Qualla: Altamont Free Concert https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Altamont Free Concert https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert Altamont Free Concert: Introduction https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert/ Photo credit LTS, Public domain. Rolling Stone magazine called it "rock and roll's all-time worst day." On December 6, 1969, roughly 300,000 people descended on the Altamont Speedway in the brown hills east of Tracy, California, expecting a Woodstock West. What they got instead was chaos: inadequate facilities, a stage built at the bottom of a slope instead of on top of a hill, and the Hells Angels motorcycle club serving as security for $500 worth of beer. By nightfall, four people would be dead, including 18-year-old Meredith Hunter, stabbed in front of the stage while the Rolling Stones played "Under My Thumb."

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/9q9w-altamont-free-concert-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Altamont Free Concert: A Dream Unravels https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert/ Photo credit Associated Press, Public domain. The concert began as an act of goodwill. Critics had complained about high ticket prices during the Rolling Stones' 1969 American tour, so the band announced a free show to end their run. The original plan called for Golden Gate Park, but a football game at nearby Kezar Stadium m...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/9q9w-altamont-free-concert-a-dream-unravels.mp3 0:06 2 full Altamont Free Concert: Angels at the Gate https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert/ Photo credit Associated Press, Public domain. The decision to use the Hells Angels as security would become Altamont's defining tragedy. Both Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead had used the Angels at previous concerts without incident. The British Rolling Stones may have been misled by their experience with a self-desc...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/9q9w-altamont-free-concert-angels-at-the-gate.mp3 0:06 3 full Altamont Free Concert: The Killing of Meredith Hunter https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert/ Photo credit Associated Press, Public domain. The Rolling Stones took the stage after sundown. Some 4,000 to 5,000 people were jammed against the stage's edge. During "Sympathy for the Devil," fights erupted so frequently that the band stopped and restarted the song. Then, during "Under My Thumb," 18-year-old Meredith Hunter...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/9q9w-altamont-free-concert-the-killing-of-meredith-hunter.mp3 0:06 4 full Altamont Free Concert: The End of an Era https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert/ Photo credit Associated Press, Public domain. Less than four months earlier, Woodstock had embodied the counterculture's ideals of peace and love. Altamont became its inverse, a symbol for the death of the Woodstock Nation. As Richard Brody wrote in The New Yorker, what died at Altamont was "the Rousseauian dream itself" tha...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/9q9w-altamont-free-concert-the-end-of-an-era.mp3 0:06 5 full Altamont Free Concert: What Remains https://qualla.com/altamont-free-concert/ Photo credit Associated Press, Public domain. The Altamont Speedway still stands in eastern Alameda County, now called Altamont Motorsports Park. The brown California hills look much as they did in December 1969, dotted with wind turbines instead of hundreds of thousands of concertgoers. In January 2022, the Library of Congr...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/9/w/altamont-free-concert-wp/9q9w-altamont-free-concert-what-remains.mp3 0:06 6 full