The first day of the Aquarian Exposition officially kicked
off at 5:08 p.m. with Richie Havens, who played a series of Beatles’ covers
including "Strawberry Fields" and "Hey Jude," with the improvised "Freedom/Motherless
Child," a highlight to what would be four
days of peace and music. Havens was followed by Swami Satchidanada, who gave
the festival’s invocation. The Swami, a Hindu spiritualist, while tolerant of
the heavily self-medicated hippie crowd, urged the half-million to hear his
message as an alternative to drugs. Of the Woodstock generation, Satchidanada
would go on to say, "They are all searching for the necklace around their
necks. Eventually they will look in the mirror and find it." Brought to America
by artist Peter Max, the Swami had followers in Carole King and Paul Winter.
Next up, Country Joe did an acoustic set without The Fish,
followed by John Sebastian, who wasn't scheduled in the lineup.
Sebastian's performance was memorable, not just for the music but for his overt
enthusiasm, setting a precedent that would pervade the festival. Several folky
acts would follow before a stellar 40 minute appearance at 10:00pm by Ravi
Shankar, a five song set in the pouring rain.
Both Melanie and Arlo Guthrie would have 30 minute sets
that ended after midnight, before Joan Baez performed 12 songs and the encore "We Shall Overcome." Appropriately, as she took the stage, Joan wished
everybody a good morning. Her perfectly orchestrated set, combined with her
beautiful and skillful voice, and her tribute to imprisoned husband, David Harris, was a fine summation for a chaotic and exhausting
first day. Throughout the performance there was a persistent drizzle, foreshadowing the weather to come. After she
finished, it started to again rain heavily.
What today is a large grassy knoll, by the end of the
day, August 15, 1969 (officially it was already Saturday), Max Yasgur's farm was nothing but mud. Those who were there
are quick to comment about the music, the vibe, the pot and the mud. Despite the rain, during the
night the crowd swelled from 200,000 to 400,000 people.
All of us wish we were there, though it would be poor
journalism to evade the realities or to portray the event as a psychedelic
utopia. Indeed, a medical tent was set up post haste to treat bare feet cut by the broken
glass and metal tin can lids that littered the site. Bad acid trips, and retinas
burned when their tripping owners stared directly into the sun, were
commonplace. A young man, asleep in a trash-strewn field, hidden under his
sleeping bag for protection from the rain, died when he was accidentally run
over by a tractor hauling away sewage from the site's portable toilets. One young man died of a drug overdose; another fell to his death from the scaffolding. There
were three miscarriages during the festival and two births (although no one has ever stepped forward as a Woodstock baby). In nearby Bethel,
volunteers began making thousands of sandwiches that were sent by helicopter to
feed the hungry masses. The day's festival performances, originally scheduled
to start in the evening, began shortly after noon so that the crowd wouldn't
get restless or unruly. Critics will note as well that a city of 400,000 will work through its issues
on an ongoing basis. The Aquarian city, instead, would disburse on Monday. Before
the end of the day, though, Woodstock would entertain nearly half a million.
Woodstock Ventures was wise in its hiring of Tom Law of
the Hog Farm Commune to provide morning yoga, the partners' method for creating
an aura of calm. Law touted yoga as a drug free alternative to "getting high" and was awed by the way in which "thousands of young people took part in these
exercises as one." These sessions proved the most tranquil of the festival.
A full day of music began at 12:15. The day’s schedule
included Quill (technical issues kept the band's segment from making it into
the film or the soundtrack – Quill's record label subsequently dropping them),
Country Joe, Santana, Creedence, The Who and the Jefferson Airplane. Rain and
other setbacks pushed everything back several hours. The Who's performance didn't
end until sunrise, and the Jefferson Airplane took the stage at 8:00am Sunday morning.
Janis Joplin’s set was marred by rain, but eased up throughout the performance.
She performed two encore’s: "Piece of My Heart" and "Ball and Chain," but was unable to duplicate the incredible renditions of each at Monterey Pop.
Sly and the Family Stone took the stage at 1:30am in one
of the most electrifying and interactive sessions, despite the late hour.
Creedence would follow as the rain recommenced. Electrical problems and
ankle-deep water on stage during The Grateful Dead created a shock
hazard when anyone touched a microphone or electric guitar strings. The
jamming nature of The Dead's brief performance mellowed the crowd in the wee
hours of the morning, but The Who’s 24 song set, which included Tommy,
was the festival's wake-up call at 3:00am. A relatively uninspired Jefferson
Airplane performance would cap off Saturday's activities; the band only playing
eight songs in a set that lasted but half an hour.
