Saturday, August 15, 2009

Three Days of Peace, Music, & Port-O-Sans

Unlike Abbie Hoffman, I never lived in Woodstock Nation.

(And maybe he didn't either, since Pete Townsend of the Who kicked him off the stage when he jumped up during their set.)

But I did love the music and went to see the movie Woodstock for the first time when I was 13 or 14. The performances(featuring Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the Who, Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and many, many others) were great.

Chances are, you've been hearing a lot of that music in the past few days and weeks.

You've probably heard news reports about the Woodstock Nation, "three days of Peace & Music," and the good vibes that prevailed despite the rain and crowds. It's been difficult to avoid Demetri Martin plugging the upcoming Taking Woodstock movie where he plays Elliot Tiber (and slightly less difficult to avoid interviews with the real Elliot Tiber).

You might even have heard the phrase "young men with unlimited capital" bandied about or the amazing editing of the Woodstock movie (by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker) discussed.

But you probably haven't seen or heard my favorite moment from Woodstock. This is literally the first thing I think of when I remember the movie. I found the clip on YouTube and just saw it again for the first time since I was 13 or 14. For better and worse, this really says it all.

No comments: