Counterculture Essay: Woodstock 1969
Curtis Markosky
English 15A, Section 001
12/9/10
Counterculture Essay: Woodstock, 1969 When one thinks of hippie movement of the 1960s, a few things come to mind: namely free love, drugs, and rock-n-roll. These things represented the counterculture of the time, in which the youth of the nation we rebelling against the stricter conservative values of their parents’ generation. All this came to a peak for three days in the summer of 1969, near the little town of Bethel, New York, in what was called the Woodstock Festival. Few would know it at the time, but it would become the defining moment of the age of the hippie. Woodstock was at first not meant to be as big of a deal as it became. Four organizers named Michael Lang, John Roberts, …show more content…
At a meeting three days beforehand they realized they only had the time to do one of two things: improve the fencing and security around the venue, or use their resources to complete the stage, which would cost Woodstock Ventures a fair amount of money. During this time, people were already showing up earlier and in greater numbers than was expected, so the decision was made to complete the stage and remove the fence, essentially making the Woodstock Festival a free concert. Concertgoers were pleasantly surprised to find this out as they neared the farm. All in all, 500,000 people attended the three-day …show more content…
Promoter noticed that large numbers of fans were willing to put up with subpar facilities and as a result the number of festivals increased after Woodstock. On the other hand, they also understood that increased ticket prices would need to be offset by better-quality sanitation and protection from inclement weather. By the mid-1970s, this led to concerts being moved from fields and outdoor venues to convention centers and sports arenas. This in turn led to the shortening of shows to just a single day or evening, with just a few performers, as opposed to the huge number of high profile artists seen at festivals such as
English 15A, Section 001
12/9/10
Counterculture Essay: Woodstock, 1969 When one thinks of hippie movement of the 1960s, a few things come to mind: namely free love, drugs, and rock-n-roll. These things represented the counterculture of the time, in which the youth of the nation we rebelling against the stricter conservative values of their parents’ generation. All this came to a peak for three days in the summer of 1969, near the little town of Bethel, New York, in what was called the Woodstock Festival. Few would know it at the time, but it would become the defining moment of the age of the hippie. Woodstock was at first not meant to be as big of a deal as it became. Four organizers named Michael Lang, John Roberts, …show more content…
At a meeting three days beforehand they realized they only had the time to do one of two things: improve the fencing and security around the venue, or use their resources to complete the stage, which would cost Woodstock Ventures a fair amount of money. During this time, people were already showing up earlier and in greater numbers than was expected, so the decision was made to complete the stage and remove the fence, essentially making the Woodstock Festival a free concert. Concertgoers were pleasantly surprised to find this out as they neared the farm. All in all, 500,000 people attended the three-day …show more content…
Promoter noticed that large numbers of fans were willing to put up with subpar facilities and as a result the number of festivals increased after Woodstock. On the other hand, they also understood that increased ticket prices would need to be offset by better-quality sanitation and protection from inclement weather. By the mid-1970s, this led to concerts being moved from fields and outdoor venues to convention centers and sports arenas. This in turn led to the shortening of shows to just a single day or evening, with just a few performers, as opposed to the huge number of high profile artists seen at festivals such as