Aloha!
Welcome to. . .
click on photos to enlarge
Can't believe I saved them
all these years.
all these years.
(Disclaimer: I was underage
though somewhat emancipated)
though somewhat emancipated)
I remember selling macrame` belts
to boutiques for my ticket money.
I remember the BUZZ
that THIS was gonna be a
"gathering of the tribes"
and a do NOT miss event!
Arriving at the site late on
Thursday night
it was too dark to see much.
We slept on the ground.
But Friday morning
was a bursting, bustling SEA of cars
and humanity.
I'd never seen so many people in one place
but certainly never so many freaks!
(Only Time magazine,
and news people,
and the 'out of it'
called us hippies)
Bob Seger struck a chord
that still resonates
down the corridor of years:
"Always seem outnumbered,
don't dare make a stand,
Same old cliches:
'Is that a woman or a man?"
It took real courage
to let your freak flag fly.
But this was freak utopia.
The few cops looked surrendered and happy
and just kept the cars safely flowing
even as random people (like me)
hitched rides on hoods and trunks
along the slow moving line of cars.
Joints were smoked freely
under the open sky,
even sincerely offered to cops
who declined smiling.
Some people were topless,
others muddy, and/or nude.
Everyone looked HAPPY!
The cops acted like real peace officers.
Locals told the press:
"They're good kids."
The cops treated us like citizens
(instead of prey) for once.
What else could they do, but still.
It was a peaceful metropolis
under the sky,
no fights, no attitude,
just unbelieving bliss.
Everybody got along.
The radios in the cars
reported that the
New York State Thruway
was closed!
"We closed the highway, man!"
"Maybe
they got us all together
in one place
to bomb us."
It looked like the end of the world
as we knew it
and it felt fine indeed!
The disorientation and sensory overload
of being amidst so many folks in quasi-
disaster conditions
made me feel high,
plus we hadn't brought food
in expectation of buying it.
But fences were flat,
services overwhelmed
and not set up.
We sucked on those English
flavored cigarette papers
popular back then.
Rizzla.
Campers shared food. We got by somehow.
I still have my tickets
because no one needed one.
Free show, Man!
Free was a big concept then: bartering,
Whole Earth Catalogue self-sufficiency,
communes....
A shop in West Philly at the time
was called
"The Free People's Store"
which had a " free shelf" to challenge
the whole idea of consumerism.
Those folks were interesting
and later morphed into
Urban Outfitters,
right Richard?
I can still see that ocean of people,
and "feel" that ride
on the snaking line of cars
as the cops directed traffic
good-naturedly.
I remember meeting people
from all over the country.
I remember seeing my first
Hawaii License plate.
(Hawaii!)
I remember the music
way way WAY
over the sea of people,
and the helicoptered bands landing.
I remember me and my friends
being overwhelmed by the throng
and leaving on Saturday...
but I never tell that part.....
and just kept the cars safely flowing
even as random people (like me)
hitched rides on hoods and trunks
along the slow moving line of cars.
Joints were smoked freely
under the open sky,
even sincerely offered to cops
who declined smiling.
Some people were topless,
others muddy, and/or nude.
Everyone looked HAPPY!
The cops acted like real peace officers.
Locals told the press:
"They're good kids."
The cops treated us like citizens
(instead of prey) for once.
What else could they do, but still.
It was a peaceful metropolis
under the sky,
no fights, no attitude,
just unbelieving bliss.
Everybody got along.
The radios in the cars
reported that the
New York State Thruway
was closed!
"We closed the highway, man!"
"Maybe
they got us all together
in one place
to bomb us."
It looked like the end of the world
as we knew it
and it felt fine indeed!
The disorientation and sensory overload
of being amidst so many folks in quasi-
disaster conditions
made me feel high,
plus we hadn't brought food
in expectation of buying it.
But fences were flat,
services overwhelmed
and not set up.
We sucked on those English
flavored cigarette papers
popular back then.
Rizzla.
Campers shared food. We got by somehow.
I still have my tickets
because no one needed one.
Free show, Man!
Free was a big concept then: bartering,
Whole Earth Catalogue self-sufficiency,
communes....
A shop in West Philly at the time
was called
"The Free People's Store"
which had a " free shelf" to challenge
the whole idea of consumerism.
Those folks were interesting
and later morphed into
Urban Outfitters,
right Richard?
I can still see that ocean of people,
and "feel" that ride
on the snaking line of cars
as the cops directed traffic
good-naturedly.
I remember meeting people
from all over the country.
I remember seeing my first
Hawaii License plate.
(Hawaii!)
I remember the music
way way WAY
over the sea of people,
and the helicoptered bands landing.
I remember me and my friends
being overwhelmed by the throng
and leaving on Saturday...
but I never tell that part.....
Thanks for reminiscing with me! cloudia
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
