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80-621: Taking Woodstock is a 2009 American historical musical comedy-drama film about the Woodstock Festival of 1969, directed by Ang Lee . The screenplay by James Schamus is based on the memoir Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert and a Life by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. The film premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival , and opened in New York and Los Angeles on August 26, 2009, before its wide theatrical release two days later. It received mixed reviews and

160-549: A $ 300,000 up-front cash deposit from the Rolling Stones and film distribution rights, so the festival was moved once again. The Altamont Raceway, just outside of Tracy , was chosen at the suggestion of its owner, local businessman Dick Carter. The concert was to take place on Saturday, December 6; the location was switched on the night of Thursday, December 4. In making preparations, Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully and concert organizer Michael Lang helicoptered over

240-399: A 14-page 11-author article on the event entitled "The Rolling Stones Disaster at Altamont: Let It Bleed" published in their January 21, 1970, issue, stated that "Altamont was the product of diabolical egotism, hype, ineptitude, money manipulation, and, at base, a fundamental lack of concern for humanity". The article covered the many issues with the event's organization and was very critical of

320-832: A backdrop of historical events. A period piece may be set in a vague or general era such as the Middle Ages , or a specific period such as the Roaring Twenties , or the recent past. In different eras different subgenres have risen to popularity, such as the westerns and sword and sandal films that dominated North American cinema in the 1950s. The costume drama is often separated as a genre of historical dramas. Early critics defined them as films focusing on romance and relationships in sumptuous surroundings, contrasting them with other historical dramas believed to have more serious themes. Other critics have defended costume dramas, and argued that they are disparaged because they are

400-520: A concept album based on the concert and its cultural fallout. The LP features a cover of "New Speedway Boogie". Altamont is also referenced by Don McLean in the song " American Pie " in the song's fifth verse, the majority of which contains symbols related to Altamont: "Jack Flash", a reference to San Francisco (" Candlestick ", though that venue had nothing to do with the actual concert), (Sympathy for) "the Devil", an enraged spectator watching something on

480-479: A detailed narrative on the event, terming it, in an additional follow-up piece, "rock and roll's all-time worst day, December 6th, a day when everything went perfectly wrong." Filmmakers Albert and David Maysles shot footage of the event and incorporated it into the 1970 documentary film titled Gimme Shelter . According to Jefferson Airplane 's Spencer Dryden , the idea for "a kind of Woodstock West" began when he and bandmate Jorma Kaukonen discussed

560-529: A fact, because it became rather apparent that the Stones didn't know what kind of people they were dealing with. The Gimme Shelter DVD contains extensive excerpts from that broadcast. A Hells Angels member who identified himself as "Pete, from Hells Angels San Francisco" (most likely Pete Knell, president of the San Francisco chapter), says "they offered us $ 500 worth of beer [to] go there and take care of

640-520: A free Stones concert earlier that year in Hyde Park, London . Cutler, however, denies ever having had any illusions about the true nature of Californian Hells Angels. "That's another canard foisted on the world by the press", he said, but Rock Scully remembers explaining to the Stones what the "real" Angels were like after watching the Hyde Park concert. The first act on the stage, Santana , gave

720-545: A genre directed towards women. Historical dramas have also been described as a conservative genre, glorifying an imagined past that never existed. Historical drama may include mostly fictionalized narratives based on actual people or historical events, such as the history plays of Shakespeare , Apollo 13 , The Tudors , Braveheart , Chernobyl , Enemy at the Gates , Les Misérables , and Titanic . Works may include references to real-life people or events from

800-450: A half weeks in theaters, on October 1, 2009, the film's total domestic box office gross was $ 7,460,204 with an overseas take of $ 2,515,533. The film grossed $ 9,975,737 worldwide, thus making the film, from an estimated $ 30 million budget, a box office bomb . The film maintains a 48% average on Rotten Tomatoes based on 179 reviews for an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's consensus states: "Featuring numerous 60s-era clichés, but little of

880-511: A member of the Hells Angels' San Francisco chapter. According to Cutler, the arrangement was that all the bands were supposed to share the $ 500 beer cost, "[but] the person who paid it was me, and I never got it back, to this day." Hells Angels member Bill "Sweet William" Fritsch recalled this exchange he had with Cutler at a meeting prior to the concert, in which Cutler had asked them to provide security: We don't police things. We're not

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960-601: A performance that generally went smoothly; however, over the course of the day, the mood of both the crowd and the Angels became progressively agitated and violent. The Angels had been drinking their free beer all day in front of the stage, and most were very drunk. The crowd had also become antagonistic and unpredictable, attacking each other, the Angels, and the performers. A Mick Jagger biographer, Anthony Scaduto , in Mick Jagger: Everybody's Lucifer , wrote that

1040-415: A security force. We go to concerts to enjoy ourselves and have fun. Well, what about helping people out—you know, giving directions and things? Sure, we can do that. When Cutler asked how they would like to be paid, William replied, "We like beer." In the documentary Gimme Shelter , Sonny Barger states that the Hells Angels were not interested in policing the event, and that organizers had told him that

1120-584: A stage, and an "angel born in Hell". McLean officially refused to confirm or deny the song's ties to Altamont until he sold his songwriting notes in 2015. Within the context of the song, Altamont served as the culmination of a period that had begun with the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in February 1959, during which "things (were) heading in the wrong direction" and life

1200-476: A symbol for the death of the Woodstock Nation." Rock music critic Robert Christgau wrote in 1972 that "Writers focus on Altamont not because it brought on the end of an era but because it provided such a complex metaphor for the way an era ended." Writing for The New Yorker in 2015, Richard Brody argued that what Altamont ended was "the idea that, left to their own inclinations and stripped of

1280-570: Is mentioned in the film The Cable Guy (1996), in a scene where Jim Carrey 's character, Chip Douglas, performs " Somebody to Love " on karaoke: "You might recognize this song as performed by Jefferson Airplane, in a little rockumentary called Gimme Shelter , about the Rolling Stones and their nightmare at Altamont. That night the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels had their way. Tonight, it's my turn." In 2004, Australian electronic psych group Black Cab released their debut LP Altamont Diary ,

1360-502: Is there a doctor?" After a few minutes the band began playing again and eventually completed their set. Jagger told Maysles they all agreed that if they abandoned the show at that point, the crowd would have become even more unruly, perhaps degenerating into a full-scale riot. In 2003, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office initiated a two-year investigation into the possibility of a second Hells Angel having taken part in

1440-774: The GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Film – Wide Release" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards to A Single Man . The DVD and Blu-ray were released on December 15, 2009. Special features include an audio commentary with director Ang Lee and writer/producer James Schamus , deleted scenes , and a featurette: Peace, Love, and Cinema . The Blu-ray features all the DVD features with additional deleted scenes, and another featurette: No Audience Required – The Earthlight Players. Historical drama Historical drama can be differentiated from historical fiction , which generally present fictional characters and events against

1520-500: The bystander effect and the murder of Kitty Genovese . Emmett Grogan (founder of the radical community-action group the Diggers ), who was intimately involved in the organization of the event (especially at the two earlier-planned venues), confirmed the $ 500 beer arrangement on that same KSAN forum with Ponek. "Pete" also tells host Ponek that the Angels were hired by Cutler because of some rowdy, anxious on-stage incidents during

1600-633: The gay-liberation movement and the Stonewall riots , which took place two months earlier that summer." Melissa Anderson in The Village Voice wrote: "Ang Lee’s facile Taking Woodstock proves that the decade is still prone to the laziest, wide-eyed oversimplifications ... little music from the concert itself is heard. On display instead are inane, occasionally borderline offensive portrayals of Jews, performance artists, trannies, Vietnam vets, squares, and freaks." Slate wrote: "After

1680-557: The hash brownies Vilma has just offered. After another beautiful day at the festival, during which his friend the Vietnam veteran, Billy, appears to overcome his post-traumatic stress disorder , Elliot returns home to find his parents laughing and cavorting hysterically, having eaten Vilma's hash brownies. The once-brittle family (particularly Sonia) is united in joy and delirious affection. The next morning, however, Sonia inadvertently reveals that she has secretly saved $ 97,000 in cash in

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1760-535: The killing of Meredith Hunter and three accidental deaths: two from a hit-and-run car accident, and one from a drowning incident in an irrigation canal. Scores were injured, numerous cars were stolen (and subsequently abandoned), and there was extensive property damage. The concert featured performances (in order of appearance) by Santana , Jefferson Airplane , the Flying Burrito Brothers , and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY), with

1840-411: The road manager of the Rolling Stones' 1969 US Tour, Sam Cutler , "the only agreement there ever was ... the Angels would make sure nobody tampered with the generators, but that was the extent of it. But there was no way 'They're going to be the police force' or anything like that. That's all bollocks ." The deal was made at a meeting including Cutler, Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully, and Pete Knell,

1920-483: The Angels as he tried to climb onstage, Hunter, as seen in concert footage wearing a bright lime-green suit, returned to the front of the crowd and drew a long-barreled .22 caliber revolver from inside his jacket. Hells Angel Alan Passaro, seeing Hunter drawing the revolver, drew a knife from his belt and charged Hunter from the side, parrying Hunter's pistol with his left hand and stabbing him twice with his right hand, killing him. Footage shot by Eric Saarinen , who

2000-518: The Angels for knocking the singer out, Angel Bill Fritsch took hold of a microphone and argued with him about it. The Grateful Dead had been scheduled to play between Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Rolling Stones, but after hearing about the Balin incident from Santana drummer Michael Shrieve , they refused to play and left the venue, citing the quickly degenerating security situation. During Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's set, Stephen Stills

2080-464: The Angels would be required to do little more than sit on the edge of the stage, drink beer, and make sure there were not any murders or rapes occurring. In 2009, Cutler explained his decision to use the Angels. I was talking with them, because I was interested in the security of my band—everyone's security, for that matter. In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. They were the only people who were strong and together. [They had to protect

2160-433: The Hells Angels to one of his outdoor Acid Tests , the hippies had viewed the bikers unrealistically, idealizing them as " noble savages " and thus "outlaw brothers of the counterculture". Miller also maintains that the Rolling Stones may have been misled by their experience with a British contingent of self-described "Hells Angels", a non-outlaw group of admirers of American biker gear who had provided nonviolent security at

2240-485: The Rolling Stones taking the stage as the final act. The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform after CSNY, but shortly before their scheduled appearance, they chose not to due to the increasing violence at the venue. "That's the way things went at Altamont—so badly that the Grateful Dead, the prime organizers and movers of the festival, didn't even get to play," wrote staff at Rolling Stone magazine in

2320-608: The Stones' Oakland and Miami concerts weeks earlier. As security guards, Pete said "we ain't into that security", but that they agreed after the beer offer. He also claimed that, other than being told to "just keep people off the stage," Cutler gave the Hells Angels very little specific instructions for stage security: "They didn't say nothing to us about any of that." And although the Angels are not security guards, "If we say we're going to do something, we do it. If we decide to do it, it's done. No matter what, how far we have to go to do it." The similar lack of detailed security instructions by

2400-675: The Yasgur farm, Lang rides up on horseback and they marvel at how despite the obstacles, the event was a success. Lang mentions his next big project: staging a truly free concert in San Francisco with the Rolling Stones . Principal photography took place from August to October 2008 in New Lebanon, New York and East Chatham, New York , located in Columbia County , New York. Michael Lang has disputed Tiber's account of

2480-428: The cash paid in advance. Elliot and Yasgur encounter a little bit of expected opposition. The local diner refuses to serve Elliot anymore, inspectors target the motel (and only his) for building code violations, and some local boys paint a swastika and hate words on the motel. However, resistance quickly dissolves in the tidal wave of peace and love (and commerce) brought to the area. The Tiber family works hard serving

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2560-413: The center. Hunter enters the opening from the left. His hand rises toward the stage, and the silhouette of a revolver is clearly seen against Bredehoft's light-colored vest. Passaro is seen entering from the right and delivering two stabs with his knife as he parries Hunter's revolver and pushes him off-screen; the opening then closes around Bredehoft. Passaro was reported to have stabbed Hunter five times in

2640-475: The closet, but this is no Brokeback Catskills Mountain . It’s a mosaic – many characters, drifting in and out of focus – stitching the story of how the peace-and-music bash fell together as it bounced in the haphazard planning stages from its originally scheduled Wallkill, New York , location to a cow pasture in White Lake . (Eugene Levy, working hard to restrain his natural comic ebullience, plays

2720-464: The concert plans for Golden Gate Park were proceeding. But by December 4, the plans had broken down, in Paul Kantner 's account, because the city and police departments were unhelpful; innate conflict between the hippies of Haight-Ashbury and the police was manifested in obstructiveness. Sonoma Raceway was then the venue, but its owners wanted $ 100,000 in escrow from the Rolling Stones. At

2800-498: The concert's management was also mentioned by Barger during his telephone call-in. Altamont Speedway owner Dick Carter had hired hundreds of professional, plainclothes security guards, ostensibly more for the purpose of protecting his property rather than for the safety and well-being of the concertgoers. Barger mentions these guards, as identified by their wearing of "little white buttons". Political scientist and cultural critic James Miller believes that since Ken Kesey had invited

2880-440: The crowd further back from the stage. After the crowd (perhaps accidentally) toppled one of the Angels' motorcycles, the Angels became even more aggressive, including toward the performers. Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane jumped off the stage to try to sort out the problem, only to be punched in the head and knocked unconscious by an Angel during the band's set. When Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner sarcastically thanked

2960-477: The crowd with her, but he was reportedly enraged, irrational and "so high he could barely walk". Rock Scully, who could see the audience clearly from the top of a truck by the stage, said of Hunter, "I saw what he was looking at, that he was crazy, he was on drugs, and that he had murderous intent. There was no doubt in my mind that he intended to do terrible harm to Mick or somebody in the Rolling Stones, or somebody on that stage." Following his initial scuffle with

3040-448: The dairy farmer, Max Yasgur.)" Stephen Holden at The New York Times liked the film, which he described as a "likable, humane movie" and "a small, intimate film into which is fitted a peripheral view of the landmark event". He pointed out that " Taking Woodstock pointedly shies away from spectacle, the better to focus on how the lives of individuals caught up by history are transformed ...the movie explicitly connects Woodstock to

3120-408: The edge of the stage so nobody could climb over me, I could drink beer until the show was over. And that's what I went there to do. A woman who called in to the program revealed that she had seen at least five fist fights from her vantage point near the stage and that the Angels were involved in all of them. She also described a general uncaring attitude toward people who clearly needed help; a girl who

3200-415: The floorboards of her closet. Elliot is upset that his mother hid this from him while he put his own savings into helping his parents. After the final day of the concert, Elliot decides to move to California as he packs up his things and says farewell to his father, after his father encourages him to strike out on his own. As Elliot pays one last visit to the concert and looks out over the muddy desolation of

3280-582: The following for the 2000 release (the four-hour recording is included) of the Gimme Shelter DVD: What we learned in the broadcast was pretty much startling: These guys—the Angels—had been hired and paid with $ 500 of beer, on a truck with ice, to essentially bring in the Stones and keep people off the stage. That was the understanding, that was the deal. And it seemed like there was not a lot of disagreement over that; that seemed to emerge as

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3360-598: The geography at Sears Point, at Altamont the stage would now be at the bottom of a slope. The Rolling Stones' stage manager on the 1969 tour, Chip Monck , explained that "the stage was one metre high – 39 inches for us – and [at Sears Point] it was on the top of a hill, so all the audience pressure was back upon them". Because of the short notice for the change of location, the stage could not be changed. "We weren't working with scaffolding, we were working in an older fashion with parallels. You could probably have put another stage below it...but nobody had one," Monck said. Because

3440-579: The grounds were out of bounds. Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was next on the list. However, a previously scheduled Chicago Bears – San Francisco 49ers football game at Kezar Stadium , located in Golden Gate Park, made that venue impractical, and permits were never issued for the concert. The venue was then changed to the Sears Point Raceway near Sonoma . However, a dispute with Sears Point's owner, Filmways, Inc. , arose over

3520-511: The initial meeting with Max Yasgur , and said that he was introduced to Yasgur by a real estate salesman. Lang says that the salesman drove him, without Tiber, to Yasgur's farm. Sam Yasgur , son of Max, agrees with Lang's version, and says that his mother, who is still alive, says Max did not know Tiber. Artie Kornfeld , a Woodstock organizer, has said he found out about Yasgur's farm from his own sources. Taking Woodstock grossed $ 3,457,760 during its opening weekend, opening at #9. After five and

3600-405: The last moment, Dick Carter offered his Altamont Speedway in eastern Alameda County for the festival. Jefferson Airplane flew out of Miami on December 5. Kantner said the location was taken in a spirit of desperation: "There was no way to control it, no supervision or order." According to Grace Slick , "The vibes were bad. Something was very peculiar, not particularly bad, just real peculiar. It

3680-451: The line "One way or another, this darkness got to give") and "Mason's Children". Both songs were written and recorded during sessions for the early 1970 album Workingman's Dead , but "Mason's Children" was not included on the album. Altamont also inspired the Blue Öyster Cult song "Transmaniacon MC" ("MC" means " motorcycle club "), the opening track of their first album . The incident

3760-419: The local bank not to foreclose on the mortgage and Sonia delivers a tirade about her struggles as a Russian refugee. The family is given until the end of the summer to pay up. Elliot plans to hold a small musical festival, and has, for $ 1, obtained a permit from the town's chamber of commerce (of which he is also the president). When he hears that the organizers of the Woodstock Festival face opposition against

3840-411: The long middle section building up to the actual Woodstock, the movie's treatment of the event is maddeningly indirect. No one's asking for a song-by-song re-enactment of the concert, but Lee's refusal to focus even for a moment on the musical aspect of the festival starts to feel almost perverse, as if he's deliberately frustrating the audience's desire." Taking Woodstock lost when it was nominated for

3920-435: The massive influx of visitors and become wealthy in the process. A cross-dressing veteran, Vilma, is hired as a security guard. Elliot also struggles with hiding his homosexuality from his family, when he connects romantically with one of the event organizers staying at the motel. On the first day of the concert, Elliot, his father, and Vilma hear the music begin in the distance. Elliot's father, transformed and enlivened by all

4000-439: The minds of millions of people who love pop music and who hate it as well. If the name 'Woodstock' has come to denote the flowering of one phase of the youth culture, 'Altamont' has come to mean the end of it." The film Gimme Shelter was criticized by Pauline Kael , Vincent Canby and other reviewers for portraying the Stones too sympathetically, and for staging a concert for the sole reason that it could be filmed, despite all

4080-399: The musical magic that highlighted the famous festival, Taking Woodstock is a breezy but underwhelming portrayal." and a 55% on Metacritic . However, the movie has a higher rating of 6.7/10 on IMDb. A featured review is titled as: "Does a great job of focusing on the side story, rather than the obvious big picture", while stating "...they actually focus on the how this all came together, which

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4160-477: The new life in town, tells Elliot to go and see the concert. Elliot hitches a ride through the peaceful traffic jam on the back of a benevolent state trooper's motorcycle and arrives at the event. There, he meets a hippie couple, who invite him to join them on an LSD trip in their VW Bus a short distance from the crowd. Elliot has trouble relaxing at first, but gradually melts into a psychedelic union with them. When they finally emerge after sundown, Elliot watches

4240-509: The only time the crowd seemed to calm down to any degree was during a set by the country-rocking Flying Burrito Brothers . However, Denise Jewkes, lead singer of the local San Francisco rock band The Ace of Cups , six months pregnant, was hit in the head by an empty beer bottle thrown from the crowd and suffered a skull fracture . The Stones later paid for all of Jewkes' ambulance and medical services. The Angels proceeded to arm themselves with sawed-off pool cues and motorcycle chains to drive

4320-522: The organizers and the Rolling Stones; one writer stated: "what an enormous thrill it would have been for an Angel to kick Mick Jagger's teeth down his throat." Another follow-up piece in Rolling Stone called the Altamont event "rock and roll's all-time worst day". In Esquire magazine, Ralph J. Gleason observed, "The day The Rolling Stones played there, the name [Altamont] became etched in

4400-451: The originally planned location, he offers his permit and the motel accommodations to organizer Michael Lang . A neighbor, Max Yasgur , provides his nearby farm land; first they agree on a fee of $ 5,000, but after realizing how many people will come, Yasgur demands $ 75,000, which the organizers reluctantly accept. Elliot comes to agreement about the fee for the motel more smoothly. Initial objections by his mother quickly disappear when she sees

4480-479: The problems leading up to it. Salon ' s Michael Sragow, writing in 2000, said many of the critics took their cues from the Rolling Stone review, which heavily blamed the filmmakers for being part of a "staged event" so that the Rolling Stones could profit from making a "concert" film. Sragow pointed out numerous errors in the Rolling Stone coverage and added that the Maysles did not make "major motion pictures" in

4560-413: The reason for the delay was that Bill Wyman had missed the helicopter ride to the venue. When the Stones began their set, a tightly packed group of between 4,000 and 5,000 people were jammed to the very edge of the stage, and many attempted to climb onto it. Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger , who had already been punched in the head by a concertgoer within seconds of emerging from his helicopter,

4640-570: The relevant time period or contain factually accurate representations of the time period. Works that focus on accurately portraying specific historical events or persons are instead known as docudrama , such as The Report . Where a person's life is central to the story, such a work is known as biographical drama , with notable examples being films such as Alexander , Frida , House of Saddam , Lincoln , Lust for Life , Raging Bull , Stalin , and Oppenheimer . Altamont Free Concert The Altamont Speedway Free Festival

4720-449: The revolver and concluded that Passaro had acted in self-defense. The Rolling Stones were aware of the skirmish, but not the stabbing ("You couldn't see anything, it was just another scuffle", Jagger tells David Maysles during film editing). But it soon became apparent they could see something of what had happened because the band stopped playing mid-song and Jagger was heard calling into his microphone, "We've really got someone hurt here...

4800-403: The site before making the selection, much as Lang had done when the Woodstock Festival was moved at the last moment from Wallkill to Bethel, New York . The hasty move resulted in numerous logistical problems, including a lack of facilities such as portable toilets and medical tents. The move also created a problem for the stage design; instead of being on top of a rise, which characterized

4880-491: The stabbing. Finding insufficient support for this hypothesis, and reaffirming that Passaro acted alone, the office closed the case for good on May 25, 2005. The Altamont concert is often contrasted with the Woodstock Festival that took place fewer than four months earlier. While Woodstock represented "peace and love", Altamont came to be viewed as the end of the hippie era and the de facto conclusion of late-1960s American youth culture: "Altamont became, whether fairly or not,

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4960-555: The stage ... we took this $ 500 worth of beer to do it." Sonny Barger, who also called into the KSAN forum, states: "We were told by one of the [other Hells Angels] clubs if we showed up down there [and] sat on the stage and drink some beer ... that the Stones manager or somebody had bought for us." In his lengthy call, Barger mentions the beer deal yet again: I ain't no cop, I ain't never going to ever pretend to be no cop. I didn't go there to police nothing, man. They told me if I could sit on

5040-604: The stage was so low, members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, led by Oakland chapter head Ralph "Sonny" Barger , were asked to surround the stage to provide 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. This story has been denied by some parties who were directly involved. According to

5120-449: The stage] because it was descending into absolute chaos. Who was going to stop it? Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully said that if the Angels hadn't been on the stage, that whole crowd could have easily passed out, and rolled down onto the stage. There was no barrier. Stefan Ponek, who helped organize the event, hosted a December 7, 1969, KSAN -FM radio broadcast of a four-hour, "day after" post-concert telephone call-in forum, provided

5200-652: The staging of a free concert with the Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones in Golden Gate Park . Referring to the Stones, Dryden said, "Next to the Beatles they were the biggest rock and roll band in the world, and we wanted them to experience what we were experiencing in San Francisco ." As plans were being finalized, Jefferson Airplane were on the road, and by early December they were in Florida, believing

5280-496: The start of " Under My Thumb ". At this point, some of the Hells Angels got into a scuffle with Meredith Hunter , age 18, when he attempted to get onstage with other fans. One of the Hells Angels grabbed Hunter's head, punched him, and chased him back into the crowd. After a minute's pause, Hunter returned to the stage where, according to Gimme Shelter producer Porter Bibb , Hunter's girlfriend Patty Bredehoft found him and tearfully begged him to calm down and move further back in

5360-582: The top, such as a nude theatrical troupe living in Elliot’s barn, and Vilma, his volunteer head of motel security, a transvestite ex-Marine played by Liev Schreiber. How does Schreiber, looking just as he usually does except for a blond wig and a dress, play a transvestite? Completely straight. It works." Michael Phillips at the Chicago Tribune gave it 3 out 4 stars saying "Screenwriter James Schamus doesn’t do anything as stupid as shove Elliot back in

5440-461: The traditional way; instead, a variety of factors contributed to the tragedy. The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards was relatively sanguine about the show, calling it "basically well-handled, but lots of people were tired and a few tempers got frayed" and "on the whole, a good concert." The Grateful Dead wrote several songs about, or in response to, what lyricist Robert Hunter called "the Altamont affair", including "New Speedway Boogie" (featuring

5520-542: The trappings of the wider social order, the young people of the new generation will somehow spontaneously create a higher, gentler, more loving grassroots order. What died at Altamont is the Rousseauian dream itself." More contemporary perspectives challenge that, since the Manson Family murders, also ascribed to counter-cultural hippies, occurred even before Woodstock. The music magazine Rolling Stone , in

5600-437: The upper back, although only two stabs are visible in the footage. Witnesses also reported Hunter was stomped on by several Hells Angels while he was on the ground. The gun was recovered and turned over to police. Hunter's autopsy confirmed he was high on methamphetamine when he died. Passaro was arrested and tried for murder in the summer of 1971, but was acquitted after a jury viewed concert footage showing Hunter brandishing

5680-405: The vast crowd and brilliant lights of the distant concert ripple with harmonious hallucinatory visuals that swell into serene white light. Elliot returns home from his liberating experience and has breakfast with his parents. He suggests to his mother that they now have enough money to replace him, but she cannot bear to let him have his freedom. Elliot storms out, facetiously suggesting his mom eat

5760-451: Was a box office failure . Set in 1969, the film is based on the true story of Elliot Tiber , an aspiring Greenwich Village interior designer whose parents, Jake and Sonia, own the small dilapidated El Monaco Resort in White Lake , in the town of Bethel, New York . A hippie theater troupe, The Earthlight Players, rents the barn, but can hardly pay any rent. Due to financial trouble, the motel may have to be closed, but Elliot pleads with

5840-666: Was a counterculture rock concert in the United States , held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California . Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, with some anticipating that it would be a "Woodstock West ". The Woodstock festival had taken place in Bethel, New York , in mid-August, almost four months earlier. The event is remembered for its use of Hells Angels as security and its significant violence, including

5920-413: Was dragged across the stage by her hair, another who was on a bad acid trip and bystanders kicked and walked on her. She said she felt having the Angels as "security" was an irresponsible move because "we were all in terror of them". When she tried to speak about this at the concert, she was warned to be quiet by the people around her, for fear of being beaten. At this point, KSAN's Scoop Nisker mentioned

6000-500: Was great, because not only was the story very entertaining, but it created this essence about the concert, that it was something far off in the distance that you would never see, and you only heard people talking about it..." Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "... Lee and writer James Schamus aren't making a historical pastiche. This is a comedy with some sweet interludes and others that are cheerfully over

6080-564: Was on stage taking pictures of the crowd, and Baird Bryant , who climbed atop a bus, appears in the Gimme Shelter documentary. Saarinen was unaware of having caught the killing on film. This was discovered more than a week later when raw footage was screened in the New York offices of the Maysles Brothers. In the film sequence, lasting about two seconds, a two-meter (six-foot) opening in the crowd appears, leaving Bredehoft in

6160-477: Was originally scheduled to be held at San Jose State University 's practice field, as there had recently been a three-day outdoor free festival there with 52 bands and 80,000 attendees. Dirt Cheap Productions was asked to help secure the property again for the Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead to play a free concert. The Stones and the Dead were told the city of San Jose was not in the mood for another large concert and

6240-407: Was reported to be repeatedly stabbed in the leg by a "stoned-out" Hells Angel, with a sharpened bicycle spoke. By the time the Rolling Stones took the stage in the early evening, the mood had taken a decidedly ugly turn as numerous fights had erupted between Angels and crowd members and within the crowd itself. The Rolling Stones waited until sundown to perform. Stanley Booth stated that part of

6320-407: Was that kind of hazy, abrasive and unsure day. I had expected the loving vibes of Woodstock but that wasn't coming at me. This was a whole different thing." During the Rolling Stones' 1969 U.S. tour , many (including journalists) felt that the ticket prices were far too high. In answer to this criticism, the Rolling Stones decided to end their tour with a free concert in San Francisco. The concert

6400-449: Was visibly intimidated by the unruly situation and urged everyone to, "Just be cool down in the front there, don't push around." During the third song, " Sympathy for the Devil ", a fight erupted in the front of the crowd at the foot of the stage, prompting the Stones to pause their set while the Angels restored order. After a lengthy pause and another appeal for calm, the band restarted the song and continued their set with less incident until

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