forget.

Crowd, Atmosphere, and Notable Incidents

The crowd of 63,000 was the largest ever to assemble in Clemson at that point for a non-sporting eventen.wikipedia.org. Fans poured in not only from the upstate of South Carolina but from across the Carolinas and Georgia. Long before showtime, the scene inside the stadium was festive and charged – a mix of college students, older fans reliving the Stones of their youth, and everyone in between. Local news noted that many Clemson students brought their parents along, or vice versa, bridging generations. “My dad was kind of a nut with [the Stones], so I gotta keep it up,” said one 18-year-old Clemson freshman at the timetigernet.com. For many, this was a family affair of rock fandom. And for Clemson residents who weren’t attending, it was still impossible to ignore – the sound was so powerful that people miles away could hear the echoes of the concert in the night air.

Despite the high-energy atmosphere, the event was remarkably well-behaved. Fears of rowdiness or disorderly conduct were largely unfounded. Law enforcement reported a total of 42 arrests on 47 charges – “all misdemeanors” such as minor drug possession or public intoxication – and only one serious injury the entire nightwitnosh.wordpress.com. “We’ve had more arrests at a Georgia game or a Carolina game,” observed Clemson’s public safety officials, noting that a typical big football rivalry might produce more trouble than the rock concert didwitnosh.wordpress.com. In other words, the Stones crowd, while exuberant, was mostly just there to enjoy the show. The air was indeed thick with a certain sweet smoke (the amount of marijuana being smoked was not lost on observers – one tongue-in-cheek comment was that there was enough pot in the upper deck to give “everyone in the upstate of South Carolina a contact high” that nightfablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com). But on the whole, serious incidents were few. Medical teams and security had a relatively routine evening considering the size of the crowd.

The biggest challenge came after the music stopped: traffic. Clemson is a small college town with limited infrastructure, and when tens of thousands of outsiders descended on it, the post-concert gridlock became the stuff of legend. Even though the crowd was actually a bit smaller than a capacity football game, nobody knew the back roads like local fans would on a game daywitnosh.wordpress.com. So when the show ended around 11 PM, a massive traffic jam ensued on all routes out of Clemson. Highways and country roads alike turned into parking lots for hours. “Worst traffic getting out of Clemson in history,” one attendee later reminiscedtigernet.com. Many fans sat in standstill traffic for 3+ hours; some did not get home until 4 or 5 AM the next morningtigernet.com tigernet.com. “Half the people in attendance had never set foot in Clemson before – you can imagine the issues getting that many people out of town,” a Clemson local recalledtigernet.com. There was even a rumor that the South Carolina Highway Patrol refused to assist with traffic control at the last minute, leaving the task solely to local and county officerstigernet.com. (Whether that’s true or not, Clemson’s police did have help from neighboring counties, as noted, but clearly it was still an overwhelming exodus to manage.) Police on duty joked afterward that they fielded some pretty desperate questions from lost drivers, like “Listen, I parked in a field. Can you tell me where that is?”witnosh.wordpress.com The gridlock was undeniably massive – aerial news footage reportedly showed tail lights stretching for miles – but fortunately it was more an inconvenience than a danger. In the end, everyone did get out safely, and Clemson’s public safety officials took it as a learning experience. “With some changes, we could do it again,” one officer said, referring to traffic planningwitnosh.wordpress.com.

Apart from traffic, the event went about as smoothly as could be hoped. The weather cooperated (a cool, clear night in the 50s°F). The stadium’s neighbors experienced an Earth-shaking volume of sound and a brief fireworks display, but there were few noise complaints – most locals were excited that Clemson was hosting something so momentous. The on-field pyrotechnics and final fireworks during the encore lit up the sky over campus, prompting cheers both inside and outside the stadiumfacebook.com. And once the crowd finally did clear out, Clemson officials breathed a sigh of relief: the stadium was intact, the field was fine, and no major damage had been done to the campuswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. By dawn the next day, cleanup crews and the Stones’ tour crew had already begun breaking down the giant stage and picking up trash, gradually returning Death Valley to its normal self.

Aftermath, Local Buzz, and Legacy

In the days and weeks after the concert, the Rolling Stones’ visit to Clemson became the talk of South Carolina. Local newspapers were glowing in their assessment. The Greenville News proclaimed that Clemson had made history by hosting the world’s biggest rock band in its own “Death Valley.” Columnists marveled at how surreal it was – “Twilight Zone time,” as one put it – that a sleepy Southern college town had pulled off a stadium show that many big cities would envywitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. The performance itself earned high praise. Reviewers noted that the Stones defied any skeptics of their age: “Although it would be easy to call these guys outdated, it simply isn’t true. They’re every bit as relevant, energetic and entertaining as ever,” one wrote, emphasizing that the band “wind up being entertained in a way you didn’t expect” even if you came just for the hitswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. Indeed, for many fans, seeing legends like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood (and bassist Bill Wyman, on what turned out to be his final tour with the Stones) in person was itself witnessing history. “You come to see history; you wind up being entertained,” summarized the Greenville Newswitnosh.wordpress.com. Even the student newspaper and Clemson’s administration lauded the show as a point of pride for the university.

Financially, the concert was a success as well. Clemson University had negotiated a deal that guaranteed the student-run University Union about $90,000 from the Stones’ tour proceedswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. After expenses, the Union netted an estimated additional $30–40,000 from parking fees and other revenueswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. The Union announced it would reinvest this windfall into student programming – notably recouping losses from a less successful (and rain-soaked) Homecoming concert earlier that fall featuring The Beach Boys and Chicago – and use the rest to fund new campus eventswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. The Athletic Department also benefited: it received about $64,000 from the stadium’s seat tax (funds earmarked for paying down the stadium’s construction debt)witnosh.wordpress.com, and it made around $70,000 from concession sales that nightwitnosh.wordpress.com. In a goodwill gesture, Clemson Athletics donated the entire concession profit to academic scholarships at the universitywitnosh.wordpress.com. In short, “everyone seems happy,” reported Butch Trent after the show – the concert generated revenue for both student activities and academics, truly a win-win outcomewitnosh.wordpress.com.

The successful execution of the Stones concert had ripple effects. Perhaps most satisfying to Clemson fans was how it one-upped rival USC. After seeing Clemson pull off the event without incident, the University of South Carolina quickly reconsidered its stance on rock concerts. In early December 1989, USC announced a $600,000 project to reinforce the upper deck of Williams-Brice Stadium to fix a structural swaying issue, explicitly “clearing the way for concerts and other events” in the futurewitnosh.wordpress.com. It was a bit of second-guessing that did not go unnoticed. Clemson folks chuckled that USC’s athletic director King Dixon – whose dismissive “tractor pulls” quote had “passed into legend” – had to eat his wordswitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com. (A Columbia newspaper even ran a phone poll on the issue: an overwhelming 3,166 people supported bringing the Stones to USC, versus only 120 who agreed with banning rock showswitnosh.wordpress.com.) Within a few years, USC’s stadium did begin hosting major concerts – ironically including the Stones themselves on later tours – but Clemson will always hold the distinction of hosting them first in South Carolina.

On campus, the Stones concert became an instant part of Clemson lore. Students who attended proudly wore concert t-shirts to class, and those who missed it lamented their luck. For years afterward, Clemson’s yearbooks and alumni newsletters referenced the night the “world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band” shook the hills of Tigertowntigernet.com. The event demonstrated that Clemson could handle large-scale entertainment, which paved the way for other big concerts at Death Valley. In 1994, Pink Floyd’s Division Bell Tour came to Memorial Stadium (another massive show), followed by other stars in the mid-90sen.wikipedia.org. But none quite matched the excitement of that first one with the Stones. “They’ll look at us now and say, ‘Hey, they can do it ’cause they did the Stones,’” Trent said, confident that Clemson had proven itself on the concert circuitwitnosh.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com.

To this day, November 26, 1989 remains the only time the Rolling Stones ever performed at Clemson University, which makes it a singular piece of local history. It’s a night still discussed with awe and nostalgia in Upstate South Carolina. Longtime residents swap stories of how they braved the crowds or the traffic, and Clemson alumni recall it as a high point of their college years. There are even a few quirky anecdotes and urban legends that persist: some swear that the vibrations from the concert cracked a press box window or that the noise registered on a seismograph (though these are likely exaggerated tales). Others fondly joke about the “ticket line sprint” myth or how “Clemson winning a football game was the Stones’ condition to play there” (a humorous reference to a fan who joked that NC State “let Clemson win [that year] to get backstage passes”tigernet.com). Most of all, people remember the rivalry bragging rights the concert gave Clemson. The phrase “might open the door to tractor pulls” has entered the regional lexicon as a witty reminder of the Gamecocks’ blunder in turning down the Stoneswitnosh.wordpress.com.

Post-Event Reflections

In retrospect, the Rolling Stones at Clemson was a remarkable convergence of time, place, and opportunity. It brought nearly $2 million in ticket revenueen.wikipedia.org to a small town economy for one weekend, showcased Clemson on an international stage (press from around the country covered the unique stop on the tour), and gave tens of thousands of fans a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As one local reviewer wrote, “You come to see history.” And on that night in 1989, Clemson indeed made rock & roll history – “the Rolling Stones made Clemson history,” as the story is often retoldwitnosh.wordpress.com. From the explosive opening chords of “Start Me Up” to the final fireworks as “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” rang out, it was an evening no one in attendance will ever forget. Clemson’s President at the time, Max Lennon, perhaps summed it up best in his post-event report: Clemson University proved it could host the biggest of the big with class and success. And for the Rolling Stones, who have played countless cities and venues, there will always be that one night in Death Valley, South Carolina – the legendary 1989 Clemson concert that left an indelible mark on the university and community.

Sources: Official Clemson and news archives, including The Greenville News and Clemson University reports; eyewitness accounts from Clemson community forums and fan recollectionstigernet.com witnosh.wordpress.com fablesofthedeconstruction.wordpress.com witnosh.wordpress.com, among others.