Altamont+Free+Concert

Altamont Free Concert By Turner Allen Jr.

The Rolling Stones' tour of America was coming to a close, and so was their film documentary of the trip. To conclude their video, they wanted to make a Concert Movie of their last concert on tour, so they decided to hold a free music fest for the video. It would feature guest performers: the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and the Flying Burrito Bros. Many anticipated it as "Woodstock West", named after the largely successful concert, Woodstock, which had been earlier in the year. Despite it's nickname, it became the very opposite of all that Woodstock had represented; from day one, everything went wrong.

Location and Preparation Originally, the concert was to be held in the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, but the building at the park was not of adequate size to hold the number of attendees expected, 100,000 people, so the concert was relocated to Sears Point Raceway. The concert location had to be changed once again when relations between the Stones and Sears Point broke down over a conflict in the distribution rights of the Stones' tour documentary film. Finally, just 24 hours before the concert was scheduled to begin, a contract was drawn up with the owner of Altamont Speedway. Nearing the start of the concert, Friday, December 5, supplies and equipment were transported from Sears Point to Altamont Speedway. The workers rushed to prepare the stage, and by nighttime, 5,000 spectators had already arrived. By 7:30 A.M. the next day, it became obvious that the previous estimate of 100,000 was very far off from reality (actual attendance was closer to 300,000). Although they realized this, the event planners were still unable to make the necessary changes to accommodate this larger number of people, even though they were given 24 hours. Due to this, toilet facilities were grossly inadequate, estimating at around one-sixtieth the number required. Medical personnel were made available on the grounds, but there had been no plan to assure accessibility of emergency vehicles to the site. The sound system was not powerful enough for the size of the raceway, and it became near impossible to hear as soon as you got any distance from the stage. The stage was only four feet high, with no space between it and the audience.

Hell's Angels Sam Cutler, the Stones' road manager, hired the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang to provide security for the concert at the advice of the Grateful Dead. They were payed 500 dollars worth of beer as salary. The Angels became overzealous at their job; they employed sawed-off, and sometimes weighted, pool cues to beat the crowd back from the stage during the bands' performances. During the Jefferson Airplane's set, the violence began to flow onto the stage. Guitarist and lead singer Marty Balin attempted to break up a fight between an Angel and a spectator, and was knocked unconscious by the drunken motorcyclist. Shortly after this, the Grateful Dead refused to play and left. Later, a confused, naked man was severely beaten by the Angels when he wandered close to the stage. Several attendees were run over and killed in their sleep by members of the motorcycle gang. During the Stones' performance, they stopped several times and threatened to leave the stage if the Angels didn't calm down and stop fighting.

Death of Meredith Hunter Meredith Hunter, an 18 year-old African-American who was attending the event, also became a victim of the Hell's Angels' brutality. He was stabbed to death during the Stones' performance, right before Mick Jagger's eyes. Since it was near the stage, all of the murder was caught on the cameras that were filming the stage. This is what appeared to happen in the film. The first we see of Hunter, he is nearing the stage. Two Angels run by him and one brushes his arm; he appears to be trying to brush something away from where the Angel bumped him. He looks toward the stage and grimaces, he reaches into his coat and staggers forward, pulling something out of his coat as he goes. Eight Angels, who are standing toward the front of the stage, advance towards him. When they reach him they form a semicircle around him, blocking him from the stage. His girlfriend appears and attempts to pull him away by the arm and shouts at him; he tries to brush her off but fails and instead brings her into the center of the half-ring. When he tries to push her back, his right hand is raised and a revolver is clearly visible. The audience of the concert becomes aware of what is happening and rapidly begins to back away, revealing a ninth Angel behind. He reaches down picks up a long silvery knife and pushes back aways. Suddenly, he leaps over the backs of the other Angels, and raises his arm high to reveal a plainly visible knife. Grabbing Hunter's right hand, the Angel spins the man around to face the stage and brings his knife down into Hunter's right shoulder blade. The Angel rides Hunter to the ground, bringing the knife down once again into his mid-back. Later, the autopsy reveals five stab-wounds, the video only shows two from the Angel, this reveals that he had in fact been stabbed the first time when the other two Angels had run by him early on. The //Rolling Stone// called this "Rock & Roll's worst day".

Internet sources: http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/1.html (Video) http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5934386/rock__rolls_worst_day (Information about concert and fight) http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9118597 (Information about concert) http://perso.orange.fr/santanamigos/19691206.htm (Altamont Raceway concert poster picture)