I lived about 2 hrs away from the site....in suburbia. We heard the reports that the Interstate thruway was closed because of backed up traffic jams. False. They even mention it in the movie.......False. Local NYC newspapers had all sorts of photos....a BIG deal . It was a YOUTH MOVEMENT of epic proportion. Local Urban Legend was " So and So was at Wood Stock !" Nobody really knew if they attended - but it was a Badge Of Honor ! Many Artists + Musicians moved to this newly "discovered" country area after the concert. Nearby --- had been the ( historic ) Jewish Borscht Belt for many years earlier. My Mother's family had been entrenched for decades about an hour away in the Catskill Mts - so my family knew the area well....spent many trips to Grandma's. . Sha Na Na is one of the great Trivia Questions about Wood Stock ! Everyone kinda twists their head when informed Sha Na Na played Wood Stock. Huh ?........ ( They started at Columbia Univ. as an entry band in " Greaser Night" - Richard ? BOWSER ended up buying the rights to the band name - He became the "face" to Sha Na Na for many years later -- but originally - was a mere....mere.... "side man" ) . As I posted previously I went to a concert maybe ? 3 yrs later ? in upstate NY 650,000 in attendance ! Doubled Wood Stock attendance It was ROUGH. In my group - I was the only one who brought ANY kind of stuff to eat. The rest thought ?.....what ?......there'd be Deli's open ?......we'll go to a restaurant ? I don't know what they thought ?......but I was in Survival Mode ! I fed them all !! It was HOT.......it was HOT !!!!.....It was hot and humid in August......no shade. You actually had to STEP ON PEOPLE to move anywhere - in the Concert Area. You had to step on people and after a while ?......you got USED TO IT - just did it and stopped saying " Excuse Me "......no point ? An Ice Cream Truck almost made it to the outdoor arena area --- but then was "liberated" and the poor bastard - had to abandon his truck - everybody just swarmed and "liberated " his ice cream. . There was a pond with naked swimming . We camped w/ a tent outside the stage arena area and listened to the REFUGEE STREAM of walkers - all nite - calling out people's names they were looking for - ALL NIGHT LONG ! It was the closest I've come to TOTAL CHAOS.........REFUGEE ESCAPE. I sat on top of a car all nite and watched......stoned, of course = The cars lined the entry road in --- 7 miles long. . We called it quits the next morning and left -- in a Lightning Storm - where I threw the Tent Poles down and left them cos the lightening was striking all around us.\ I wasn't at Wood Stock - but this was close......and brutal !!! Peace + Love.........out
