DANG! No one here so far has gone to Woodstock? Am I just old? Or exceptional? Or both? Or neither?
Okay, I went to Woodstock. I just showed up on the corner in Long Island on Friday as usual for the customary "What do you want to do tonight" discussion that could go on & on, but this afternoon, someone said that there was a concert going on in Woodstock. Woodstock? Where is that? Upstate somewhere. I don't want to go upstate for a concert. No, this is supposed to be a really good concert, Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, The Airplane, etc. on & on. Actually, I don't remember all the artists that were mentioned, but it sounded good, so we all went home, backed some things, & came back to the corner - & drove to Woodstock.
The highway we went on turned into a parking lot some miles outside of Woodstock, so we just left our car there & walked the rest of the way.
When we finally got to the entrance, the gate was wide open. There was no admission price or admission anything. We just walked right in.
Right after the gate, there were people with signs draped over them (looked like repent for the end is near people, but they were...) hawking their wares. The signs said & they were yelling, "Acid, heroin, cocain, etc." There were cops right there & all around, but they weren't stopping any of the drug activity. The people were absolutely in control.
Someone said that the brown acid was bad, so I decided not to trip at all. I did see a couple of people convulsing here and there - apparently the brown acid was highly dosed with arsenic.
I found some good speed & mj was all around. I woke up Saturday morning freezing my bunns off, soaking wet with the rain - blanket, shorts, & T-shirt all wet. Don't ask me how I got there. No friends, no money, no anything. I saw people all around holding their wet blankets over the fires that were all around, & went to one with my soaking wet blanket. Picture yourself holding a soaking wet wool military blanket over a fire. How long do you think it would take for that blanket to get so heavy that you can't hold it up anymore? Right! That blanket went into the fire, & I was on the way home.
On the way, it started raining, & I ran under a tree. I'm talking a huge tree, so wide that there was a seat hammered into it that went all around the tree. This kid is sitting next to me saying isn't this the greatest thing? I say this sucks, I woke up this morning soaking wet with no wallet, no money, no water, no food, no friends. This sucks, & I'm on my way home. He says you don't need any of that - this is the PEOPLE man - we are in control. Whoever you're with when you are tired, that's where you'll sleep, whoever you're with when you hungry that's who you will eat with. Everything belongs to everyone; you'll lack nothing.
Well that sounded good in theory. I aleady believed that in theory. I was what was called a greaser in NY, 1/2 hood, 1/2 hippie, but this kid was committed. He absolutely believed that was all happening & there was nothing to worry about. A bottle of wine was passed aroung the tree - he took a swig & gave the bottle to me - I gratefully took a swig & passed it on. I started to see his point. A pipe chock filled with hashish came around the tree, & I started to see what he was really saying.
And that's the way the weekend went. Sometimes people I met were worried like I had been - especially with the helicopters flying overhead. But I assured them everything was taken care of - we were the people & it would work. And it did.
The first time I went by the lake where people were all bathing nude, I was too uptight to go in (I'd gone skinny diping with friends before, but out in front of strangers - I couldn't do it), but by the next day I had no problem with the idea. Unfortunately the water was contaminated by then.
I hooked up with some of my friends, but by then I was all content just floating in among the PEOPLE & left them again with no concern. I met with them to see certain artists perform, & that was awesomely fun, but it wasn't out of need - there was no need. Everyone, those in charge of the thing on the mike, the artists, everyone you met kept saying that it was all peace and love, & peace and love would prevail even though we were doing something that had never been done in the history of man. And that's how the weekend went.
My big brother, who was going to Rutgers University at the time went to Woodstock. I was only 12 at the time. But later, a friend and I sneaked off and saw the movie, and somehow my Mom found out, and I got in big trouble for it, for, there was actual "nudity" in the film. The bummer of it was, there wasn't very much nudity and my friend and I were disappointed! Got into trouble for not all that much! The film was interesting though.
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Tom
DANG! No one here so far has gone to Woodstock? Am I just old? Or exceptional? Or both? Or neither?
Okay, I went to Woodstock. I just showed up on the corner in Long Island on Friday as usual for the customary "What do you want to do tonight" discussion that could go on & on, but this afternoon, someone said that there was a concert going on in Woodstock. Woodstock? Where is that? Upstate somewhere. I don't want to go upstate for a concert. No, this is supposed to be a really good concert, Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, The Airplane, etc. on & on. Actually, I don't remember all the artists that were mentioned, but it sounded good, so we all went home, backed some things, & came back to the corner - & drove to Woodstock.
The highway we went on turned into a parking lot some miles outside of Woodstock, so we just left our car there & walked the rest of the way.
When we finally got to the entrance, the gate was wide open. There was no admission price or admission anything. We just walked right in.
Right after the gate, there were people with signs draped over them (looked like repent for the end is near people, but they were...) hawking their wares. The signs said & they were yelling, "Acid, heroin, cocain, etc." There were cops right there & all around, but they weren't stopping any of the drug activity. The people were absolutely in control.
Someone said that the brown acid was bad, so I decided not to trip at all. I did see a couple of people convulsing here and there - apparently the brown acid was highly dosed with arsenic.
I found some good speed & mj was all around. I woke up Saturday morning freezing my bunns off, soaking wet with the rain - blanket, shorts, & T-shirt all wet. Don't ask me how I got there. No friends, no money, no anything. I saw people all around holding their wet blankets over the fires that were all around, & went to one with my soaking wet blanket. Picture yourself holding a soaking wet wool military blanket over a fire. How long do you think it would take for that blanket to get so heavy that you can't hold it up anymore? Right! That blanket went into the fire, & I was on the way home.
On the way, it started raining, & I ran under a tree. I'm talking a huge tree, so wide that there was a seat hammered into it that went all around the tree. This kid is sitting next to me saying isn't this the greatest thing? I say this sucks, I woke up this morning soaking wet with no wallet, no money, no water, no food, no friends. This sucks, & I'm on my way home. He says you don't need any of that - this is the PEOPLE man - we are in control. Whoever you're with when you are tired, that's where you'll sleep, whoever you're with when you hungry that's who you will eat with. Everything belongs to everyone; you'll lack nothing.
Well that sounded good in theory. I aleady believed that in theory. I was what was called a greaser in NY, 1/2 hood, 1/2 hippie, but this kid was committed. He absolutely believed that was all happening & there was nothing to worry about. A bottle of wine was passed aroung the tree - he took a swig & gave the bottle to me - I gratefully took a swig & passed it on. I started to see his point. A pipe chock filled with hashish came around the tree, & I started to see what he was really saying.
And that's the way the weekend went. Sometimes people I met were worried like I had been - especially with the helicopters flying overhead. But I assured them everything was taken care of - we were the people & it would work. And it did.
The first time I went by the lake where people were all bathing nude, I was too uptight to go in (I'd gone skinny diping with friends before, but out in front of strangers - I couldn't do it), but by the next day I had no problem with the idea. Unfortunately the water was contaminated by then.
I hooked up with some of my friends, but by then I was all content just floating in among the PEOPLE & left them again with no concern. I met with them to see certain artists perform, & that was awesomely fun, but it wasn't out of need - there was no need. Everyone, those in charge of the thing on the mike, the artists, everyone you met kept saying that it was all peace and love, & peace and love would prevail even though we were doing something that had never been done in the history of man. And that's how the weekend went.
Tom
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notinKansasanymore
DWBH and Tom:
Wow.
Thanks for sharing those experiences.
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GarthP2000
Tom,
Nowadays some people would read your account at Woodstock, and call it ... socialism!!
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ClayJay
My big brother, who was going to Rutgers University at the time went to Woodstock. I was only 12 at the time. But later, a friend and I sneaked off and saw the movie, and somehow my Mom found out, and I got in big trouble for it, for, there was actual "nudity" in the film. The bummer of it was, there wasn't very much nudity and my friend and I were disappointed! Got into trouble for not all that much! The film was interesting though.
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