I just got a message that one of my holds is in: Gimme Shelter, which I placed on hold even though one copy was damaged and one seemed to be lost. It's been found. God knows whether it'll play, but I'll soon find out.

In case anyone isn't aware, this movie was filmed during the Stones tour that ended at Altamont. I believe I've seen short clips of it over the years, mostly featuring other bands on the bill nervously discussing just how out of control the Angels are. (According to one of the Dead books I've read lately, the Angels involved were actually candidates for full status and were definitely motivated to prove their own bad-assery. Among other things, they used their bikes to form a barrier in front of the stage. And then took violent offense to any concert-goers who actually, you know, touched them. I've heard of looking for a fight but that's a bit much.) That was pretty much when the Dead bailed on the whole thing--Phil Lesh expressed regret in his book and called it "not our finest hour," especially since that left a long empty period before the Stones came on at sundown. The Dead's thinking seemed to be that they didn't want to be involved in something that scary, and they expected the Stones (since it was their show) to come on early so everyone could get out of there. What the other bands didn't realize was that, for purposes of the film, the Stones were definitely waiting until sundown to come onstage. Certainly the long wait between bands had to have made things worse, but it's hard to see how the mood could have been turned around regardless of whether there was anyone playing or not.

There are times when trying to make the best of things leads to you going along with something you know you shouldn't. I sort of back the Dead on this one.

Anyway. We'll see if the DVD is playable, and what it's like.