Rock 'n' Roll Riot in San Jose

Fats Domino performed at the Palomar Gardens Ballroom in downtown San Jose on Saturday, July 7, 1956 for what turned out to be one of the earliest rock and riots in the history of America. 3,500 tickets were sold. Lines of people wrapped around six blocks. Beer bottles were thrown, windows were broken, clothes were ripped, teeth were broken, and a lot of people were taken to the hospital. Nothing of this scale ever happened in America, and it set off a tidal wave of reactions from concerned parents, politicians, psychiatrists, and journalists that were concerned about the dangers of this explosive music called “rock and roll.”
Source: The Louie Louie Report