Yesterday i saw on the Portuguese telly, Woodstock – the film, in the celebration of it’s 40th anniversary.
I remember that i saw it once a few years ago at a friends house but i was a little drunk at the time and i didn’t pay the attention this incredible film/documentary really deserves.
Because i was 9 years old at the time this event take place and since i’m an European, i would like to know from you American mates, your opinion about it?

Something wrong with one of the most influential events of the 60s? From what i know it had a tremendous effect in Europe and in the world. It was a time of radical social change, political protest, and cultural activism. There has never been a time like it, with such a strong message from a country's youth evident in the literature, music, style, films....that echoed through all the free world.
Or am i wrong and this is a romantic thought of what it really is/was?

I was a bit too young to even realize what was going on, I can remember snippets of the vietnam war on tv, and that me and my brothers were the channel changers for my dad.

But I think the concert was epic in proportion to what entertainers do today, that concert had GI-NORMOUS names at that concert, big names taking the stage at 3 am. I dont know about the ego's back then, but I bet no big name band would wait and then play at 3am.

elroy

Woodstock.

I loved that bird.

Always playing second fiddle to that rotten Snoopy....

Sex, Drugs , and Rock and Roll. I was young. We had more on our minds. Friends coming home dead or at the least shot up. To normal middle class it was just a bunch of hippies running around in a field. As I said I was young, I remember the war more than Woodstock. The war in some way touched all of us. Woodstock was just a blurb on the news.

Tanx for the input guys.
Now, i understand a little more....Sorry to bring sad memories to some of you, as you might know it was not my intention at all.
Tanx.

Estimated somewhere between 400,000 and 1 million attendees over the course of the event.

600 port-a-potty's.

I really enjoyed watching hours and hours of a few different documentaries on it last night.



Alvarro, though I wasn't born yet, Woodstock has a special place in my heart, as it does many Americans.

My generation's Lollapalooza pales in comparison.

It was a very special time.

in the states Woodstock is generally associated with hippies and, outside of their own culture, they were none too popular then or now. add to that the political backdrop of the times and it makes for some bad memories for many even today. that said it was a monumental event that even if it did not change the American mindset, it did make Americans think about where they stood. personally i find that much of the music is not my cup of tea, but there were many exceptional performances.

Woodstock... I didn't make it. I was a bit tied-up at the time.

Now, i have a much clearer picture of it. So many things happened the same time in the 60's that Woodstock became a small thing if you compared it to civil rights struggle or the Vietnam War and everything attached to it. Nevertheless i still think that the 60's changed America and also the world...at least in music terms.
Tanx for the input.

I should clarify my statement that I made before, as it might not be understood by people from a different country or that might be much younger than I am.

40 years ago I was flying helicopters in the jungles of Vietnam, not knowing if it was a one way trip or not.
When I got back to the U.S., I was in the airport bathroom with my dress uniform on with a chest full of ribbons, when "woodstock" comes up to me, calls me a "baby killer" and spits on my uniform.... Yes, he was out cold in two punches

I did like the "Make Love, Not War!" thing! As an 18-24 year old kid, you could get "lucky" all the time!

I was only 12 at the time.
Me and a buddy tried to hitch hike their but got caught.
I lived in Marcy,NY at the time.
We just wanted to go see this guy Jimmy,heard he could get a guitar to make sounds that nobody else could.
My interest was in the music only.
Although if we had made it to Woodstock we probably would have grown up quicker.