The Horrors of Altamont

On December 6, 1969, The Rolling Stones put on a free concert at the Altamont speedway in California. The idea was to imitate a Woodstock type festival and condense it into one day. At first everything seemed to be going well, but then someone died. The Hell's Angels were hired to run security at the concert and one of them ended up stabbing and killing a member of the crowd when a riot broke out during the show. Robert Hunter, the lyricist for the Grateful Dead, wrote a song about the tragedy and titled it "New Speedway Boogie". I feel that this concert ended the 1960s era. Not just because it was in December of 69 and in less then a month the decade was going to be over, but also because it opened the eyes of musicians, hippies, and different people. All the Rolling Stones wanted was to put on a free show for their fans and have that day be remembered. The concert at Altamont will surely be remembered, but mostly because of the tragedy that happened there.