Woodstock 40th Anniversary: August 15, 1969-August 15, 2009

[Purron]

Were any of you there? I was going on 14 years old at the time so was a bit too young to attend. I remember hearing all about it from some of my older brother's friends who went. They mainly talked about the sex and drugs although some mention was made of the musicO0

 

[bbbamI]

No...unfortunately, I was too young as well. I remember people talking about the rain, mud, music and sex. I was more interested in mud than sex at the time...

 

[freebird5825]

I was 11 at the time. I lived about 1 hour drive south. One of my brother's friends attended, so I heard a lot about it.

"The New York State Thruway's closed, man!"

A lot of the hippies decided to stay after the festival, and there was some spillover to my area.
There were several artist communities and communes that sprang up soon thereafter along the lower Hudson Valley.

I attended the "Back to the Garden" concert held on the original grounds in Bethel NY in 1998.
http://www.jonimitchell.com/Library/pdf.cfm?id=26
That was pretty well done. Joni was phenomenal.

I also attended Woodstock 99. What a mess that turned into.

 

[mn54]

There was a very good documentary on TV last night about it. The people who came up with the idea, produced it, financed it. How it almost didn't happen because the original location was rejected with 3 weeks to go. Very interesting for those of us who were not there.

 

[bbbamI]

However, I did attend Woodstock 99. What a mess that turned into.

What happened? Was it just old, saggy hippie wannabes walking around with cell phones?

 

[freebird5825]

YouTube - Woodstock 1969: A Retrospective

 

[Moemg]

Several of my friends went but I passed because I did not like camping .They came home complaining about the mud , the walk to the event and just about everything so I did not think i missed anything . Who knew I missed a historical event ?

 

[freebird5825]

What happened? Was it just old, saggy hippie wannabes walking around with cell phones?

No, it was all ages, lots of young folks. I saw James Brown, Alison Morissette, Jewel, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Dave Matthews Band. It was fun the first day but conditions deteriorated fast.

I almost got pushed over in an outhouse while I was inside it. Some idiots thought it was funny to start rocking an entire row of them. I came running out with my pants not quite in place.
The organizers ripped off everyone on food and water, had substandard sanitary conditions, and no security. It ended in flames and major property destruction, with the NYS Troopers called in to restore order.
MTV was announcing live and they decided they were in enough danger to leave before it got worse.

I was only there during the day. I enjoyed myself, saw a lot of excellent eye candy, but knew I didn't want to be there at night.

That's a special guy standing next to me.
Peace!

 

[bbbamI]

Ahhh, cool pic freebird. Let the sunshine in!

 

[yakers]

Great time just to be alive.

 

[calmloki]

Great time just to be alive.

+1 Felt really fortunate to be floating around on a biggish grey boat visiting Olongapo City, Sasebo Japan, and sailing along a lovely tropical coastline throwing 5" rounds inland. Some less fortunate got to walk around in the jungle. Didn't envy them a bit.

 

[RonBoyd]

 

[jambo101]

What was happening this weekend to celebrate the 40 year anniversary?
and where was it held, i couldnt find any definitive venues on Google that described any big celebration event.

 

[freebird5825]

What was happening this weekend to celebrate the 40 year anniversary?
and where was it held, i couldnt find any definitive venues on Google that described any big celebration event.

See Bethel Woods Center for the Arts | Official Site
Commemorative events were held on August 15 and 17

 

[Sarah in SC]

+1 Felt really fortunate to be floating around on a biggish grey boat visiting Olongapo City, Sasebo Japan, and sailing along a lovely tropical coastline throwing 5" rounds inland. Some less fortunate got to walk around in the jungle. Didn't envy them a bit.

Or as John McCain said in reference to Woodstock "I was tied up at the time." Thank you for your service, although I wasn't born until December 1970 myself.

 

[Purron]

What was happening this weekend to celebrate the 40 year anniversary?
and where was it held, i couldnt find any definitive venues on Google that described any big celebration event.

Hi Jambo, Here's a link to an article in yesterday's Washington Post (with video) about the Woodstock anniversary. This inspired me to start this thread.

washingtonpost.com

Peace!

Purron

 

[mickeyd]

I was living in upstate NY (Syracuse) 40 years ago and considered driving south that weekend to "catch a few tunes" in Bethel, but I decided to not go at the last minute.

Glad I missed it and watched the movie a few years later.