Altamont

Altamont is a speedway in Northern California, in Tracy near Livermore. It is best known for hosting a rock music festival in December 1969 which was marred by violence, including one killing and three accidental deaths.

Related Topics:
Northern California - Livermore - Music festival - 1969

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The festival included the Rolling Stones and other bands (including the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane). About 300,000 people attended the festival, and the hope was that it would be "Woodstock West."

Related Topics:
Rolling Stones - Grateful Dead - Jefferson Airplane - Woodstock

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The festival was originally supposed to be at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. However, the permits were never issued for the concert. This was a result of Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones announcing in a press conference that they would be performing at the event; they were to be a surprise appearance. With the announcement that the Stones would be performing, the city of San Francisco feared crowd control problems that occurred at Woodstock. Accusations have arisen that Jagger made this announcement to ensure a large crowd for a planned concert movie. The venue was then changed to the Sears Point Raceway, but after a dispute with the owner of Sears Point, Filmways, Inc., over film distribution rights, the festival was moved to the Altamont Speedway. This move occurred only days before the event was to take place, resulting in many problems. Most importantly, facilities such as portable toilets and medical tents were lacking in number. The stage, which was only four feet high, was surrounded by Hells Angels who acted as bouncers; the sound system was hardly sufficient for such a large audience.

Related Topics:
Golden Gate Park - San Francisco - Rolling Stones - Woodstock - Sears Point Raceway - Filmways, Inc. - Hells Angels

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Angels were hired by the Rolling Stones' manager, Sam Cutler, reportedly for $500 in free beer, although it is suspected that their involvement was, in reality, motivated by a desire to manage drug distribution at the concert. The crowd management proved to be a disaster and many people were hurt and four were killed. The Grateful Dead and other bands refused to play due to the violence. Over the course of the day, the crowds became increasingly violent. However, the Stones refused to take the stage. Again, accusations have arisen by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and others, that this was to ensure better lighting that would be available in an evening performance. Two of the deaths were caused by a hit-and-run car accident. Another death was the result of a person drowning in a drainage ditch.

Related Topics:
Beer - Grateful Dead

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The most famous death was that of Meredith Hunter. Hunter, an 18-year-old African American drew a long-barreled revolver and was stabbed and kicked to death during the Rolling Stones concert just in front of the stage, allegedly by the Hells Angels. News agencies reported the event as a "drug induced riot." The Rolling Stones, who reacted rather helplessly in the face of the brutality within the crowd, had to interrupt their performance. Unaware that Hunter had been fatally stabbed, they decided to go on in order to prevent a riot.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Altamont concert is often contrasted to the Woodstock festival that took place earlier in 1969, and is sometimes said to mark the end of the innocence embodied by Woodstock or the de facto end of the 1960s.

Related Topics:
Woodstock festival - 1960s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In popular culture, the events at Altamont have been characterized as Hells Angels attacking innocent hippies. Various drugs were present at the event, some of which were of poor quality. These drugs were distributed to unknowing victims during the concert, with a resulting increase in "bad trips." Hells Angels acting as security guards were not only using some of these drugs, but were probably not the best people to handle these cases. Unlike Altamont, Woodstock's security had been provided by members of the hippie commune, the Hog Farm, led by Wavy Gravy. Obviously, fellow hippies would understand what those on LSD were going through.

Related Topics:
Drugs - Hippie - Hog Farm - Wavy Gravy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some commentators saw coincidences with the astrological situation, while others connected it with the Stones dealing with the Voodoo fashion. The album and song titles Let It Bleed, Sympathy for the Devil, and Gimme Shelter, seemed appropriate terms for the riotous atmosphere at Altamont. Contrary to a popular urban legend, Sympathy for the Devil was not playing while Hunter was being stabbed, rather, the song was Under My Thumb.

Related Topics:
Let It Bleed - Sympathy for the Devil - Gimme Shelter - Urban legend

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The events of the concert are recounted in the documentary film, Gimme Shelter which includes the stabbing.

Related Topics:
Documentary film - Gimme Shelter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On 25 May, 2005, the Alameda county sheriff's department announced that it was closing the stabbing case. The accused Hells Angel, Alan Passaro, had been acquitted at the time, after a jury concluded he acted in self-defence because Hunter was carrying a gun, drew it, and pointed it at the stage. There had been rumours over the years that a second unidentified assailant had inflicted the fatal wounds, and as a result, the police had considered the case to still be open. Investigators, concluding a renewed two year investigation, have now dismissed a theory that a second Hells Angel took part in the stabbing. http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20050527/D8ABJ9300.html

Related Topics:
25 May - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~