Gimme Shelter

[Pete70s]

I just watched the DVD of this the other night. I'd seen it before, but a LONG time ago.

I had always thought that the Hells Angels were out of control and WAY out of line in beating up the audience members, Marty Balin, etc.. but now I kinda have a different opinion of the whole thing.

The Angels were supposed to keep order in front of the stage. They were not professional security, they were a biker gang HIRED to work security. The crowd was restless, probably trippin' on acid, trying to rush the stage, overwhelming even to them.

It's a shame that Meredith Hunter was killed, but he pulled a gun! He could have shot an audience member, he could've shot one of the Stones! What purpose is there to bring a gun to a rock concert? Minutes before he was killed, he was shown in the audience looking like he was high on something..

They didn't have to stab him to death, but they acted on impulse, that whole "kill or be killed" mentality.

All in all, there were a lot of things going on that day that shouldn't have happened.

Anyone else seen this movie?

[Dawn]

This was definitely an unfortunate series of happenings. I agree that there was no reason for Meredith to have taken a gun to the concert, especially while under the influence of drugs. Although what happened was tragic, as you said it could have been even worse, with more lives lost. The Altamont organizers may not have anticipated the intensity of the crowd, but there were quite a few bad judgment calls that day.

[Ken]

I've had the DVD for awhile now. I also remember renting the video a couple of times when it was first released.

It's almost as if the concert just wasn't meant to be and that everything that could go wrong did.

What I found very odd was that there was absolutely no barrier between the stage and the crowd.