Death Comes to the Concert
As the audience was mesmerized by the Rolling Stones’ performance, the hired security for the night, the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, started to defend the stage violently, but without much success. Mclean not only references the actual events that took place that night but also uses Jagger as the motive for the anarchy unfolding in the culture and society.
Hell’s Angels before the Rolling Stones appeared at the Altamont Speedway for the free concert they were headlining. (Photo by William L. Rukeyser/Getty Images)
A reference to the stabbing of a black man by a member of the Hells Angels during the concert, the next lines read: “And as the flames climbed high into the night/ To light the sacrificial rite”. The victim was Meredith Hunter, an 18-year old African-American teenager who approached the stage armed with a revolver. Alan Passaro of the Hell Angels stabbed and beat him to death, and the entire incident was caught on camera. It subsequently became a theme for the “Gimme Shelter” documentary. Even though he was initially charged with murder, Passaro was later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.