It’s been forty-seven years since Woodstock Music & Arts Fair took place upon Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm at White Lake, New York in the town of Bethel. The original Woodstock, now legendary for many, many reasons, sold over 186,000 tickets, though eventually became a free event, welcoming hundreds of thousands more people, because of some flimsy fences and ticket barriers that had fallen on the first day. They gathered in the name of peace, love, and music.
With the third day lasting over 24 hours, the bill hosted Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Who, Joe Cocker, The Band, Johnny Winter, and several other to-be legends. Today is the anniversary of the final, unplanned fourth day, which ended with Jimi Hendrix.
Celebrating Woodstock’s Anniversary With The Top 15 Performances
Hendrix clocked in at about 9AM on Monday morning, playing for over two hours to less than 30,000 people – an impressive feat, to say the least. It was in that set that the guitarist performed his most famous solo, “The Star Spangled Banner”, mirroring the psychedelic misconducts and tumultuous trends of the modern day political steam. Playing for peace and for love, and to all those who’d listen, made Hendrix’s performance the most iconic of the weekend.
Watch this early morning moment in the video, as well as his Woodstock rendition of  “Purple Haze,” below:
The Star Spangled Banner
Purple Haze
SETLIST: Jimi Hendrix | Woodstock | 8/18/1969:
Message to Love
Hear My Train a-Comin’
Spanish Castle Magic
Red House
Mastermind
Lover Man
Foxy Lady
Jam Back at the House
Izabella
Gypsy Woman > Aware of Love
Fire
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) > Stepping Stone
The Star Spangled Banner
Purple Haze
Hey Joe