Over the weekend I helped out an Oasis tribute band at their equivalent of the Altamont Speedway Free Festival. In 1969 The Rolling Stones organised and headlined a free festival at the Altamont Speedway. Hell's Angels were there, and may or may not have been paid to provide security. The Festival became so violent that The Grateful Dead didn't even turn up to play. Sadly, during the Stone's performance one of the crowd was stabbed to death by one of the Hell's Angels. To be fair he had just pulled a gun.
Ours was a gig in a pub on Greenbank. It's used by the Aquila (bike gang) and they unofficially provide security. The pub became violent to the extent that I was frightened for my physical safety, and our equipment. One fight between two women ejected itself amid a hysterical cloud of accusations about who had slapped whom and in response to what. A very brief scuffle between two of the bikers seemed to end amicably, but with blood running from one of their heads. Towards the end of the show some drunken idiot tried to get on stage and grab a microphone. When he eventually succeeded the band pulled silent and said it was the end of the show. The bikers encouraged the band to carry on, and took the idiot outside and beat him to a bloody pulp. It makes the Cherry Tree look positively refined.
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