Death Comes to the Concert
As the audience is mesmerized by the Rolling Stones’ performance, the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, who were hired as security for the night, start to defend the stage violently, but without too much success. The moment is used by Mclean not only to reference the actual events that took place that night but also to use 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)
The next lines, “And as the flames climbed high into the night/ To light the sacrificial rite” are a reference to the stabbing of a black man by a member of the Hells Angels during the concert. 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.