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The Day The 60's Ended


Valin

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Altamont Speedway Free Festival

 

The Rolling Stones were trying to prove their critics wrong by booking a free festival to wrap up their 1969 tour at Altamont Speedway on Dec. 6, 1969. But what they intended as a way for their fans to come together for a day of music and celebration turned into a tragic debacle that ended with a homicide — effectively bring the peace-and-love ethos of the ’60s to a jarring end.

 

During the Stones’ American tour in 1969, they faced repeated criticism from fans and journalists who accused the band of being mercenary, claiming that ticket prices were far too high. In response, the band decided to end the tour with a free concert in San Francisco. But the event was plagued with errors from the start, with the venue being moved multiple times before settling on Altamont Speedway on Dec. 4 — just two days before the concert.

 

With such little time to prepare, the site was sorely lacking in such basic needs as portable toilets and medical tents. In addition, the lay of the land meant the stage — which had been designed to be at the top of a rise — would be situated at the bottom of a slope, creating serious security and logistical problems.

 

The Stones and their management made their key mistake of a day filled with mistakes when they hired the San Francisco chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang to provide event security — reportedly paying them with $500 worth of free beer. The move was reportedly made at the suggestion of the Grateful Dead, who were also scheduled to play on a show that included Santana, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills and Nash before the Stones were to take the stage at the end of the night.

 

The day of the show turned into an unmitigated disaster almost from the start, as 300,000 fans swarmed the area, straining the unprepared resources well past their breaking point. The Hells Angels got progressively drunker on free beer as the day went on, and as the crowd was also fueled by a combination of alcohol, LSD and amphetamines, the mood turned ugly early on and got worse throughout the day. There were fights and general chaos most of the day, and after the crowd tipped over one of the bikers’ motorcycles, the Angels turned even more aggressive, to the point where Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin was punched and knocked unconscious by one of the bikers during the group’s set.

 

(Snip)

 

 

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