The Airplane, as they were called, played everything we knew, and we everything. Grace Slick and company. As a major fan, I was starstruck. They must have been exhausted, though, ending the set approximately 7AM! Must have been assisted by Mother's Little Helpers. Gee, do ya think?
Wavy Gravy, the funny little man with the straw hat, announced breakfast in bed for 500,000. HA! I remember bread being tossed at the audience. We didn't get a crumb. We must have been famished, but it just plain ole didn't matter. We were at Woodstock! No time to close eyes and rest, although we tried, it was too exciting.
Plenty of announcements between then and Day 3. "Get off the towers, people", "Don't eat the brown acid, man". Two classics, I know, but we were there when these words were uttered.
Not much happened that I recall, other than losing mt friend Frank's sister, Cathy (where the heck did she go? Even she can't remember) until 1PM when one of the hottest acts of the day, Joe Cocker and the Grease Band, took center stage. Great set! A Little Help From My Friends was everything the movie showed and more. Thrilling.
Then, Look! Up in the sky! It's a Bird! It's A Plane! It's .... BIG BLACK THUNDER STORM CLOUDS ... swiftly moving across the horizon. Frank, myself and I can't remember who else took off into the woods for shelter and frankly "relief". Nature called.
It flat out POURED for about 30 minutes as we crammed under the tent of one of the many vendors. Couldn't budge an inch. After the storm passed, we emerged to muddied grounds. Mud EVERYWHERE! We worked our way back to the slope and what a slippery slope it was. Mud 3 to 4 inches deep that wouldn't quit. I clearly remember splitting up then to look for Cathy - where the heck was she? Don't ask me how, but somehow we managed to run into one another right before we wanted to leave (breathe a sigh of relief).
I made my way to the stage area as the crew squeegeed off the standing rain water. The infamous mud sliding scene you all know from the movie was happening about 30 yards stage right at the lowest edge of land that no longer sloped. I was standing just to one side as someone was filming the happy hippies who used Mother Nature as an organic Slip-N-Slide. Wacky. Who knew about a movie being documented. We were all pretty much oblivious to anything like that.
Country Joe and The Fish were up next. Not a favorite of mine, but fun. A short pause for the cause as nightfall, and a chill that the cleared canopy of sky provided, arrived. Ten Years After hit the stage. The night lights were electrifying but the cold, damp atmosphere caused our tired & hungry bodies to cave in to reality.
We rounded up everyone before the end of their set and decided to split, leaving the soaked blankets we brought behind in the mountain garbage you all know from the film. What a mess! What a muddy disaster!
As we got home around midnight, I was the first person to be dropped off, exhausted beyond repair at that point, shoes totally encased in mud. My mom was shaking her head in disbelief at the sight as she met me at the door. Those hallowed, muddied shoes were like baby's first bronzed shoes.
The years keep piling up but the memories remain as vivid as ever. Long Live the spirit of Woodstock! “Three days of fun and music, and nothing BUT fun and music!” Thanks, Max Yasgur and your beautiful farm.
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