What you know about the Altamont concert is wrong

This is a tale of context.  This picture is almost out of context.  Yes, the Angels went about beating people to death... but there is the underlying tale.

Ok, the facts are true.  It was a shitshow from the beginning.  It was poorly planned and executed.  And yeah, the Hell’s Angels did kill a guy (a black guy, nonetheless… even worse for PR).  But the context is missing.  First off, the Angel’s were given an impossible task, yet one that sounds so simple.  Protect the bands, keep people off the stage.  Take a look at the ‘stage’.  You can see people’s torsos from the ‘stage’.  It was only 2 to 3 feet high.  Now, the Angel’s were to protect that stage from 300K eager kids… drunk and tripping on who knows what.  Of course, same should be said for the Angels.  You'll also note in the linked picture above... there was no 'pit'.  That is an area you keep clear of the stage in front of the stage.  this is so security and photogs can move around safely, and pull people who are getting crushed being too close to safety.  Perhaps because this was very hastily thrown together (every other venue wisely said no, leaving them a few days to build the site) you can see people in front of the stage pretty much at eye level with the band.

Now because the stage isn't lifted at all, people can't see the band unless they are right up front.  That is another reason you build a state at least 15 feet up, so people far away have a decent siteline.  No wonder why everyone tried to get up close.

That stage should have been at least 15 to 20 feet up… if nothing else so people could see it from afar.  Now you have about 15 hopped up thugs in charge of this.  These are guys who hated hippies and the antiwar movement as a whole.  So, yeah… it was gonna go bad.  To me, that isn’t on the Hells Angel’s, its on the promoter.

Now, about killing that guy.  Meredith Hunter was a BIG dude, you can see him throughout the documentary.  He stands out being very tall, very black, and in a odd but kinda sharp green blazer.  Hunter was hopped up, too, big time.  He had been harassing and threatening the crowd.  He also had a gun, and was brandishing at people.  He was a very legitimate threat.  The Angel’s attacking him and subduing him was a legit wise move. Of course, beating and stabbing him to death wasn’t.  Odds are he fought back, and hard.  And those guys knew he had a gun.

The thing that stands out to me is that the Angel’s were beating people up earlier.  During the Jefferson Airplane set, their singer Marty Balin saw this.  Dude had balls and integrity.  He not only yelled at the Angels to be cool, he actually jumped off stage to try and protect the person from the beating.  Sadly, he got his ass beat, too.  This was hours before the Meredith Hunter incident.  Here is a photo of Marty getting whacked by Angel's w/ pool cues.

now... why exactly did the Angels bring pool cues?  Usually, when someone gets beat up by pool cues, its because they are in a bar... and its nearby.  But the Angel's, all arriving on motorcycles, brought in pool cues.  There was no intention of playing pool.  That was the security plan for a 300K person festival. in its entirety.

Other people died, too.  This was because there was no planning or infrastructure in place for medical.  This guy is hurt, bleeding, get him help!  No one is coming.  Now, good Samaritans had to try and move these lifeless bodies toward the stage to get help.  Good luck getting to the stage.  Remember there was no fencing or aisles of any kind.  So if you are trying to move a lifeless or damaged body through 300k people towards the stage…  there is a pocket of Hell’s Angels waiting to beat your ass for getting too close.  It’s not like you can see someone fall or even being passed overhead through the crowd from the stage.  The stage is only a few feet off the ground.

I think the Angel’s also savagely beat or possibly killed a wasted kid who got on one of their bikes and wouldn’t get off.  Again, the Angels were no angels.  But they had very limited resources and were put into a no win situation.  I just think its important to note they didn’t just find a black guy and beat him to death for no reason… or (worse) for being black.  That attack was a legit reaction.  An over reaction, but think if this big wasted angry armed fellow starting shooting into the crowd?  In fact, there are reports that he actually did crack off a few rounds.

But rather than demonize the Angels, it’s the promoters, and city officials, and whomever else signed off on this shit show.  This wasn’t a concert venue, it was a race track.  The location was ill prepared as it changed several times in the weeks leading up to the show.  But somehow, in some variation, this conversation happened with city and police and local officials.

So, you want to hold a free rock concert here, in about a week four days?  You expect as many as 100K people (though 300K showed up)?  There won’t be a stage or fencing or medical?  There won’t be any security, save for a handful of Hells Angels assigned to keep people off ground level stage?  How about food?  You have going to have approx. 100K people out there for 8 to 10 hours, what is your food plan?  No food plan at all?  Not going to have food, or water, or bathrooms?

You have no water, or seating?  No parking plan or signage?  We are just going to let 100K people show up and park wherever?  How about lighting, so people can safely move around, and so people won’t get raped and attacked in the dark?  No?  Ok, medical plan… will you have ambulances on stand by on site?  No, not at all?  Any ambulances will be at least half an hour away?  What about emergency evac?  Because of crowds and cars, is there a helicopter available to medivac extreme medical emergencies?  Oh, you DO have one?  Excellent.  Ok.  But, the Stone’s leased it and will refuse it to be used for emergency evacuations?   Hmm.   Ok, I guess. and this ‘security plan’ to have the Hells Angel’s guard the stage, is there a contract with them?  Oh, they will be paid in beer?

Yeah, sounds great.  It seems like you have everything in order.  Let’s have us a festival!  So... this is the conversation I imagine must have happened.  "ok team, we got 300K drunk and stoned kids coming from all over the country.  That makes this a city.  We'll need about 100 porta potties set up across the grounds.  Several kitchens and several hundred pounds of food.  We'll need medical tents, several.  We'll need fencing and barriers around the stage, about 20 feet deep so security and the film crew can roam safely in front of the stage.  We'll have an artists village backstage that can hold the bands and their production personnel, hangers on... etc.  Enough room for about 50 people to safely and privately mill about.  We'll need roads not just in and out of  the main festival seating grounds, along with a private and secure road to get bands in and out of the backstage area.

OK.  and... we will have NONE of these things?  But its ok because you have some bikers coming in with pool sticks?   Yeah, that tracks with me.  Fire Marshall, thoughts?  I understand, sir.  We aren't idiots... do this for a living.  We are talking about a bunch of pool sticks.  Fire Marshall:  Well, as long as its a bunch, I'll go ahead and sign off on the event.

And this in an era when the drug of choice waxed away from LSD and turned towards speed.  Which… the Hells Angels were profoundly good at distributing.  Side note:  this where the term ‘Angel Dust’ comes from. The Angels did pretty much exactly what could have been expected.  The people who should be held accountable, and still in jail, is anyone who signed off on this and allowed it.  OR… its possible that since this was private property… no community leaders or police were involved in any discussions.

Also SUPER culpable is Mick Jagger.  See, it was a free concert, but that doesn’t mean the Stones played for free.  No, they got about 100K for the film rights.  Oh, and about that part.  There was a safer and more practical venue offered earlier.  One that could accommodate the things you need with 300K show up.  I am using the numbers 100K and 300K interchangeably. And here is why.  100K were expected, and 300K showed up.  I use the figures interchangeably because this situation was not safe, or prepared, or suitable for even 1,000 people.

He didn't care about the disaster-boding conditions of the last-minute location change, which was chosen when San Francisco nixed the idea of playing in the city.

Jagger then vetoed playing at a safe venue in Sonoma County, where he wouldn't retain all the distribution rights to the film. He had made a big-bucks licensing deal with Universal.

If you want to throw blame around for Altamont, and you should… don’t aim it at the Hell’s Angels.  Remember the Chris Rock bit about the tiger attack on Roy (of Siegfried and Roy)?  He said ‘that tiger didn’t go crazy, that tiger went tiger.  That is what tigers do, they attack people.”  The same can be said for staffing the event with Hell’s Angels.  They didn’t ‘go crazy’.  No, they went full on Hells Angels.

You can better blame Mick Jagger for refusing to use the safer and better equipped site because he wanted to keep every penny of the movie money, which he did.  He then also refused to let his chopper medivac a critically wounded person who later died because it took an ambulance 40 minutes to get there.  This isn’t about demonizing the Stones, just Mick.  Mick is a money man, and literally has a finance degree.  I have heard rumors that to this day, he is still the band’s accountant.

In closing, let this cheer you up.  For some unknown reason, as the Stones exited their helicopter at the show, some random dude just walked up and punched the shit out of Mick Jagger.  It was caught on film, but I can’t find it.  It would be a great GIF to loop at the top of this piece.  I love the Stones music (Brian Jones era, to be specific), but I think we should just pin this whole thing on Mick.  It appears he, and strangely he alone, could have prevented all of this.  He could have chosen safer venue.  He could have played for free, which was strongly implied.  He could have stopped the concert for safety reasons.  He could have loaned his chopped to the dying man and the people trying to tend to him.  He could have at least acknowledged any of this, or maybe even apologized.

Another interesting side note?  The Grateful Dead were set to play.  They saw the vibes (hours before the whole Stones show/stabbing thing) and bailed.  When Jerry Garcia tells you its bad vibes, man… you listen!

There is a terrific book about all of this by Joel Selvin, btw.  I’ll admit I haven’t read it, but his book on the Dead post Jerry Garcia is a masterpiece.