Woodstock
Photo: Worldlifestyle
Woodstock was one of the most iconic music events in modern history that brought all kinds of people together for a weekend of peace and love. But did you know that it almost didn’t happen? After local residents quickly shot down the original venue in New York, another possible location was identified in the small town of Bethel, New York.
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After much pushback, promoters were in a tight spot but eventually found a farm owner named Max Yasgur who accepted $10,000 cash up front to let them have a “small” festival on his 300-acre property.
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Since there was a sudden change in venue, the festival organizers had little time to prepare the location for the onslaught of people that were about to show. At the time they had no idea how much their festival would impact music culture of the future.
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They had to make a decision whether to focus on the fencing and ticket booths, or the stage which of course would be the focal point of the entire weekend. That couldn’t have been an easy decision to make considering the ticket sales were how they made money.
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While it was obviously a good choice to focus on the stage, they grossly underestimated the amount of people that would show up. Suddenly every back road that led to the farm was jam packed, some for hours at a time. It was already becoming clear that this was going to be an amazing event.
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As people flocked in by the thousands, it became pretty clear that the festival was going to free because organizers did not have the time to put up the fencing required for controlling a crowd of this size. They may not have made much on the ticket sales, but the aftermath was totally worth it.
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Once inside the festival, you never knew what you were going to come across. Stumbling into something like a giant tree sculpture where you could jump off into a huge pile of hay was no big deal. Or if that wasn’t your thing, looking at it was pretty cool too.
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It was also very likely that you would’ve seen one of the many different “smoke camps” set up around the grounds. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a makeshift tent propped up where like-minded people would swap stories while enjoying a joint, or two.
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All walks of life were welcome at the show and we mean all shapes, sizes, color, and age. It was quite interesting to see the number of children in attendance, even though it could be argued that it wasn’t exactly a child friendly kind of place.
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We’re not sure how old this little girl is, but it’s clearly obvious that she was having the time of her life, just like everyone else at Woodstock. It makes you wonder if she has any memories of being there. This might be the perfect representation of the “flower child”.
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During the concert, there was a rainstorm that brought some much-needed water to the event, even if it was just to clean yourself off with. But one thing that was never in short supply was the love in the air, whether you were looking for it or not.
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As the initial shock of being at this massive festival wore off, people started to realize they were going to need places to sleep. Leaving to find a hotel was out of the question. Instead, it became a free-for-all where you tried to find your own little spot, wherever that may be.
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Sometimes all you needed is a little 30-minute power nap to recharge your batteries so that you could start the party all over again. Hopefully, at least you knew the people that were laying next to you, but then again it was a sure fire way to make new friends.
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Some people took advantage of the fact that there was such a diverse crowd by using it as a platform to express their beliefs. Although the underlying tone of the festival was peace and anti-war there was still the occasional radical group wanting their voices to be heard as well.
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The focal point of the entire festival was the stage, but with that many people in attendance, getting a glimpse of the stage was not an easy thing to do. So some daredevils climbed scaffolding which held lights and speakers in order to see better.
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Backstage must’ve been a logistical nightmare coordinating all that equipment with electrical and lighting. But I’m sure wrangling all the bands and rock stars was the real chore. However, the things you would see behind the scenes would make excellent stories to brag to your friends about later.
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The influx of attendees was massive, and the resulting traffic jam was so bad that people began to abandon their cars and walk into the event. Announcements on radio stations as far away as Manhattan were giving updates of the traffic jams on television, and the news stations discouraged people from setting off to the festival.
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Because Woodstock was such a massive event, and because there may or may not have been a fair amount of drugs there, some attendees took the liberty of making signs to help direct people in the right direction. The last thing you wanted was to get lost after finally trying one of the many types of drugs available.
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At the time, some of the bands were still fairly small-time. But after playing on what ended up being one of the biggest stages in the world, most of the bands that played Woodstock went on to become very successful.
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Another thing people always wondered about Woodstock: What were the artist pay rates? While the names involved with the event are now icons and legends of the music industry, at the time many were relatively new to the music scene. But, not Jimi.
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Jimi Hendrix was at the height of his powers when Woodstock was announced, and he could draw top act at any venue. For Hendrix to take part it cost $30,000 for a two set appearance plus $2,000 for expenses. When you look at it now, that’s not a crazy amount of money, but at the time that was a major deal.
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There was a cap of $15,000 per artist at Woodstock so a deal was made for Hendrix to play two sets; an acoustic set and a set with his band. Some of the other bands that played the festival weren’t as lucky as Hendrix in the money department, but just getting to be a part of this festival thrust many of them to new heights in the months after the event.
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One of the many bands to make a huge impact on the festival was The Who. According to reports, even though they were only paid an estimated $6,250, they went out and put on a fantastic set where they played their smash album, Tommy. To give you an idea just how much this show meant to some of these bands, The Who went on stage around 5:00am.
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As the crowds filled in, pregnant women, kids, families, and everything in between were represented at the counter culture meeting-of-the-minds. People, woefully under-clothed, low on water and food and high on drugs, continued to pour into the gates. I’m not sure what people were thinking, bringing their kids, but what memories they must have.
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Some other bands that made it onto the bill are legends now but back then they were struggling to gain their audience and they would have played Woodstock for free for the exposure. Being able to say that you were one of the bands that played at the original Woodstock would be worth its weight in gold when it came to signing future deals.
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Here, Jerry Garcia looks on in a legendary photo of the young guitar player for the Grateful Dead. Even though his band was plagued by technical difficulties that prevented them from doing their normal show, Jerry was still all smiles. As was all the people in the crowd, or dead heads as they like to be called.
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When not listening to the acts on stage, or mainly in the off time between shows, it was common for attendees to form drum circles and jam for hours on whatever they could find to make noise. Reports indicate that you could hear a drum circle almost 24 hrs a day while on the festival grounds.
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One of the most common things you’d have seen, especially in those drum circles, is people smoking marijuana which went along with the underlying message of peace and love throughout the festival. Marijuana wasn’t even close to the hardest drug at the festival, but it was definitely the most abundant.
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The vast crowd was a melting pot of all things that were happening in America at the time. Hippies were definitely the norm, but you could also see military personnel, moms, dads and even grandparents. All there to listen to some great music and have a fantastic time.
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Here you can see just how massive the traffic jam became. Look at the thousands of abandoned cars…that didn’t stop the people from coming. They just walked. Some from 30 miles away. Nothing mattered other than getting to the festival. The real nightmare would begin as soon as the festival ended and people needed to get back to those cars they abandoned.
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The eclectic mix of music was one of the things that set Woodstock apart from the other festivals. R&B, Soul, Rock and even the slightly doo-wop style rock and roll from Sha-Na-Na all shared the stage over the weekend. But that was sort of the point of this whole thing, bring different types of people together while also maintaining a peaceful and loving vibe.
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When things don’t work out right, start over with a clean sheet of paper and a pen and let your creative juices flow. As the crowd swelled, set times were thrown off and many acts played through the night into the early dawn hours of the next day.
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With plenty of drugs and alcohol but no running water or bathrooms, the festival was as much work as it was fun for the fans. People slept wherever they could and while many made the most of their surroundings, others ended up miserable by the end of Woodstock.