It's Only Rock & Roll

Gimme Shelter

Comments (0) By Mark Hughes Thursday, Nov 2 2000

"Moshing" wasn't a word in 1969, let alone an outdated exercise, yet the Rolling Stones hosted a more violent show at Altamont Speedway 30 years ago than the the infamous Limp Bizkit performance at Woodstock '99. The presence of the Hell's Angels with lead-weighted pool cues acting as out-of-control security for the Stones, combined with the unchecked id of an overconfident rock-and-roll culture, upped the aggression ante. However, time may prove that the lashing out at crass and cartoonish commercialism during the most recent Woodstock was possibly much worse (and on a much grander scale) with so many more people's taking part in the chaos. Perhaps the events last year are too fresh to have become legendary yet. Or maybe the real reason Altamont has become a symbol (whereas the Woodstock debacle is treated with little more than a shrug and a sigh) is a testament to the power of film and the influence of the filmmaker as witnessed in Gimme Shelter, the documentary of the Stones' 1969 tour.

Details

The USA Film Festival will show a new 35mm print of Gimme Shelter taken from the original negative during First Monday Classics, its monthly classic film series, at 7:30 p.m. Monday. It includes less than two minutes of additional screen time and marks its first presentation in Dolby stereo sound. Following the screening, Albert Maysles, one of the film's three directors, will discuss the making of the concert film. Admission is $7. Call (214) 821-FILM.

AMC Glen Lakes Theatres, 9450 N. Central Expy. at Walnut Hill

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Infamous for the filmed stabbing death of a pistol-wielding concertgoer, Gimme Shelter is also a document of other pivotal moments, including 11th-hour negotiations to set up the show, an extremely sexual performance by Tina Turner, a too-brief clip of Graham Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers, and unglamorous close-ups of manic acid casualties that give the "stoned and beautiful" myth a slap of reality. There's also an unintentionally humorous cameo by members of the Grateful Dead where, informed of the mayhem and the cold-cocking of Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin by a Hell's Angel, Jerry Garcia responds "Oh, bummer."