1. I didn't go, and didn't regret it at the time or since. It sucked and I knew it was going to suck in advance. Let's just say that I accurately predicted exactly what it was going to be -- three days of rolling around in the mud with lousy sanitation watching vague dots on the horizon providing tribal muzak.
2. What did I do instead? What any sensible person would have done -- stayed on campus, in the air conditioned comfort of my dorm room , getting high, drinking wine, having sex with somebody I had been lusting after for ages, and listening to great music by bands who weren't at the festival on a high end stereo system. Now THAT'S a way to spend a weekend.
3. Oh, and have I mentioned that the movie is the worst concert film of all time? I actually sat through it in a theater, and the three hours plus running time actually felt like three days. If it hadn't been for the five hilarious minutes or so of Sha Na Na towards the end, I would have been the first person in the history of the Paramus UA Cinema ever to open a vein during a screening.
Thank you.
15 comments:
A friend went specifically to see the Who. He said everybody had B.O., and the brown acid announcement occurred about half an hour after everyone had taken it and realized why "brown" was such an apt description. He enjoyed the movie because he was able to experience it without the smell or having the runs.
I was way too young (early Gen X). I did have to watch the movie for a college class, and found pretty much everything in it except the Who to be boring AF. Despite the band disavowing their performance as “worst gig we ever played”, the version of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” here is my favorite of all time, even including the one on the full Live at Leeds.
During the class, I mentioned that I despised Joan Baez’ performance, and got hisses all around, except for the cool cute girl in the class who agreed with me (I leave the rest to your imagination…).
Thumbs up for the Sha na na like. I sat through the movie again about a decade ago and totally agree.
Sha na na was to Woodstock what Punk was to disco.
a group of my friends went in a car together from the boston area - they came back early - intolerable conditions, they said
we used to say ah hell, we're young
but now we know that life is sad - and so is love
A friend and I saw an as for it and wanted to go, but were too young and no ride there from Ohio. Good thing - seems like everyone who was there says it was miserable conditions. The movie made it seem less obnoxious. I find some of the performances in the movie worth watching - The Who, Santana, Sly; others not so much. But, c'mon, you are kidding about Sha Na Na, no? Almost as much a waste of time as Joan Baez!
I very much have the same thoughts, feelings & experiences about the Woodstock Festival minus not getting laid that weekend. (I was home at my parents' house for the summer.) Though it was the summer I met Laura!
I was not into camping yet. My friends in Spring Valley were mostly clueless about music. Also with my financial situation I couldn't afford to miss a few days of work to attend. You know how bad off I was after my dad died. Every cent went to school. And attending shows at The Fillmore East & Capital Theater :-) And the occasional ounce of pot and comic books! ;-)
I do love the movie which has among others The Who & Sly & The Family Stone. Yes it was way too long but only the Monterey Pop movie could have all the greats in one spot (except The Byrds, who were only good and left out of the film).
I have always gotten a little weird about the festival, feeling bad for not going but much happier and proud of myself that I was smart enough to stay clear.
Or as we up at SUNY New Paltz called the festival for many years afterwards, "The Woodchuck Festival!
Capt. Al
Mass Media love to cling to the cliche myths of the 1960s. From the Cuban missile crisis (which was actually started by the U.S. putting missiles in Turkey) on to lovey-dovey flower power and Woodstock (Hello, Helter Skelter!). Still... hard to identify a better 10-year span in the annals of pop music.
Went to Texas International Pop Festival in Lewisville (Dallas area) shortly after Woodstock. Fewer people but had many of the same bands.
Don't remember what we did for food & water but it wasn't a problem.
Slept through Incredible String Band's set.
Best music was Spirit.
Dorm room option: waaay better than mud and hydration & digestive issues...
I hate crowds, especially if I have to sit on the ground.
I hate mud, especially if I have to sit on the ground.
I hate latrines, especially if I have to walk miles to find one.
I hate concerts where I have to hear a lot of crap in order to get to the good stuff, especially if it takes three days.
I lived on Bleecker Street. I stayed there.
We had to park on the highway
It rained
The towns shelves were empty
We made it to the front "gate"
Enough said. .rob
Only two good things about Woodstock: inspiring Melanie's "Candles in the Rain" and Joni Mitchell writing the titular song so Matthew's Southern Comfort could knock it out of the park.
During the weekend of Woodstock I went to the Forum to see Blind Faith with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends and Free. There was a guy with hair down to his ass hawking copies of Dylan's Great White Wonder in the parking lot. Everybody was talking about the Tate-La Bianca murders. Inside the venue, Ed Davis' LAPD was hassling concert goers and vice versa. It was annoying and interrupted the show several times as the houselights went up. Blind Faith delivered that night in spite of the cops vs hippies squabbles and pot busts. They did the whole album plus Sleeping In the Ground, Means To An End, Crossroads and encored with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Sunshine of Your Love. Sandy says they did Pearly Queen, but her memory's fucked up. I woulda remembered that. Pearly Queen was at a different show we saw. Clapton played on several numbers during Delaney & Bonnie's set too. All three acts were mindblowingly good that night. The hard cover Visual Thing concert program was also a knockout. Add to that, we were in the 7th row on the floor for $6.50 apiece. Still got the stubs.
The following night our steak-eating lovers in Smokestack Lightnin' were opening for Poco at Cal State Fullerton along with Bobby Arlin's band. Naturally we went. Sandy got the vocalist and I took the bass.:) We decided to match hair colors with our men. We spent the night at the Surf Inn and saw Charles Lloyd with Diane Hildebrand the following evening at the Bear. So that was how I spent the Woodstock weekend. That, and lying to my mom about what I was up to.
VR
Loving all of the stories! I, for one, am too young to have attended and yes, I would buy a DeLorean to travel to August, 1969. That said, I have similar feelings about the Lollapaloozas and Coachellas though I wonder how they will be written about and remembered in the years to come...
paulinca
Didn't cross the country for it, but did see the movie on opening day in Los Angeles, on a powerful dose of psilocybin. Still regard it as one of the great neurological experiences of a lifetime. Got wet in the rain & laid in the forest, slid in the mud & climbed the towers, and absorbed & reflected every note I heard from every artist *except* Sha Na Na ... even from some longstanding aural enemies. It's possible I would have reacted similarly to a Topo Gigio festschrift, given my psychedelicized state, but I doubt it.
Post a Comment