It's around the time of year, and this particular year, for remembrances of Woodstock to be in the air. The fiftieth anniversary, and the cancellation of the proposed anniversary festival, got me thinking about 1999.
The less-than-great results of Woodstock '99 are a matter of public record, and provoked a lot of hand-wringing about the differences between the generations. (For the record, the target audiences and a lot of the troublemakers were from the latter half of Gen X. I'm from the first half.) But the problem was more specific than that. The organizers of the first Woodstock festival wanted to make a profit, but were also trying to make a point. As a result the event came with a Utopian spin that was a little hyped but also gave attendees something to aspire to.
The marketing for Woodstock '99, by comparison, was fairly cynical, only promising a hedonistic getaway. Some people when they hear "no rules" also understand an implied "except for the Golden Rule" whether for them it's of religious or secular origin. Other people think "especially the Golden Rule." Throw them together and the latter group will wind up exploiting the former. That's why you need to build in defenses.
The less-than-great results of Woodstock '99 are a matter of public record, and provoked a lot of hand-wringing about the differences between the generations. (For the record, the target audiences and a lot of the troublemakers were from the latter half of Gen X. I'm from the first half.) But the problem was more specific than that. The organizers of the first Woodstock festival wanted to make a profit, but were also trying to make a point. As a result the event came with a Utopian spin that was a little hyped but also gave attendees something to aspire to.
The marketing for Woodstock '99, by comparison, was fairly cynical, only promising a hedonistic getaway. Some people when they hear "no rules" also understand an implied "except for the Golden Rule" whether for them it's of religious or secular origin. Other people think "especially the Golden Rule." Throw them together and the latter group will wind up exploiting the former. That's why you need to build in defenses.
2 comments:
Ah yes, the summer of 1969, that time when I was never sorry I didn't go to Woodstock for the simple reason there was an even better concert that happened in Toronto in June. The Toronto Pop Festival was a two day event with Saturday and Sunday shows that lasted twelve hours each, making it easy for us to all go home to our beds and return fresh the following day. It was great - everybody had been given helium balloons that Sunday and as the sun was sinking the audience in the stands began tying them together until there was a huge arc of color against the sky and then we let them go. It was pretty intense. The Velvet Underground was there as was The Band and The Incredible String Band and so many more.
You know that old saying about the 60s that if you remember them you weren't there? Well, I knew I'd seen John Lennon and Yoko Ono in a band with Eric Clapton among others and the Doors as well but I'd forgotten we saw them at the other show at Varsity Stadium - The Rock and Roll Revival in early September.
Anyway, I don't know what the organizers had in mind other than getting to meet and listen to some of the greatest bands of the 60s, but that's why we went to both shows. It was a time that didn't last very long and could never have been repeated.
I just had a look at the set list for the Toronto Pop Festival that year. That is a nice line-up. Also had Dr. John, Alice Cooper (still largely unknown I think) and the Rotary Connection. Sly & the Family Stone were there and also at Woodstock, so you could say they had a busy summer. I think it might have been more my speed too, had I been around. I mean you've got Toronto all around you, which is nice.
I like the poster for the Rock and Roll revival. Wherever the artist got that image of the old-timey musician playing guitar and sousaphone at the same time, but it was obviously too good not to use. I guess one of the upsides of having the Beatles break up is that now you could at least have the opportunity of seeing one of them playing out in public, whereas as a collective they'd been hiding out since 1966.
Sometimes things are only possible for a short time, held together by an ephemeral set of circumstances. You might not know it until that time is past.
Post a Comment