Woodstock was a music festival held in 1969, August 15-19, in upstate New York. It featured 32 bands, including many heavy hitters of the time such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, CCR, Janis Joplin and Sly And The Family Stone. For those of you who aren't 74 years old, it was basically what K-Tel had in mind when they made Freedom Rock, man.
Widely considered to be the cultural apex of the 1960s, you old people better have a good story as to why you missed it, like "I was giving birth to a future Yuppie" or "I was in Vietnam, letting the people know my wisdom." Well over 400,000 people attended, at a time when you could still see first-ballot Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame players like Led Zeppelin or The Doors in a 100-seat nightclub.
If you ever saw a guy playing a really discordant National Anthem on his guitar, it was Woodstock. If you've ever heard the expression, "Don't eat the brown acid," that also came from Woodstock. Snoopy's pal Woodstock is named for the festival, even though he predates it by 2 years. It's what the song "Woodstock" ("By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong") by CSNY is about.
It was an odd show. Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, and the Doors all declined. The Beatles were scheduled to headline but refused when the organizers wouldn't give Yoko Ono's band a slot on the schedule. The Rolling Stones couldn't be bothered. Jimi Hendrix's lead-in was 50s novelty act Sha Na Na. Bob Dylan, who lived in Woodstock, chose not to play. Santana debuted there. Bands such as Quill and the Keef Hartley Band made the big stage, played to a half million people, and then faded back into obscurity. Ariana Grande's parents weren't even born yet. There were two births, three deaths, and over 700 drug overdoses.
It rained half the time, it was very muddy, there were a lot of smelly hippies around, and it is still instantly recognizable 50+ years later. you can say "Altamont" or "Monterey Pop Festival" to someone younger than 70 and they won't know what you are talking about. They will know, instantly, what Woodstock was.
Naturally, someone on SL decided to celebrate the anniversary. Rockin' Robin, an old friend of this column, has decided to commemorate the Hippie Haji with a weekend-long show at her sim.
The shows run from August 13 through the 14th, Saturday and Sunday, 24 hours a day. They have a full slate of nine bands scheduled, and the dress theme is Counterculture. Look like a hippie. If you're not that old, try to look like young Robert Plant. If you're not THAT old, try to look like you're going to a rave.
You can take some LSD if you wish. I'm not sure if they have LSD on SL. I know they have weed, because I have some, and I know they have crack pipes because I have one. LSD, which is served on a small piece of chemically-soaked paper, would be hard to translate into the virtual world.
I took LSD when I was in high school. I just laughed for 9 hours and was endlessly fascinated by things like colorful posters and- for a strange half hour- a rubber duck. If I took it in a strange place with a half million people running around, I'd either be 1) dead or 2) still wandering around upstate New York, trying to find some cookies.
In case your 1960s knowledge is a bit jumbled, the National Guard won't murder you here. That was Kent State, a year later.
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