HAIGHT-ASHBURY |
|
Ken Kesey (wrote One Flew Over the CooCoo's Nest) arrived with his Merry Pranksters along with the California based Hell's Angels. There was not enough security there so, it is said, that Mick Jaggar, who was hosting the free concert, gave them $500. worth of beer to keep the peace. Well, that was a mistake as they caused more problems than they solved~beating several of the spectators and fatally stabbing one person. My best friend was up in front and she got knocked down during one of the squirmishes. (She is the one who called my mom and told her I could be dead cuz she couldn't find me after the concert.) Some of the bands~which, in addition to the Stones Included Santana, The Jefferson Airplane, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young~cut their performances short because of the out-of-control crowds. While trying to stop the violence, the Airplane's lead singer, Marty Balin, was kicked unconscious. Bummer. But the show went on. Most of the crowd wanted to hear the Rolling Stones and they came on late. Mick was decked out in a red and black satin cape and the fatal stabbing took place while they were singing "Sympathy for the Devil." Many people quit listening to the Stones because of the incident. Jaggar told everyone to "stop it or we won't play!" That went over like a lead balloon as not many people knew about the stabbing at the time~too many people were there to know what had happened. So, the Stone's played but not long enough. Mick Jagar was quoted as saying the day after the concert, "If Jesus had been there He would have been crucified." After the concert, Kim and I walked up the hill to join the parties that were now in full swing with music and bon fires. And it was just in time! There was plenty of open space to pee in! We decided to spend the night because of the traffic and Kim had a sleeping bag. It got pretty loose and we ended up "being together" under his sleeping bag among the many people who had stayed to party. It got so rowdy that we started back to the car a few hours later. Ugh. That walk in the dark was hellatious! When we got to his car, it wouldn't start so we slept in it. A cop came by while we were "sleeping" (hehe) and asked if everything was alright. We told him things were just fine so he left. Unfortunately, several people were run over by cars as they slept on the side of the road. As I recall, one or two of them were killed. But on a happier note, a woman gave birth during the concert! The next morning Kim's car wouldn't start.......that was truly a bummer. There were still a zillion cars around and the traffic was bad. So, we had to hitchhike back to San Francisco. It would have been easier for me to just go home to Castro Valley as it was much closer, but I knew that my friend was probably already back in the City. We finally got a ride all the way to San Francisco by a man with a pick-up truck. All was fine until he dropped us off. Kim had left all his stuff in the back of the truck including all his important papers! He sort of left me hangin to fend for myself to get back to HAIGHT while he tried to locate the man in the truck. I never saw Kim again....I hope he got his stuff back. |
Copyright ©1998-2007 |
