"Everybody just cool it!"

I work the night shift, so this morning I watched "Gimme Shelter" on DVD.
This film is almost assuredly the greatest rock documentary ever made, if for no other reason than it shows the subject matter taking on landmark importance.
Viewers see the promise of the 1960s evaporate at Altamont, the 1969 free concert by The Rolling Stones that concluded with 850 injured, two killed in a hit-and-run accident, another drowned and an 18-year-old black man knifed to death by a member of the Hells Angels.
Film directors David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin devised a novel and I think wholly effective approach to "Gimme Shelter."
They sit the Stones in front of the editing table, so viewers can see Mick Jagger's somber reaction as the film spools before him.
Early on, viewers hear of the Altamont tragedy. This knowledge flavors the entire picture: From legendary San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli's conference calls to Gram Parsons singing "Six Days on the Road," we know it all ends in tremendous pain.