In 1969 the Grateful Dead sensed trouble when they flew to a derelict speedway track in California for a free concert. They got back on their plane and left without playing a note.
Their fears were well placed. Altamont became the most infamous Rolling Stones performance and shorthand for the end of the sixties. Four people died as 300,000 attended a chaotic, dark, event, tarnished by murder and bad drugs. An 18-year-old man was stabbed to death close to the stage.
Three years later, 'The Dead' - by now a major band - flew into the UK for another concert - and this time they stayed, and played. It was in fields next to a Lancashire coal mine.
