An ill-fated music festival which competes with midnight on December 31st 1969 as the date when the sixties died. Altamont was an attempt to keep alive the spirit of Woodstock but was more in keeping with the spirit of the Vietnam war in that it was badly organized, violent and resulted in unnecessary death.
The event was initially a co-production between the Grateful Dead, who wanted to share the hippie love, and the Rolling Stones, who wanted some hippie credibility after charging exorbitant prices for their latest America tour. The original venue for the free concert was San Fransisco’s Golden Gate Park but at the last-minute it was moved to a racetrack in California whose only commendable asset was its availability. Altamont had no facilities and the only place to erect a stage was at the bottom of a natural incline, which meant the audience was impelled by gravity towards the performers.
Clearly something had to be done to prevent the tide of humanity from washing up on the onstage talent and a security force was required. The best idea would have been to locate a group of sober and responsible individuals with experience in diffusing difficult situations. The worst idea possible would have been to employ a bikie gang and pay them in alcohol.
Nobody has ever been able to agree on who suggested employing the Hells Angels and what it was they were specifically employed to do. There are those who claim they were charged with all security for the event and others who are adamant that their only job was to stop people interfering with the sound system. While debate still rages about their role, pretty much everyone can agree that giving a bikie gang $500 worth of beer and a vague job description was an idea of Woodstock sized stupidity.
When 300,000 people showed up looking for a free concert they found themselves standing on the side of a hill falling gradually towards drunk guys with leather jackets, pool cues and violent attitudes.
The concert started badly from the outset when the audience had to sit through a performance by Santana. The punters were understandably in a difficult mood when Jefferson Airplane next took to the stage and fights were breaking out towards the front of the crowd. Lead singer Marty Balin jumped into the audience in an attempt to break up a confrontation and was knocked out by a Hells Angel with a punch to the side of the head, an injury which could have been worse if the Angels had employed the pool cues and motorbike chains they were now using for crowd control purposes.
Next on the bill were the Flying Burrito Brothers who were the least memorable thing about the event (and possibly the least memorable thing about the entire decade). Then followed an absurdly short set by Crosby Stills Nash and Young who hurtled through five songs as quickly as possible before bolting for the choppers.
The Grateful Dead, who co-organised the event and may well have been the ones who suggested the Hells Angels in the first place, heard how things were going and refused to even land at the site, flying off to write songs about the experience instead.
The mood by this point was uglier than a Hells Angel's backside and the best thing the Stones could have done was to take to the stage immediately and try and diffuse the situation with some music. Something they might have done if they hadn't wanted to wait until the sun had set so the mood would be better for the concert footage, the event might have been free but the Stones sold the movie rights because there’s no point doing a free event if you don’t make some money off it.
The Stones performance essentially provided a soundtrack to the fights breaking out in the crowd and the music had to be stopped several times as the band became increasingly nervous about what the violence they could see a few feet in front of them. During Under My Thumb, the group had to pause for a moment while the Hells Angels stabbed a fan to death. Meredith Hunter was approaching the stage with a weapon and was either trying to kill Jagger or else take revenge on a Hells Angel who had hurt him earlier. Or perhaps he was simply trying to defend himself. Nobody is really sure and Hunter isn’t around to ask. His body was taken away and the band played on.
Hunter wasn’t the only fatality of the event, several others died when a concertgoer leaving the venue drove through a crowd and another fan died having passed out in a water-filled ditch after taking bad acid.
The movie made money so it wasn’t a total disaster.
A poster for Altamont- If the phrase "Security by Hell's Angels" wasn't enough to keep people away, the list of Special Guests should have been the icing on the cake.
The event was initially a co-production between the Grateful Dead, who wanted to share the hippie love, and the Rolling Stones, who wanted some hippie credibility after charging exorbitant prices for their latest America tour. The original venue for the free concert was San Fransisco’s Golden Gate Park but at the last-minute it was moved to a racetrack in California whose only commendable asset was its availability. Altamont had no facilities and the only place to erect a stage was at the bottom of a natural incline, which meant the audience was impelled by gravity towards the performers.
Clearly something had to be done to prevent the tide of humanity from washing up on the onstage talent and a security force was required. The best idea would have been to locate a group of sober and responsible individuals with experience in diffusing difficult situations. The worst idea possible would have been to employ a bikie gang and pay them in alcohol.
A Hell's Angel- don't you feel more secure already?
Nobody has ever been able to agree on who suggested employing the Hells Angels and what it was they were specifically employed to do. There are those who claim they were charged with all security for the event and others who are adamant that their only job was to stop people interfering with the sound system. While debate still rages about their role, pretty much everyone can agree that giving a bikie gang $500 worth of beer and a vague job description was an idea of Woodstock sized stupidity.
When 300,000 people showed up looking for a free concert they found themselves standing on the side of a hill falling gradually towards drunk guys with leather jackets, pool cues and violent attitudes.
The concert started badly from the outset when the audience had to sit through a performance by Santana. The punters were understandably in a difficult mood when Jefferson Airplane next took to the stage and fights were breaking out towards the front of the crowd. Lead singer Marty Balin jumped into the audience in an attempt to break up a confrontation and was knocked out by a Hells Angel with a punch to the side of the head, an injury which could have been worse if the Angels had employed the pool cues and motorbike chains they were now using for crowd control purposes.
Next on the bill were the Flying Burrito Brothers who were the least memorable thing about the event (and possibly the least memorable thing about the entire decade). Then followed an absurdly short set by Crosby Stills Nash and Young who hurtled through five songs as quickly as possible before bolting for the choppers.
The Flying Burrito Brothers- not really brothers, not edible and incapable of flight. And their music was awful as well.
The Grateful Dead, who co-organised the event and may well have been the ones who suggested the Hells Angels in the first place, heard how things were going and refused to even land at the site, flying off to write songs about the experience instead.
The mood by this point was uglier than a Hells Angel's backside and the best thing the Stones could have done was to take to the stage immediately and try and diffuse the situation with some music. Something they might have done if they hadn't wanted to wait until the sun had set so the mood would be better for the concert footage, the event might have been free but the Stones sold the movie rights because there’s no point doing a free event if you don’t make some money off it.
The Stones performance essentially provided a soundtrack to the fights breaking out in the crowd and the music had to be stopped several times as the band became increasingly nervous about what the violence they could see a few feet in front of them. During Under My Thumb, the group had to pause for a moment while the Hells Angels stabbed a fan to death. Meredith Hunter was approaching the stage with a weapon and was either trying to kill Jagger or else take revenge on a Hells Angel who had hurt him earlier. Or perhaps he was simply trying to defend himself. Nobody is really sure and Hunter isn’t around to ask. His body was taken away and the band played on.
Meredith Hunter's death might have been a tragedy for his family but made for a great conclusion to the concert movie and excellent poster publicity.
Hunter wasn’t the only fatality of the event, several others died when a concertgoer leaving the venue drove through a crowd and another fan died having passed out in a water-filled ditch after taking bad acid.
The movie made money so it wasn’t a total disaster.
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