The Meaning of Woodstock a Quarter Century Later

The recreation of Woodstock in 1994 confirmed what all the pessimists had said about the 1980s and 1990s: that was spiritually empty. If we looked beyond the tinsel and turned off the sound and the bright lights, nothing was there. Whereas "peace and love were relevant phrases in 1969, uniting a whole generation of dissenters galvanized by the Vietnam war movement, these words were also passe in 1994. There was no way even the most ardent Woodstock fan could say them without being tagged. The sixties and seventies had already become nostalgia industry and it glamorized as such in the press. Woodstock '94, as successful as it was commercialy, was but a faint echo of 1969. Far from representing a protester movement, attendees for the most part had short hair and had probably just chanded from their business suits. No wonder one of the items of "Things Overheard at Woodstock '94 in the David Lettermen Show (August 15, 1994) included: "It's a three-day festival of peace, love and hey..., which one of you muddy bastards stole my bankcard?"
The original Woodstock was held in 1969 and it featured singers such as Jimi Hendrix and groups such as The Who. 500,000 spectators attended from August 15-18, 1969 at Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York. Five million Woodstock albums have been sold since they were first released. A list of performers was incredible and they include names still familiar to the music world today such as the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, and Santana.
On August 12-14, 1994, there was another music event in rural New York state which tried to capitalize upon the aura of the Woodstock name. Though it took place in Saugerties, rather than Woodstock, the event went by the name of Woodstock '94. Though 300,000 people attended it, by all accounts it was much more controlled event with fewer attendees. Everyone passed through an admission gate and paid for tickets. Many of the spectators had charged their tickets for $135 a piece at outlets in the city already. Taking place twenty-five years after the original event, some of the persons attending the event said that their parents had attended the 1969 event.
As Ram Samadrala stated in his web page created about the event, "history was not recreated, " but he adds--employing the language of the computer technology---that it was "significally enhanced." This opinion was by no means universal, however, with the doubters suggesting that no groups in the 1990s could compete with the caliber of those performing in 1969. Nonetheless, the event managed to attract some well-known names such as Green Day, Spindoctors, and Peter Gabriel.
The most common complaint from the "old gaurd" who had witnessed, or at least remembered Woodstock '69, was that the 1994 event was commercialized. The original Woodstock, it is true, was meant to be a commercial event, but in the end only a small percentage of those who attended it could claim that they had bought tickets. In fact, the concert event of 1969 ended up remaining in the red for many years until the albums paid off the remainder. Although the weather was just as uncooperative (and rainy) in 1994 as it had been in 1969, the concert's boosters pointed to the fact that it had featured many attractions with which its predecessor could not compare, such as Gabriel's light show.
There is no doubt that Woodstock '94 became a showcase for the materialism of the youth culture. The singers and musicians bore different messages than the ones in 1969. There was a notable absence of singers such as Joan Baez and groups such as the Grateful Dead, who still remain popular. Yet the fact that such an event was organized indicates that the younger generation possesses some yearning for those times. Admittedly, both rock music, like Woodsock '94, had become completely corporate. Many people believe that rock has lost its soul and they regard rock musicians not as cultural icons, but as performers. Woodstock'94 was an outstanding summer concert and a great production, representing many aspects of this age, but it is by no means holds the same cultural menaing as Woodstock '69 which was universally acknowledged to contain the message that "the children fo the atomic bomb march to the beat of a different drummer, as well as to the tune of an electric guitarist" (Time: 1969).



Sources

Woodstock '94 review by Ram Samudrala.
"The Message of History's Biggest Happening," Time (August 29, 1969)32-33



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