Rock History's Day in Infamy - the 1969 Rolling Stones Concert at Altamont Speedway

Jorma Kaukonen, the lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane, wanted to introduce the Rolling Stones to the San Francisco music scene, so he conceptualized a free concert with the Rolling Stones playing at the Golden Gate Park. At the time, the Stones and the Beatles were considered the world's top rock and roll bands. The concert concept started to break down when the City of San Francisco got wind of the event's size and refused to issue permits. Police resources were already stretched thin with an NFL game scheduled that same weekend. Twenty hours before the event, the festival promotors changed the location to a racetrack in Tracy, California, outside the Bay Area named Altamont, which turned out to be an unfortunate choice.

The poster created for the concert was too small for display purposes and printed one day before on thin paper stock. There was no time to hang them around the city long enough to advertise the upcoming free music festival. The layout features a stock photo of the Rolling Stones with venue information printed near the bottom. The printer produced three versions with yellow, orange, and two shades of green background colors. The concert poster was sold for $1 at the event, then handed out as people left the speedway. The Altamont Festival was the last concert poster printed for the Rolling Stones in the 1960s.

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By the time the Stones arrived by helicopter at the venue, the concert's vibe was grim. When the band got out, a guy broke through the security detail and punched Mike Jagger in the face. After that, everything went wrong. Many people associate the Woodstock festival with the peace and love of the 1960s; the Altamont Festival represents the opposite.