..."While the Watts Riots and the Rodney King Riots are better known, they weren't the first riots to plague the City of Angels. Memorialized in films like Riot on Sunset Strip and songs like Bufalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," the Hippie Curfew Riots are a much overlooked part of Los Angeles history.
The first riots began in 1966, though there were aftershocks until the early-1970s. A 10 p.m. curfew sparked the riots, in addition to heavy police presence on the strip and attempts to close local haunts like Pandora's Box. The club looked like a hippie haven on the inside, but catered mostly to a more upscale crowd of dressed-and-pressed teenagers and the turtleneck-and-miniskirt set. Angered by the traffic and overall bustle, residents of the area pressued the city and county governments to close the club.
Records, such as those kept by the Los Angeles Times are ambiguous as to whether or not Pandora's had already closed for good when the riots began. However, after youth responded to a call for a public demonstration, police began enforcing curfew and loitering laws in ernest. Local rock radio pushed the protests only hours before they began. Soon, 1,000 or more young people, including those from the Hollywood set such as Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, gathered in the area."