Woodstock

[IEatCrayons]

I'm watching the Woodstock movie on VH1, and it's making me want Wakarusa to be here tomorrow. Was anyone on this board actually at Woodstock?

So, how did people know about Woodstock? I know that 500,000 people came over the 3 days...was it word of mouth?

While I'm at it: Team B, can you see what you can do about getting Richie Havens to open Wakarusa? Better yet, how about Jimi Hendrix closing the fest on Monday morning. Great, thanks.

[VERNIXX]

While they didn't go to Woodstock, my parents did go to Monterey Pop.

And as a baby in San Francisco, I was a one year old during the HUMAN BE-IN, Golden Gate Park Polo Field. My parents were pretty hip. We lived in the Haight. So though I do NOT remember it, I can say that I WAS THERE...in the Haight during the Summer of Love.
:)

[canexplain]

i went to WS 1 and WS 99 but people get tired of hearing me say that .... i was 19 at the time .... colorado ron *****

[CPJSJohnny]

[quote:268a3363bc=\"canexplain\"]i went to WS 1 and WS 99 but people get tired of hearing me say that .... i was 19 at the time .... colorado ron *****[/quote:268a3363bc]

So how did you find out Ron?

[canexplain]

[quote:7df8cd7868=\"CPJSJohnny\"][quote:7df8cd7868=\"canexplain\"]i went to WS 1 and WS 99 but people get tired of hearing me say that .... i was 19 at the time .... colorado ron *****[/quote:7df8cd7868]

So how did you find out Ron?[/quote:7df8cd7868]
huh am i slow today lol .. not sure of the question ...how did i find out people were tired of hearing shows i have went to ? :shock:

[KB]

I think Johnny et al. means \"how did you find out about the original Woodstock? What made you decide to go?\"

[canexplain]

i was stationed in nashville tn 68-70 ... about two months BEFORE woodstock there was the 1st atlanta pop festival ... we went to that and there was a rumour of another major fest a month later, somewhere in the woods of NY ... so we jumped in our 54 ford (called the lizard cuz we painted like a giant lizard) and went to the show .. the funny part was, we (3 guys) left with 50 bucks in hand, spent a week at the show, and came back with 100 bucks .... ah capitalism lol ... ron ****

[ryangetz]

that is so awesome!

what a great story to tell the grandkids!

[canexplain]

I am not saying I like things not to go perfectly but some of the things I remember about the show: we drove all night and got as close as we could (found out later it was about 8 miles) and just parked our car along the road with 1,000's of others ... then we hitched (a wonder bread truck taking supplies to the venue) to the gates ... from the pics you have seen of the torrential downpour and mud baths, the weather had in its mind, to make it interesting .... being one of the first of the major fests, they still had a lot to learn about trying to accommodate a major city that was created overnight ...( there were actually more people at the first California jam and Atlanta fest) that porta potties and the like, were few and far between .... it took about 2 hours to get from the back of the crowd to the front of the stage for most acts ... stuff like that . and guess what, those are some of the things that made it so memorable .... if it were perfect, I bet it wouldn't have stayed with me for so long .... that's why now, bonnaroo and such, hey its just a walk in the park :) ... I was glad at the time that we just crashed the gates and didn't buy a ticket, but now I wish I had my stub .... I do have an original t shirt somewhere in my house, not sure where .....WS 99 had its major problems too, but again, so memorable ... I have a bunch of 99 pics but none from the first .....cr*****

[bogmonkey]

[quote:0645081685=\"canexplain\"]... so we jumped in our 54 ford (called the lizard cuz we painted like a giant lizard) and went to the show [/quote:0645081685]

A picture of the lizard and you three would be EPIC. I realize it's not likely that you have one. Any pics of the lizard would be so cool in general though. Digital cameras have revolutionized the world of picture taking I must say!

[canexplain]

yep digital sure makes it easier ... of course you can just be at an event, and use your camera phone in an emergency ... one thing I think if funny these days looking back at the old fests ... we at Wakarusa talk about how we are going to this main stage and see someone, then rush over to the other stage and see someone else .... especially at California jam where everyone was inside the Ontario speedway course, it took almost 3 HOURS to get from one main stage to the other (ya, I know, I used to walk to school 3 miles, in the snow, uphill of course lol) ......

[IEatCrayons]

wow! awesome stories, canexplain. that's crazy that it took 2 hours to get to the front of the stage area. how cool that you have those experiences. thanks for sharing!

[ravenhawk]

I hadn't seen enough winters yet to attend Woodstock, but when I lived in Albuquerque I knew a guy who did. He hates to talk about it though, and won't bring it up. The reason is that he and his buddies drove to Woodstock from Tennessee, and then when they saw the mass of humanity and difficulty in getting near the stage, just turned around and left. I would hate to have that in my personal history -- having the balls to go to Woodstock but not having the balls to stay.

By the way, I remember from somewhere in my youth something called the Ozark Music Festival at Sedalia. I think it was just a few years after WS. I didn't go but I wonder if anyone here did? I remember there was some controversy afterwards.

[g10tim]

Sounds like that was a fun event!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozark_Music_Festival,_(1974)

[djshawn]

By the way, I remember from somewhere in my youth something called the Ozark Music Festival at Sedalia. I think it was just a few years after WS. I didn't go but I wonder if anyone here did? I remember there was some controversy afterwards.

I worked at a local stereo store for 5 years and the owner and his brother went to this festival. They said it was one of the funnest things they had ever done. They had the forsight to bring a bunch of cases of Coors down with them (as much of America couldn't buy it at the time) and they \"bartered\" for entertainment the whole time...

[ravenhawk]

Thanks for the info and the link. I had done some searches on Ozark Mountain Festival (not recently) and couldn't find anything. One day I will remember to check wikipedia first off. The people I knew who went had nothing good to say about the experience. I remember before the fest happened there was controversy over the lineup. They started off saying certain bands would be there and then they disappeared from the list. Folks got PO'ed about that.

[rabbitsounds]

I actually spent about a month living on Yasgur's Farm....
it was a great place....really surged with the energy of the event.
we were there for the setting up and events of Woodstock 21. It was such a great and humbling experience.

I wish i still had pictures

[g10tim]

What's weird to me is that I have no recollection of this event. We were pretty huge Starship fans at the time (not to mention Springsteen, E Flag, Skynard, etc), so I'm sure if we had heard about it we would have at least thought about going. Maybe it wasn't advertised in Kansas City? Maybe we heard groups weren't actually coming? Maybe parts of 1974 are permanently erased from the ol' memory bank?

Anyway, I'll add this to the long list of shows that in retrospect I wish I would have gone to.