Woodstock: The Defining Event of an Entire Generation

When did Peace, Love, and Rock 'n' Roll get replaced by Benjamins, Bitches, and Rap?

Fourty years ago the world was forever changed by what was supposed to be a quaint little outdoor rock festival in upstate New York. That little festival grew into the defining event of the generation in attendance.

Woodstock organizers struggled to get the city of Bethel, N.Y., to approve a permit for the expected 50,000 attendees. But in an age eons before Facebook and Twitter, word spread fast and soon music lovers from all over the country made what became known as a pilgrimage to the famed event. Over 400, 000 people showed up to the event so many that by the second day the organizers gave up on the ticketing and opened the gates for all.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll was what it was all about. Billed as "3 Days of Peace and Music" the festival not only showcased many of the greatest bands in existence, it also opened the world's eyes to bands that have since become legends in their own right.

It was hotter than hell, muddier than a pig pen, and 400,000 dirty bodies surely smelled like a landfill, but Woodstock 1969 was perfect.

My father recently told me the story of he and his friends sitting around a restaurant table trying to figure out a way to make the roughly 2,000 mile trip. Although they didn't make the drive you could tell just the thought of Woodstock brought back some incredible memories for him in his prime.

There were attempts to duplicate the magic that was created on that farm so many years ago, but none have come close. The festival's first reincarnation took place in 1979, with an extremely weak, relatively speaking, line-up of has beens and soloists separated from their former '69 bands. 1989's festival saw the birth of commercialism at the festival intended to be about the music.

Billed as "2 More Days of Peace and Music" the 25-anniversary Woodstock in 1994 was by far the best attempt to recreate the original. While only 30,000 attended the '94 event it was successful if nothing more than getting back to the music. But the commercialism continued with the entire event being underwritten by Pepsi. The peace and music was dying in favor of money.

1999 saw the death of the great festival, thanks largely to MTV's horrible planning. The concert was cut short when unruly fans ignited a bonfire which eventually spread to a speaker tower forcing the abrupt end of the bastard stepchild of Woodstock. MTV helped organize overpriced "merchandise malls" and impenetrable fences that only angered the concert goers. After the mayhem multiple trailers and porta-potty's were burned to ashes, at least four rapes were reported, but only seven people were arrested.

Thanks to the debacle of 1999, 2009's 40-Anniversary was nothing more than memories of the good ol' days.

Somewhere along the way those bright eyed dreamers of 1969, turned into money-hungry executives looking to exploit the "Peace and Music" festival for their own gain. Today we sit 10 years away from the 50-Anniversary and there needs to be another concert on the same farm that the original once was.

To the organizers...let the money go, it's about the music.

To the concert goers...let the anger go, it's about the peace.

It's time for another Woodstock festival just like the original and in 10 years I plan on climbing in my 1969 Volkswagon Bus and make the drive to New York, with my nearly 70-year-old Dad copiloting.