Review of Gimme Shelter (2013) by Stuart K — 02 Feb 2010
A rock documentary done by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, which was to have been a chronical of The Rolling Stones' 1969 U.S. tour. It had been a successful tour, and it would end with a free concert at the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco, it could have been the best concert of all time.
But, bad organising and one murder put it into the annals of history of how NOT to organise a concert. The concert was to have taken place at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, but that fell through. So, they moved it to the Altamont Speedway, at the last minute.
Meaning equipment and rigging had to be moved at great difficulty. Foolishly, the organisers, with the Stone's approval, hired the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels to be the security at the concert.
It worked when the Stones did Hyde Park earlier that year, so why shouldn't it work here?? Oh dear. The concert decended into chaos and ended with the murder of 18 year old Meredith Hunter, stabbed to death by Hells Angel Alan Passaro.
It is quite harrowing, and the depiction of the concert going from bad to worse is nearly impossible to watch. Only the music keeps it watchable, (alot of the footage was shot at Madison Square Garden a few weeks prior.
) You can see why so many thought this concert heralded the end of the hippie era, this and the Manson murders.
This review of Gimme Shelter (2013) was written by Stuart K on 02 Feb 2010.
Gimme Shelter has generally received positive reviews.
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