10 Most Legendary Horrible Gigs In Rock Music History

Since the first Woodstock in 1969 worked so well, it made sense that concert promoters would try to capture that same sort of spirit again. The hippie movement was still in full swing, so why not bring that kind of Flower Power idealism to California, where most of the hippies were already finding their calling in San Francisco? Everything seemed to be falling into place, but what happened on the Altamont grounds may have put the entire Flower Generation into permanent decline.

While the Rolling Stones were far from a bad choice as the main headliner for the festival, the idea of having the biker gang Hell's Angels serve as security made for a disaster when the band actually took to the stage. Having been paid in beer for their troubles, the bikers didn't really take too kindly to everyone who tried to get too close to the stage, making for a bit of chaos when the band got halfway through their set.

Making their way through the song Sympathy for the Devil, Mick Jagger had to bring everything to a halt because of fighting in the crowd, which ended with fan Meredith Hunter being stabbed to death after being mistaken for having a weapon pointed at the stage. Whereas Woodstock had the hippie idealism that seemed possible in the Summer of Love, Altamont was the one show that confirmed every worst fear people had about rock and roll: menacing, loud and in some cases fatal.