Could there ever be another Woodstock?

[kanicbird]

Woodstock to me is one of those works of God, just a (again IMHO) unexplainable happening. But For those not that inclined for the intervention of the divine explanation, perhaps probability could explain it and how it could happen and that it very well could happen again (in a different format/venue most likely), just like flipping a coin and getting 1000 heads in a row, yes possible, but very unlikely.

[Mangosteen]

Didn’t the original Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 draw almost as many people?

[Ranger_Jeff]

@GreenElf

My understanding is though it was originally slated to be a standard outdoor music festival, the number of people who showed up was far larger than expected, and they stopped charging an entrance fee around the time that some of the fence was breached. There was some announcement made that it would be a “free concert from here on out”. I guess the Who’s Pete Townshend was pissed because they weren’t paid for their appearance there. And concert tickets were much less expensive even factoring inflation.

Also, marijuana was legal and other drugs weren’t as criminal pre-War on Drugs, so there wasn’t as much of a police reaction as there would be today (except recreational marijuana has just recently become legal in certain jurisdictions).

You made a couple of factual errors here.

Pete Townshend was pissed because after being flown in there and seeing the mess, he had no faith in the Who getting paid and told the promoters quite clearly and distinctly that The Who definitely would NOT perform until they had been PAID IN ADVANCE and PAID IN CASH. There was a scramble and somehow the promoters came up with the 10 or 12K (it was one or the other, I forget which) in cash and The Who did perform.

And no, marijuana was NOT legal in 1969. Not at all.

[escaped]

Theres just likely being another woodstock as their is being another beatles.

[panache45]

I was at Woodstock. There will never be another one, nor should there be.

[GreenElf]

@Ranger_Jeff

You made a couple of factual errors here.

Pete Townshend was pissed because after being flown in there and seeing the mess, he had no faith in the Who getting paid and told the promoters quite clearly and distinctly that The Who definitely would NOT perform until they had been PAID IN ADVANCE and PAID IN CASH. There was a scramble and somehow the promoters came up with the 10 or 12K (it was one or the other, I forget which) in cash and The Who did perform.

Your details don’t disprove my point that it was a “free concert from here on out”. It’s hard to collect entrance fees when the fences are being breached by 400,000 from all over the country. That doesn’t happen every day.

And no, marijuana was NOT legal in 1969. Not at all.

Not like the legal weed in Colorado etc., huh? Except that it’s currently illegal on the federal level. There’s the Leary vs. United States case in 1969, but also the priority of enforcement was more like in present-day Colorado and less like the past few decades. Present legislation to reclassify it from a schedule one narcotic would be reverting it’s status back to pre-1970.

[Anaamika]

@Ethilrist

Good god, I hope not…

You guys really need to read this link. Woodstock was gross. I hope nothing like it ever happens again:

1. The promoters literally lied to the farmers involved, saying there would only be about 50,000 people, when they had already sold 150,000 tickets.
2. There weren’t enough bathrooms.
3. The traffic was terrible! You think I am exaggerating. Local residents were literally trapped in their homes. Attendees just abandoned their cars 20 miles away to hike in.
4. Not enough food! The truck ran out of food and its replacement was raided by attendees. They literally had to ask their neighbors to make them some food. And wonder of wonders, some people did.

I would not be surprised if there wasn’t rampant sexual and physical assault, too. GreenElf was right, btw. The gates were literally flattened and they couldn’t take anymore tickets.

I would be beyond furious if this was in my neck of the woods, and yes, if I had cause, I’d damn well sue.

[Hypno-Toad]

There are few bright spots in our collective future. But one of them is that there can’t be another Woodstock.

[Red_Wiggler]

@Anaamika

You guys really need to read this link. Woodstock was gross. I hope nothing like it ever happens again:

1. The promoters literally lied to the farmers involved, saying there would only be about 50,000 people, when they had already sold 150,000 tickets.
2. There weren’t enough bathrooms.
3. The traffic was terrible! You think I am exaggerating. Local residents were literally trapped in their homes. Attendees just abandoned their cars 20 miles away to hike in.
4. Not enough food! The truck ran out of food and its replacement was raided by attendees. They literally had to ask their neighbors to make them some food. And wonder of wonders, some people did.

I would not be surprised if there wasn’t rampant sexual and physical assault, too. GreenElf was right, btw. The gates were literally flattened and they couldn’t take anymore tickets.

I would be beyond furious if this was in my neck of the woods, and yes, if I had cause, I’d damn well sue.

“You half million people get off my lawn!”