# Woodstock or Monterey Pop Festival **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838 "2012-12-22T15:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/21 "2012-12-23T00:48:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Both had artists I would have killed to see. Monterey had Buffalo Springfield, but Woodstock had CSN&Y. Unfortunately I was in Vietnam for Monterey and out in the fucking Aleutian Islands for Woodstock, and missed both of them. I think Monterey gets the edge, just because Woodstock looked like a muddy, uncomfortable, stenchy place. There were naked wimmins and sex, though. A dilemma, for sure. Muddy stenchy sex! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/22 "2012-12-23T00:50:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Both had artists I would have killed to see. Monterey had Buffalo Springfield, but Woodstock had **CSN&Y**. Almost. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/23 "2012-12-23T01:44:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Almost. Got it backwards…again. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/24 "2012-12-23T02:04:46Z")
I chose Monterey Pop because I saw the movie for the first time a few months ago, and until then I’d had no idea how awesome it was. I’d seen bits and pieces but not the whole thing. And the movie was just a small part of it. To especially see [this Ravi Shankar (RIP) performance](http://youtu.be/h5sRbmJdsFI), oh my. it starts out slow and then gets faster and faster and more and more complex. It’s mesmerizing on film. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to hear it in person. Well, I can a little bit because of the faces of the audiences. > [@blondebear](#): > > Monterey would be awesome because of the chance to rub shoulders with assorted famous folks in the audience. So far in that Shankar clip I’ve identified Jimi Hendrix, Shelly Duvall and Mickey Dolenz (who jumps up in ecstasy at the end). I know there’s more. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/25 "2012-12-23T02:08:13Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I actually considered going to Woodstock, but it was too far for me. I had a ride arranged for Woodstock . . . but then my mother wouldn’t let me go! I made up for it by going to the [Toronto Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Rock_and_Roll_Revival) a few weeks later. And you know what, [it was a fine day](http://rockandrollrevival.tripod.com/). We even were able to sneak into the ‘behind stage’ area where I bummed a Kool off Chuck Berry and managed to insult Tony Joe White by asking him, “so, you’re Billy Joe who?”. Later, we made into in Alice Cooper’s dressing room. I hadn’t seen so much make-up since my sister’s wedding. The highlight for me, of course, was being right at the stage, I mean elbows up, when Jim Morrison closed the show and ad-libbed lyrics to The End. A highlight of my youth, actually. Oh, and John Lennon returned my ‘peace’ sign. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/26 "2012-12-23T17:33:43Z")
I will say, though, that each offered definitive Hendrix Moments: setting his guitar on fire during Wild Thing at MP; playing the Star-Spangled Banner at sunrise at WS… …man knew how to rise to an occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/27 "2012-12-24T00:55:12Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > I had a ride arranged for Woodstock . . . but then my mother wouldn’t let me go! > > I made up for it by going to the [Toronto Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Rock_and_Roll_Revival) a few weeks later. And you know what, [it was a fine day](http://rockandrollrevival.tripod.com/). We even were able to sneak into the ‘behind stage’ area where I bummed a Kool off Chuck Berry and managed to insult Tony Joe White by asking him, “so, you’re Billy Joe who?”. Later, we made into in Alice Cooper’s dressing room. I hadn’t seen so much make-up since my sister’s wedding. The highlight for me, of course, was being right at the stage, I mean elbows up, when Jim Morrison closed the show and ad-libbed lyrics to The End. A highlight of my youth, actually. > > Oh, and John Lennon returned my ‘peace’ sign. > > Peace. That last sentence. You’ve just raised the bar for Cool about 12000 meters. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/28 "2012-12-24T03:31:29Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > **Woodstock** > **Friday, August 15** at 7pm PST my future wife and I went on our first date. Didn’t even know about Woodstock, but no regrets- the date seems to have gone well. We’re still married. > [@Equipoise](#): > > So far in that Shankar clip I’ve identified Jimi Hendrix, Shelly Duvall and Mickey Dolenz (who jumps up in ecstasy at the end). I know there’s more. Cass Elliott saying “Wow” at the end of Janis’ _Ball And Chain_ (?). ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/29 "2012-12-24T04:10:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Monterey seemed to go smoother. No rain and I think the crowd was smaller. I liked the music better too. (based on concert recordings) Janis was still with Big Brother and really good that night. > > Just getting to Woodstock was a problem. I’ve read the local highway bottle-necked and people left their cars and walked. Making the bottleneck even worse. Seen footage of both, heard some of the available recordings of both and understanding the royal fuckups in the organization of Woodstock combined with the craptastic weather I would have preferred to go to Monteray Pop. Well, I would have rather been along on the [Festival Express](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_Express) railroad tour in Canada… ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/30 "2012-12-24T05:51:56Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Cass Elliott saying “Wow” at the end of Janis’ _Ball And Chain_ (?). IIRC, it’s “Oh My God.” (but I could be wrong) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/31 "2012-12-24T05:56:04Z")
What was the last live music event to enter the pop culture lexicon? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/32 "2012-12-24T21:42:15Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > IIRC, it’s “Oh My God.” (but I could be wrong) So could I. I’m not even sure it was after Janis-- might have been Jimi. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/33 "2012-12-24T23:02:14Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What was the last live music event to enter the pop culture lexicon? Well, any event after, oh, Live Aid - and maybe a bit prior - is more of a good cause than a new event. Maybe Rock Hall 25th or Zep’s O2/Celebration Day? I am sure there are influential music events all the time - but with music so Balkanized by the Internet, few events grab a big share of the public. Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/34 "2012-12-24T23:59:15Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > So could I. I’m not even sure it was after Janis-- might have been Jimi. Just watched on youtube. It was after Janis. “Oh My God” vs “Wow” – looks to me like it could be either. You call it, I’ll agree. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/35 "2012-12-25T00:40:00Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What was the last live music event to enter the pop culture lexicon? Live Aid? Coachella? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/36 "2012-12-26T15:20:09Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What was the last live music event to enter the pop culture lexicon? [Wigstock!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigstock) Seriously though - Lollapalooza certainly has some pop culture cache, enough for it to get a whole episode satirizing it on “the Simpsons.” As to the original OP question, I’ll add that Grace Slick (performer at both events) had once opined that Monterey was the ideal type of festival in her opinion, because “you could get there, see a whole lot of great bands, and at the end of the day you just got in your car and drove home.” As opposed to WS, in which you pretty much had to be committed to camping out in the rain for three days. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/37 "2012-12-27T03:54:46Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Cass Elliott saying “Wow” at the end of Janis’ _Ball And Chain_ (?). During it you could see her mouthing “Fuck!” repeatedly. A appropriate reaction when a goddess exposes her heart to the world for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/38 "2012-12-27T03:59:41Z")
Oh, and Monterey twice: Once knowing what I know now and once as a 13-yr-old hearing it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/39 "2012-12-27T12:46:14Z")
Monterrey hands down. Better overall line-up, performances, weather, setup, sound, and Butterfield! A lot of woodstock was simply wasted time. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838/40 "2012-12-27T13:25:24Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > Monterrey hands down. Better overall line-up, performances, weather, setup, sound, and Butterfield! > > A lot of woodstock was simply wasted time. To be fair, it appears a lot of Monterey Pop was not exactly golden either, unless you really wanted an extended Lou Rawls set and having to sit through a bunch of Hugh Masekela. But I’d have picked Monterey too - the Who without the Stench. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woodstock-or-monterey-pop-festival/644838.md?page=3)