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Late Night 4th of July: Gimme Shelter

The Sundance Channel is airing Gimme Shelter tonight. In the clip above, Jagger is dressed up as Uncle Sam.

In December of 1969, four months after Woodstock, the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane gave a free concert in Northern California, east of Oakland at Altamont Speedway. About 300,000 people came, and the organizers put Hell's Angels in charge of security around the stage. Armed with pool cues and knifes, Angels spent the concert beating up spectators, killing at least one. The film intercuts performances, violence, Grace Slick and Mick Jagger's attempts to cool things down, close-ups of young listeners (dancing, drugged, or suffering Angel shock), and a look at the Stones later as they watch concert footage and reflect on what happened.

War, Children, is just a shot away.

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  • Display: Sort:
    My favorite part (none / 0) (#1)
    by Pancho on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 11:52:32 AM EST
    is after the fight when everyone but Keith has quit playing and Mick is yelling: "KEITH- WE'VE STOPPED!"

    Marty Balin (none / 0) (#2)
    by Che's Lounge on Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 12:25:39 PM EST
    the singer for Airplane, was knocked out by the Angels while trying to break up a fight. SOB jumped right off the stage and into the fray. What balls. You can hear Paul Kantner challenging the Angels on their tactics. It was THE low point for R&R. And one poor kid was stupid enough to bring a gun. Cost him his life.