This is a fun thread
. Thanks to the OP,
@Dean Kurtz
Did anyone attend one of early rock festivals (or later ones) that started in the later 60s?
I went to the Atlanta Intl. Pop Festival in 1969. It occurred on the 4th & 5th of July, about a month and a half before Woodstock. Woodstock got much better press coverage, was famous for a thunderstorm & mud, and had that movie & album. Atlanta showed how outdoor performances could have first rate sound systems and display many bands in one location. Some were surprising disappointments to me, and others were surprisingly good.
en.wikipedia.org
Over twenty musical acts performed at the event. I saw most, but not all of them:
- Blood, Sweat & Tears
There were 3 large bands, with horns, BS&T, Chicago, and PG&E. I found BS&T kind of boring.
- Booker T. & the M.G.'s
I didn't know they were still around, but I loved them. They commanded the crowd's full attention while the sun was still very hot.
- The Butterfield Blues Band
If I remember their performance, and I'm not sure I do, it was disappointing, as if they were not well rehearsed.
- Canned Heat
Kind of awesome and amateurish at the same time. Alan Wilson stood out among the others. He had to be one of the all-time best freakish sounding voices I've ever heard. He was also an outstanding harmonica player.
- Chicago Transit Authority
They were the best of the large band with horns format. They really swung, and the crowd got into them.
- Joe Cocker
He performed with his first band, the Grease Band. I'd never heard of him before, but he was great. The crowd, most of whom didn't seem to know him either, got into him in a very big way. (I saw him again in May 1970 as Joe Cocker and The Mad Dogs & Englishmen. There was a stage full of musicians and signers, maybe 40 people.)
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
I was a CCR fan but was disappointed with their performance.
- The Dave Brubeck Trio w/ Gerry Mulligan
I can't remember them at all.
- Delaney and Bonnie and Friends
I also can't remember them.
- Grand Funk Railroad
I wish I didn't remember them. They were positively awful.
- Ian & Sylvia
Why were two Canadian folkies left over from the earlier 60s there at all?
- Tommy James and the Shondells
They were a Top 40 AM radio act, so I had low expectations. They were better than I expected.
- Janis Joplin
She owned the crowd. She showed why she was so awesome.
- Al Kooper
Boring.
- Led Zeppelin
I thought I knew LZ from hearing their 1st two LPs all too often. I thought they would be boring. Performing live, they were far better than I expected, and I instantly became a Led Zeppelin fan. On LP, LZ was all about Robert Plant their singer. It was easy for me to get overdosed on his singing. Live, they were all about Jimmy Page. He was exciting, dynamic, and he owned the crowd.
- Pacific Gas & Electric
I remember seeing them, but I may have taken a nap.
- Johnny Rivers
He was ok, but see nap above.
- Spirit
Another band I didn't know, other than one Top 40 hit from earlier in the spring of 1969. They were extremely good live and captured the crowd's attention, similar to Booker T & the MGs, while the sun was hot. Their drummer, a bald guy in his 40s was excellent. We were all used to too many mind-numbing long drum solos where all semblance of a beat was lost. This guy (named Ed Cassidy) did the obligatory long drum solo but never lost the rhythm, and finished it on the beat. The rest of the band was much younger, but all played up to the same standards. I also became a Spirit fan because of their performance at Atlanta.
- The Staple Singers
I also didn't know them at the time, but enjoyed them entirely. Later, in 1970s they became much better known.
- Sweetwater
Yet another excellent band that I knew nothing about. I loved their performance, but remember little of it. They quickly fell off the radar screen and I never knew why, until the internet came along.
- Ten Wheel Drive
Their act was quite similar to what they did in the Woodstock movie.
- Johnny Winter
He had a huge stack of amps, and as he opened, his first 2 or 3 notes knocked out the electric power for over 45 minutes. Eventually the power came back, and he managed to put on a good show despite the unexpected trouble.
