45 years ago about noon I pulled into Bethel NY and made my way to where they were working on the site for the Woodstock Festival( Yasgurs Farm) which was supposed to start on the 15th...I got a job working for free in the crew building the stage and other things and spent the next 6 days in what would become one my biggest life changing events...I was in the backstage area the entire festival ,except when I had to make my way to one of the towers to help fix somethingand met so many of my idols my head was spinning the whole time...Sadly I never got to meet Artie Kornfield or Michael Lang but did get to hang with Chip Monck for most of the festival..The feeling of love, and the sharing of kindness plus being right there as The Who, Jimi Hendrix,Santana,Ten Years After,Janis Joplin,Mountain,The Grateful Dead ( who had to stop after an hour and a half because something overloaded their amps) 25 minutes later with things back up and running Creedence hit the stage...I saw acts I had never heard of before like Bert Sommer,Quill,Keef Hartley Band...Most of the sets were almost an hour but a few acts like CSNY ,Hendrix,Country Joe and a few others played longer....The rain came after Joe Cocker on Sunday but no one cared...The music went on virtually 24 hours a day and sleep was optional..Whoever booked those acts really caught the spirit of the times.I hung out with artists I never in my life ever thought I would see live let alone share a joint with.....After the festival I got some sleep and then helped tear down the staging and cleanup....Looking back working for free was probably one of the best things I have ever did in my life...But it all started 45 years ago today....
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 22:47:15 +0000
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