Why the Stones played secret shows at Toronto's El Mocambo in 1977

The Rolling Stones played two secret gigs at Toronto’s El Mocambo club in March 1977 under the fake name “The Cockroaches.” The whole point was to blow off steam, test new material, and capture a raw small-club sound for the live album Love You Live — after years of playing stadiums, they wanted to get back to a sweaty, intimate room.

The first night (March 4) was a technical mess; a mobile recording truck had power issues and most of that tape was unusable. The second night (March 5) went smoother, and those performances became the entire third and fourth sides of Love You Live — essentially the “El Mocambo side” of the double album. The set included covers like Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and a rare live version of “Crazy Mama.”

The timing made the shows even stranger: Keith Richards was in the middle of a heroin possession case after a bust earlier that year. The band played both nights, kept the whole thing under wraps until after the fact, and used the momentum to push Love You Live out that June. The El Mocambo recordings are among the grittiest live Stones you’ll hear.