Table of Contents
Who provided security at the Rolling Stones 1969 Altamont concert?
the Hells Angels
Security. By some accounts, the Hells Angels were hired as security by the management of the Rolling Stones, on the recommendation of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane (who both had previously used the Angels for security at performances without incident), for $500 worth of beer.
When did the Rolling Stones hire the Hells Angels for security?
Most Americans remember 1969 for many things: Woodstock, the Stonewall riots, and the moon landing, among other notable moments in history. But when the Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels as security for the Altamont Free Concert in December of that year, brutality and tragedy marked the end to the Summer of Love.
Who were the Hells Angels at Altamont?
It was during the Rolling Stones’ set, however, that a 21-year-old Hells Angel named Alan Passaro stabbed a gun-wielding 18-year-old named Meredith Hunter to death just 20 feet in front of the stage where Mick Jagger was performing “Under My Thumb.” Unaware that someone had died, the Rolling Stones completed their set …
Who did the Hells Angels killed at Altamont?
Meredith Hunter
It was during the Rolling Stones’ set, however, that a 21-year-old Hells Angel named Alan Passaro stabbed a gun-wielding 18-year-old named Meredith Hunter to death just 20 feet in front of the stage where Mick Jagger was performing “Under My Thumb.” Unaware that someone had died, the Rolling Stones completed their set …
What concert did the Hells Angels do security for?
Altamont concert
The Rolling Stones headline the Altamont concert at a speedway in California. It’s a free event with Jefferson Airplane and Santana also on the bill, but it turns violent when the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, who are hired as security, kill a crowd member. The concert is documented in The Stones movie Gimme Shelter.
Who was the security at Woodstock?
Mr. Pomeroy
As a private consultant, Mr. Pomeroy, who later became a Democrat, was hired as security chief of the Woodstock festival in Bethel, N.Y., where his compassionate handling of hundreds of thousands of music lovers was credited with helping to make the festival the peaceful love-in it became known as.
Why did the stones hire the Hells Angels for Altamont?
Of all their mistakes regarding the show, perhaps the greatest of all was the Stones’ decision to hire the Hells Angels as their security for the Altamont concert. The band wanted to bring the magic of Woodstock — the iconic 1969 New York music festival — to the country’s West Coast.
Should the Rolling Stones have used the Hells Angels for security?
It’s the advice that The Rolling Stones should have taken when the sixties legends suggested the Stones use the biker gang the Hells Angels as their security team for an infamous show. It would turn into a huge disaster.
What if the Rolling Stones had held a free concert in 1969?
It would turn into a huge disaster. The Summer of Love had been raging on for a few years when The Rolling Stones decided to hold a free concert in 1969 at Altamont Speedway in California. The show was set to be the crowning moment of the sixties—the most creative and free-spirited decade in memory.
How many people attended the Hells Angels concert at Altamont Speedway?
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones warily eye the Hells Angels onstage. Robert Altman/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images The racetrack’s bleachers could not accommodate the rumored 300,000 people that the concert attracted. William L. Rukeyser/Getty Images The increasingly packed crowd at the Altamont Speedway.