Thursday, April 24, 2008

Gimme Shelter

The documentary of the Rolling Stones during their 1969 concert tour which culminated in the notorious free Altamonte Speedway concert is one of the best documentaries out there on rock and roll.

The Hell's Angels were hired for security and paid in beer to keep people off of the stage. What resulted is chaos and a murder caught on film. A man with a gun rushed the stage, an Angel intercepted him with a knife and then he was stabbed and kicked to death.

What was supposed to unofficially be Woodstock West brought down the sixties idealism with a thundering crash. Mick Jagger tried to control the crowd and looked like a skinny, impotent, self absorbed rock star. He was clueless on what to do to control the chaos.

He watched the murder footage and was aghast, likely on how close he came to someone shooting him. More likely at how ridiculous he appeared when it counted.

If you like documentaries like I do, this is one of the elites. The carnival of freaks at the concert alone is worth watching!

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