The Altamont Free Concert was a famous rock music festival held on December 6, 1969. The concert featured The Rolling Stones and other bands such as Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Jefferson Airplane. Approximately 300,000 people attended the concert, and some speculated it would be "Woodstock West." Filmmakers Albert and David Maysles shot footage of the concert, including the infamous killing, and incorporated it into a subsequent documentary film entitled Gimme Shelter.
Much of the film chronicles the behind-the-scenes dealmaking that took place to make the free Altamont concert happen. The action then turns on the concert itself, in which security was provided by the Hells Angels.
As the day progressed, with drug-taking and drinking by the Angels and members of the audience, the mood turned ugly. Fights broke out during performances by Jefferson Airplane (at one point lead singer Marty Balin was knocked out by a Hells Angel) and the Flying Burrito Brothers. By the time the Stones hit the stage, the crowd was especially restless.
It was during "Under My Thumb" that a gun-toting fan, Meredith Hunter, was stabbed to death by a member of the Angels. However, "Sympathy for the Devil" is most often associated with the incident.
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