BACKGROUND

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  Billed as the “Woodstock West,” the Altamont music festival in December of 1969 was supposed to be a continuation of the long line of rock festivals that occurred during the 1960’s. Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger announced that his band would be playing the show to close out their American tour. The show featured other classic rock acts Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Grateful Dead, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The concert was originally supposed to be held in San Francisco, California at Golden Gate Park but was changed to Sears Point Raceway after permits were never issued. The concert was to be shot by documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles. After a dispute over film distribution rights with the owner of Sears Point, the festival was ultimately moved to Altamont Raceway Park in Livermore, California. The festival went down on December 6, 1969 with a crowd estimated around 300,000 people and was mired in controversy. The Rolling Stones’ manager hired the biker gang Hell’s Angels to provide security at the event and proved to be disastrous. There were numerous fights and turmoil that took place at the festival. Jefferson Airplane’s Marty Balin got into a fight with a group of Angels and was knocked unconscious.

  Numerous people were injured or overdosed at the rock festival. There were four deaths that occurred that fateful day. A few were run over in their sleep but the most infamous death that occurred was that of Meredith Hunter, an 18-year old African American who was brutally stabbed and beaten to death by a group of Hell’s Angels during the Rolling Stones performance. Hunter had drawn a revolver in self-defense before being viciously beaten to death. The death occurred right near the front of the stage and was caught on video by the filmmakers. Sadly, this is the moment that Altamont would ultimately become known for.