Pictures from Woodstock ’69: The Grooviest Crowd and The Most Iconic Performers of That Era

TrendingNovember 3, 2022

Jimi Hendrix Headlining Woodstock

Jimi Hendrix headlined the Woodstock festival that was held in 1969. He was there with his band called Gypsy Sun and Rainbows. According to rumors circulating at the time, Hendrix was not comfortable performing in front of a large crowd, so he had his performance moved to the last day instead of the day before.

While most people had already left by that time, there were still around 40k people waiting to get a glimpse of the highest-paid rock musician of that time. Dressed in a funky outfit, Hendrix gave out a peace hand sign before starting his iconic performance at the once-in-a-lifetime event.

Woodstock Kid

While the organizers did not expect much from this festival, bands like ‘The Doors’ outright rejected the offer to perform at Woodstock based on the speculation that it would be a second-class event. There were about 400K people in attendance at this grand musical event, including people of every age and race.

This girl in the image was only one of the many children who made their way to the venue in Bethel, New York, accompanied by an adult to see some of the most iconic performers of that time. Just like at music festivals nowadays, excited crowds came prepared with all their props, clothes, musical instruments, and much more.

The Cheerful Jerry Garcia – Grateful Dead

Jerry Garcia was on the stage with his band ‘Grateful Dead’ on the festival’s second day. They graced the audience with an iconic over 40-minute version of the song “Turn On Your Love Light” with the ground full of dancing people on that fine Saturday Night.

Garcia has always carried a hipster persona with curly hair, a thick beard, and wearing the grooviest pair of glasses, day or night. Sadly after a few hours following this picture, the band’s amplifiers would blow up, causing a massive delay while they were only about half an hour into their set. Nonetheless, all was well as it ended well.

Janis Joplin Getting Some Courage

On Sunday morning, at around 2:00 a.m., Janis Joplin showed up on the stage with The Kozmic Blues Band, also featuring guitarist Sam Andrew from the band Big Brother. Joplin reportedly, along with a few other people, flew in on a helicopter to the venue.

While she was excited to perform in front of that massive crowd, Joplin had to wait a long time backstage before a few other performers could finish their sets. Seeing the opportunity, she helped herself to some liquor backstage, as pictured here. In 2009, The Kozmic Blues Band again performed some of her hits at the 40th-anniversary concert of Woodstock.

John Sebastian’s – Unplanned, Unorganized

The iconic Woodstock festival in 1969 turned sorrows into wine in various ways. From intoxicated sets turning out to be iconic performances to John Sebastian performing at the event only because the original performers were late. While Sebastian was only there to enjoy some music amidst the crowd, he’d never guessed this would happen.

The organizers asked him to take the stage in the early hours of the second day since many other artists were late to reach the venue. Unprepared and without a minute of rehearsal planned for this set, he performed for half an hour, including the songs “I Had a Dream” and “How Have You Been.”