WDIY Remembers Woodstock

Listen to Rocky Bayer's memory click here

Arnie Lichten remembers...
I remember actually BUYING tickets to Woodstock! There were two big festivals taking place that summer – Atlantic City Pop and Woodstock. I chose Woodstock because the Band was going to be playing there, and not at AC. Tickets cost me $15 for the 3 days. I think single tix were $6 or $7.

I was living in Fort Lee, NJ with my folks, home from college for the summer – just turned 20 about a week before. Two friends and I decided that we would leave on Friday night, about 1:00 am to beat the traffic. Hah! The drive from Fort Lee normally took about 1½ hours to Monticello – I was very familiar with the area, since I went to summer camp near there, and went on vacations with my parents in the area, too. I was driving. We got on the New York Thruway in Rockland County, started driving north, and stopped at the rest stop just north of Suffern. That’s when I realized that this was going to be something other than just a small festival – the place was crowded with more freaks (myself included) than I had ever seen in a regular public place, not just a concert. As we continued up the Thruway and onto Route 17, the traffic just got heavier. When we finally made it onto the country road leading to the festival, it was probably 7 or 8 hours after we left! Finally just parked in a field, where we assumed we would make camp, and trekked to the festival site.

First glimpse was amazing. So many people, in various states of intoxication! We found places to sit, and proceeded to ingest various substances, waiting for the music. One especially vivid memory was of someone sitting just in front of me saying, “I went to sleep straight, and I woke up tripping!” I think that evening was the first time that I ever tried tequila.

Anyway, I remember Richie Havens coming on, and doing a great set. Seems that I recall the early acts being more acoustic – Joan Baez, John Sebastian. Canned Heat came on, and I remember that I hadn’t really liked them before, but thought they were wonderful. After this, everything settles into a blur. I do know that we did not spend the night in the concert venue, but went back to our cars, where we slept.

Saturday seems not to be part of my memory bank any more, although I recall leaving while the Who were playing late at night, going back to my car again, because I was exhausted.

The last day, Sunday, registers more fully. We decided to try to get closer to the stage, or at least more towards the center of the festival – the first two days were spent fairly far away at stage right. I remember Joe Cocker and Santana doing fabulous sets, and the downpour came! Up until that time, there had been no rain, and Sunday was, in fact, the nicest of the three days. We had a piece of plastic, and covered ourselves with it, while we sat through the huge storm– water pouring down us, just trying to keep warm. My feet are actually in the Woodstock movie – 3 of us huddled under clear plastic, just our feet out.

After the rain ended, we had had just about enough. We decided to bag the rest of the concert, and went back to our cars, changed, and drove to Monticello, where we went to an Italian restaurant to have a decent meal in a dry place. So, I missed Hendrix. I missed the Jefferson Airplane. And, I never got to see the Band at the festival, after all.

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