Ever been to the site? It's pretty interesting, and really easy to figure out exactly where that (ridiculously) low stage was. They placed a marker at the Woodstock stage, I think one should go here as well...

chris

The place is still an active racetrack. It may not be practical to erect a marker wherever the stage was.

[www.altamontracing.com]





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-16 16:36 by Edith Grove.

EG--actually, the stage site is a good distance from the track-down a hill into a sort of natural bowl.

OK, didn't know that.
Still don't know if it deserves a marker, though.
Not trying to be argumentative here, but it was a rather forgettable event in Stones history.
The show was intended to be like a "Woodstock West" kind of deal, but turned out to be the opposite.

I know, I know--but for any stones fan traipsing through the brush in search of some gimme shelter ghosts, just thought it might be a nice relic to happen upon--something small and dignified

Here it is on Google:

[maps.google.com]

Actually the stage was outside of the track, which is seen on the Gimme Shelter movie pretty clear.

"Forgettable moment in Stones history"

Uhhhh...???

Yeah, Mikey.
Numerous beatings and a killing. Not a very good scene.

think he might have meant "regrettable" - probably top 5 UNFORGETTABLE moments for them...

An interesting place? I guess if you like a landscape of nothing but dirt. Quite boring IMO, tho I'll agree with its historical aspect.

Sorry EG I was just intrigued by your use of the term "forgettable" for an event which was so seminal in both the band's development and also the evolution of rock music from then on.

It's all down to semantics.

Perhaps copius use of emoticons might help.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-16 17:42 by mikey.

Can we clarify 'marker'? Is it for The Stones or in memory of Meredith Hunter?
Yeah I know they're both inextricably linked.

"I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon."

Marker--a brass plate to commemorate the event.

Quote
mikey
Sorry EG I was just intrigued by your use of the term "forgettable" for an event which was so seminal in both the band's development and also the evolution of rock music from then on.

No need for apology, mikey.
Of course, the event is unforgettable, but if I was involved in the goings on in front of the stage,
or had anything to do with the event production, it would be something I would just assume forget about.
I think Mick & Charlie had this look on their faces in the scene at the end of "Gimme Shelter."

Green suits and top hats rule. I love the 60 s!! Whatever happened to the chick Hunter was with? She looked pretty good.

Quote
hbwriter
Marker--a brass plate to commemorate the event.

Sorry, yeah I know what a marker is. What I was meaning is, is it to say "The Rolling Stones Once Played Here" or "Meredith Hunter died here during a Rolling Stones gig"?
'Cos to my mind the sad, brutal reality of Altamont is that if it hadn't been for the murder Altamont would have been pretty much a non-event in terms of The Stones' history.
It's hardly revered for the standard of musicianship.
I'm just wondering what the marker would actually be commemorating?
A marker at where The Stones played their first gig I could understand (possibly there is one).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-16 19:32 by ROLLINGSTONE.

Hey, good or bad--that was a cataclysmic event (that ultimately, I think, for better or worse, HELPED the Stones' brand in that it cemented a bit of darkness and edge which made them much more intriguing to a certain audience) i think the marker merely states that the event took place there--no editorials--like some minor battlefield. As for standard of musicianship, I'd beg to differ--I think the boot of that show bares out that the Stones played their tales off that day, PLUS it's where Brown Sugar was first unveiled. Interesting set list for the Stones at Altamont, Gram PArsons on the bill, CSN&Y, Airplane...a crashing, ugly end to the 60's... a monumental day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-16 19:42 by hbwriter.

Agree with much that has been said here.
Of course that event ought to be remembered.

But there is in deed a deep and unproportional myth growin'
around the 1960's... Nine young people were killed in Roskilde 2000
at Pearl Jam's concert, but you rarely hear about that.
[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-16 20:19 by Baboon Bro.

Quote
Baboon Bro
Agree with much that has been said here.
Of course that event ought to be remembered.

But there is in deed a deep and unproportional myth growin'
around the 1960's... Nine young people were killed in Roskilde 2000
at Pearl Jam's concert, but you rarely hear about that.
[en.wikipedia.org]

They died due to poor crowd control. They weren t murdered in cold blood with video evidence.

"Murdered in cold blood"?? Hunter had drawn a gun!

To defend himself against those yahoo biker Hells Angels. Getting jumped by five dudes and then getting stabbed is murder in my book.

Nah--the angels were trouble for sure, but murdered in cold blood just isn't accurate--the film bares that out--if he shoots jagger, everyone screams that the angels should have taken him down. and he was never "jumped" by anyone--let alone five bikers--how do come up with that??

One must not mix up film with reality.
All descriptions from present-bee'ers says
the angels were beatin' people with pool sticks.
Everything isnt obvious in the movie.

And I doubt the nine human beings at the Roskilde accident
feel or felt the difference in validity or type of killing.

A Look Back At The Stones and Altamont 1969

Worth a look

[www.iorr.org]



ROCKMAN

Why am I so pedantic today? Altamont and the Stones' connection to it wouldn't have resonated so deeply if it was just a tragedy, like that '80s band in the Rhode Island club (Great White?) that burned, or the Who's '79 debacle. There was always an underside of dread, anxiety, coinciding with the sense of possibility that led to those cataclysmic changes in the '60s, and along w/ the hopes that a utopian (or idealistic - the Stones being neither) experiment might work - lots of drugs, 300,000 "kids" together just having a good time digging the music, or rioting in Paris or Chicago aginst a corrupt 'them'- are the possibility that such mass movements can unleash something that spirals out of control. The Stones, "their Satanic Majesties" were perfect to blame for such a disaster that also became a metaphor for the end of the 60s. Even the myth that Sympathy, not Under My Thumb, was played as the guy with the gun got killed by the drunken angels, 'fit'. And it made a classic movie. The scenes of Angels' obvious contempt for the musicians they were paid (in beer) to protect, and for the 'innocent' stoned kids in the audience. The Angel, face contorted with contempt, standing next to Jagger watching him - like he'd just as soon squash him like a bug - perform....Remember that Kris Kristofferson song 'Blame it On The Stones'?

Thanks, Rockman, for diggin' is up.

Here's a great post from yerself 'n that thread:

Quote
Rockman

Yeah Baboon, you can tell it was cold that day!

That ain't no great post Bro....that's the smallest dick in the world



ROCKMAN

Ya know what they say, small post, big...

So sorry, small post, Rockman...