Woodstock – Peace, love and fighting the power

This year marks the 50th anniversary of arguably the most grandeur music moment in history. But what was Woodstock something else than a festival and how did it take place?

By Emil Flisbäck

Woodstock was the true godfather off all modern festivals. Without it, Coachella wouldn’t be Coachella. But the brainchild of Michael Lang, Artie Kornfeld, Joel Rosenman and John P. Roberts – who, with a little help from their friends, built the entire stage and festival area by themselves – was not only a music festival. It was a counterculture phenomenon that strayed from the path of wars and humanitarian rights violations that was taking place all over the world at this time (Woodstockstory.com, How Woodstock happened).

One of the main aspects of taking a stand like these and so many other kids had done around the world was the ongoing war in Vietnam. Woodstock would instead come to be an opportunity for people to escape into music and spread their message of unity and peace (History.com, Woodstock). This was something that was important to not only the visiting crowd of Woodstock, it was also very important for the performing artists. One of the observed moments of the festival was when Country Joe McDonald performed his song “Vietnam Song”, which is a straight up protest song against the war. Ravi Shankar told the audience about a meeting he’d had with Mahatma Ghandi, when Ghandi asked about America, and Ravi said “America is helping the world with materialistic things, but it is time for them to become whole, and help everyone with spirality also.” (Woodstock, 1970).

It was hard for people at this time to believe that youth culture could achieve anything more than singing “We shall overcome” and smoking marijuana, but it was those people with their protests and civil rights movement who in the end made a real impact. When asking one of the festivals creators why this was happening now, seeming that music have been around forever he said “Because the music and the lyrics today is more involved with what is going around and happening than ever before.” (Woodstock, 1970).

It would not take long for Woodstock to become something other than a money-making phenomenon. To put in to perspective how massive this festival was, one can look at a similar event that took place in California two years prior to Woodstock, a festival called “The Monterey Pop Festival”, who over their three days had an attending of around 200,000 people (History.com, The Monterey Pop Festival reaches its climax). It is unclear just how many people visited Woodstock, but it is said to be between 450.000-1 million people over the course of the three days the festival was being held. Even before the arrangers started, they weren’t sure if they were going to break even, and even more so after it escalated and people started breaking down and climbing the fences. So, to avoid people getting hurt they would announce over the speakers that it was now a free festival, making a huge dense in the economical part. However, this was not an issue for the arrangers, and Kornfeld claimed it was a financial disaster but they were still happy because they had made something that you could never buy for any amount in the world.

It was not certain how Woodstock would be received by the neighbors and the town folks of the small town of Bethel, but generally everyone was received with open arms because both the townsfolk and the law enforcement thought that “the kids” behaved in such a respectable and admirable manor. In an interview with a police officer from the 1970 movie Woodstock, he said that “I’m very happy to say that we think people of this county should be proud of these kids, notwithstanding the way they dress or wear their hair, that’s their business, but their inner workings and their inner selves and their self-demeanor cannot be questioned. They cannot be questioned as good American citizens.” (Woodstock, 1970).

One should have in mind that Woodstock also, apart from being a political statement, really was a music festival with some of the most legendary musicians of their time, such as Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and of course Jimi Hendrix. The artist had to be flew in by helicopters because of the overwhelming traffic mayhem, which people would describe as “an army invasion” and a “biblical epical scene” (Woodstock, 1970).

Woodstock truly was one of the milestones of its time. From starting out as something people saw as “hell on earth” and “a communist training camp” to getting the valid approvement that the festival, who would drop down flowers and dry clothes from helicopters, really had earn. And so, they did, because in the end the government saw the impact it had, and would lend out army helicopters to help with food and medical supplies. “They are now with us not against us” the speakers loud from the stage.

Sources:

Films:

Woodstock. Directed by Michael Wadleigh, Warner Bros. 1970. Film. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066580/

Article(s) on a webpage:

History (2019). Woodstock. Available: https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/woodstock

History (2019). The Monterey Pop Festival reaches its climax. Available: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-monterey-pop-festival-reaches-its-climax

Tiber, Elliot. (1994). How Woodstock happened. Available: http://www.woodstockstory.com/how-woodstock-happened-1.html