Altamont was a large outdoor concert held on December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway near Livermore, California. There were numerous large concerts in the latter years of the 1960s, including the famous Woodstock (see entry under 1960s—Music in volume 4) concert (1969) in New York state, but Altamont was different. The show was organized by English rock group the Rolling Stones (see entry under 1960s—Music in volume 4) as the final concert of their 1969 concert tour. Although it was meant as a thank-you gift to their fans, the concert was a disaster, resulting in violence and murder. To many people, Altamont represents the symbolic end of the 1960s.

Problems began almost as soon as the concert was announced. Changes in the concert site and the problems of providing food, water, and restrooms for more than three hundred thousand people left the organizers ill-prepared for the large crowd. The organizers also...