But the rain abated a half-hour later, and the drenched throngs returned.
(When the throngs returned to the streets on Saturday, looking even more determined, the inevitable protest art featured Putin draped in a giant condom).
A video posted on YouTube showed celebrations in the streets, with residents chanting "Free Syrian Army" as they thronged returning fighters from more moderate brigades who were driven out when Isis took over the town last September.
Throngs may return for the 10-year anniversary of the crash, but now, eight years after the 747 bound for Paris from Kennedy Airport exploded and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing everyone on board, the task of visiting the beach to remember has fallen to a dwindling cluster of families.
By Friday morning, the throngs had returned to Hall H, outside of which hundreds had slept in line overnight.
"At night, when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land.
So why do throngs of music lovers return every year?
It is a popular walking and cycling route and was thronged with supporters returning from the match on Sunday night.
In Amman, the Jordanian capital, a traditional jumping-off point for entry into Iraq, Iraqi citizens thronged their embassy this week demanding documents to return home.
The division was visible on Sunday, when an unruly throng at Hong Kong International Airport greeted the return of Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party, who had gone to Washington to testify on democratic reforms before the Senate subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.
And with that, time is up, and it's time to return to the heaving throng in the streets.
