The most notorious of all live music entertainment is, of course, Woodstock. There have been other live music entertainment venues that were held with not quite so many attendees but with the same sort of peaceful theme and atmosphere as the Woodstock festival such as the Monterey Pop festival which was held two years prior to Woodstock. There are some similarities between both Woodstock and other entertainment venues. Live music entertainment is a great way for people to come together with a common interest because they provide an outlet for hippies and people of all ages.
The Monterey music festival was held in 1967 at the Monterey Fairground in California. Over two hundred thousand guests attended the event. The Monterey music festival featured big hits like the Mamas and Papas, Country Joe and the Fish, and Jefferson Airplane just to name a few. Only one performer was paid to perform and the proceeds from the live music entertainment were donated to charity. The Monterey music festival was a ground breaking phenomenon that may have given birth to other gatherings. But sadly, here was no second annual Monterey Pop experience
The Woodstock music festival held in Bethel, NY is one of the more famous venues that have occurred in America. Woodstock promoted peace, love, and happiness with 3 days of music on a 600 acre track of dairy farm land. Originally the live music entertainment was going to have ticket booths to charge admission for the concert, but they did not get put up in time before people started their pilgrimage to the event. Over five hundred thousand people attended with only two deaths occurring and 2 births occurring as well. Many bands performed such as, The Band, CCR, Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Melanie, Santana, and The Who. The 600 acre farm took five days to clean up but many people stayed to clean up after the festival.
In recent years there have been several reunions of the Woodstock festival. In 1994 there was a huge Woodstock reunion called Woodstock 94. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original Woodstock festival and their logo stated it was 2 more days of peace and love. Many bands performed including Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, and Live. There were only seven bands that performed at both the original Woodstock festival and the Woodstock 1994 reunion. A few of those bands were Santana, The Band, and Joe Cocker. Woodstock 1994 was later dubbed Mudstock due to a massive rainstorm during the concert. Like the original Woodstock, people helped others by giving food and sharing. |
