Some corrections regarding the show. I was trying to research and yap at the same time, using a lot of different sources. Some of those sources were wrong and some of the things I said weren't accurate. Last night I watched a documentary about the festival that had better information than what I was using during the show, but it also confirmed some of the information I was using. What follows are some corrections and/or clarifications.
* Tickets were $8
* Carlos Santana was on mescaline when they were told to go on stage, he tried to ask that they go on their scheduled time (because he was "peaking"), but they were told "you go onstage now or you don't play at all". Correction; it wasn't his strings that were turning into snakes, it was his guitar neck. So he was just praying to God that he stayed in time and in tune and tried not to look at his guitar. Michael Shrieve was their drummer, he was 19 years old at the time. The band had actually been together since 1966. But when they played Woodstock they were relatively unknown.
* The artist and songlist we used for the show is most likely correct. Richie Havens was scheduled to play for 20 minutes, he tried to leave the stage 6 times and was told to go back on because they didn't have another band. This was after the show had started 3 hours late. "Freedom" was improvised, when he started playing "Motherless Child" it was just part of a stream of consciousness improv.
* The shows late start explains why the artist list for the first night was so short compared to the rest of the weekend.
* Some people actually DID think that Joe Cocker was spastic but were informed that was just the way he performs. He was so unknown that when the organizers booked him they thought he was a black guy.
* What actually happened between Pete Townshend and Abbie Hoffman (according to eyewitnesses) was that Pete was adjusting his amp when Hoffman ran onto the stage and started ranting like an idiot. Pete looked over his shoulder and saw him at the mic then ran over and cracked him across the back of his head with the headstock of his guitar. Hoffman turned around with the audicity of looking surprised then he either fell or jumped down into the press pit, jumped the fence and ran out through the crowd. One of the organizer commented that it was miraculous that he could run away through the audience that fast considering how closely packed the audience was. Pete said afterwards that he agreed with Hoffman's statement about John Sinclair but the content of his message was irrelavant, he had broken the 'sanctity of the stage' (meaning the artist's right to perform without interruption). Townshend already had a reputation for beating the crap out of people that got on the stage during Who shows and Hoffman chose to make it worse by interrupting Tommy.
That is all I can think for now.
Now to make something clear. I know that I come across as cynical (especially when it comes to hippies), but if I was 17-30 years old in 1969 and was within three states of New York I likely would have went to the festival (and wouldn't got stuck in traffic because I most likely would've been on a motorcycle).
In my younger days I attended festivals and motorcycle rallies that were just as messy as Woodstock. I came from a generation where bikers were supposed to smell like oil, gasoline, sweat and beer. I attended the National ABATE Rally back when it WAS like Woodstock except for bikers. And the last time I attended that rally in the 80s I spent half of the weekend tripping on LSD. And like one person said in the documentary, that dirt she was covered with was like a badge of honor, a symbol that she had survived those three days. I felt the same way when I attended those motorcycle rallies and festivals.
So despite my cynicism. If I'd been old enough at the time I probably would've been there.