By the time we got to Woodstock we were in White Lake in Bethel.

Woodstock is not the home of the famous Woodstock- The actual site is in Bethel, N.Y- but how cool does Bethel sound? “Hey man, everyone is going to Bethel this summer”.

And maybe not all of the 480,000 concert goers in 1969 were hippies…but they damn sure started it!

Wonder #6 -The site of the original 1969 Woodstock

Quick recap:

Two young guys with lots of money and zero music industry experience wanted to put on a rock show. They chose Woodstock because famous musicians like Bob Dylan and the Band lived there.

The town of Woodstock would not allow them to do it.

They were in big trouble finding a spot – Before the thing completely collapsed- a farmer in Bethel, N.Y named Max Yasgur allowed the use of his dairy farm for the event.

They had to make it free or risk a riot.

There was rain that made mud. They ran out of things like food.

There was also political strife, free love, drugs and great music. Thank the hippies for keeping it peaceful enough to happen. No other group in any other generation could have made history without serious trouble, especially considering the overwhelming strain on limited resources they faced.

Every big outdoor music festival after this is compared to this. This is like Michael Jordan to basketball or Babe Ruth to baseball- Much bigger than the game itself. It transcends its genre to become an iconic cultural moment in time.

Thank you Hippies!

There were two original hippies guarding the monument and graciously dispensing information when I made a visit to this shrine of Rock n’ Roll. They pointed me in the direction of the original stage site where I went with my family to take a few pictures.

The museum on the site is also worth a visit. Great trip for all.

Thank you to all the original hippies for changing the way we think about music.

And Peace to all