Gimme Shelter

Yes, I am referring to the 1970 documentary: 

If you ever wanted to see the 1960's die on camera...

This is a documentary I've seen before—albeit that was around 15 years ago. When the Criterion Channel added this and other legendary concert films to their service this month, it was an easy decision for me to experience this again and realize if it was as powerful a documentation of a great band AND a tragic concert experience... in fact, it was.

From looking at a random review on Letterboxd, it's a reminder that some will have no idea what happened at the Altamont Free Concert, an event that tried to be “Woodstock West” but that one day event at a speedway in Northern California featuring The Rolling Stones, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young (who weren't shown in the documentary), Jefferson Airplane, Santana, country/rock act The Flying Burrito Brothers, and what was going to be The Grateful Dead but they decided “nah” due to the ugly vibe of the estimated 300,000 there. Unlike what seemed like a genial crowd at Woodstock, this was far uglier. Then again, hiring bikers (The Hell's Angels!) to provide security was not a great idea even if they'd done it at much smaller concerts before. Of course there'd be fights, people injured and an incident involving serious weapons which was one hell of a symbolic end of the cheerful flower power 1960's-the concert was December 6, 1969-and perhaps was a sign that while the 70's was awesome in terms of entertainment and style, there also would be plenty of unrest & misery for many. For those that don't know the story and do wish to see this, I won't elaborate. Many sites on the Internet are available for those that want to do a deep dive on the subject. It is sobering to see someone distinctive in the crowd (wearing a lime green suit)

Knowing that something bad would happen, there's an air of dread that hangs over the proceedings as in between the footage of the Stones performing in New York City, recording songs for what would be their awesome album Sticky Fingers & in general hanging out, there's the kerfuffle surrounding this big free concert changing locations twice, the second at almost literally the last minute. It seemed like a recipe for disaster... that said the movie was not a miserable 90 minutes. As The Rolling Stones is one of my favorite bands, it was nice to see them both on & off stage. Those live performances are a treat-although due to circumstances they weren't at the best when at the speedway. Briefly seeing some other acts (like Ike & Tina Turner, who opened for the Stones in NYC) was a sweet bonus. It's a nice documentary on a legendary rock band during what may have been their creative peak... which also served as a cultural artifact and literally prevented someone from being jailed possibly for life. It was also a creative idea to have the band watch some of the footage that was shot already, especially the key moment at Altamont.

By the by, I did see the Stones perform live, in Tampa during the month of October, 2005. That was a great experience. They have come to the area since, but due to the ticket costs & them mostly performing the same songs I heard them do in '05, I am satisfied experiencing them just once. I'm glad that was done long before Charlie Watts passed away last August; seeing him here did make me feel a bit melancholy.