Top Ten Woodstock '69 Performances
Woodstock rocks! but what is the best song? Only Woodstock '69, the first one, the original.
Santana was more than awesome and energetic as individual musicians as well as a band playing together. I'm sure most of Santana was doing some serious tripping, but they managed to feed off each other's strengths and bring it all together. At first the audience was surprised by the new sounds they were hearing but with each note they really into the music.The crowd was electrified by their performance because they got to hear beautiful music played by musicians that knew and loved playing together for their audience.
Did you all forget Alvin Lee? This guy performed unbelievably on the guitar, more crank on the guitar than anyone, period. "Going Home" was and is the stellar performance and truly emphasizes how a guitar should be played. Listen to that dude crank, and the perfect feedback of his guitar at the end of the jam!
Raw tribal energetic performance. The percussion elevated the music to a spiritual level as they fed off each other with every note. Santana's guitar cut through it with its beck and call in total syncopation with his band as they reached a musical climax. Arguably, the band's best performance ever.
It's too bad the sound quality back then sucked. And all the chaos with no water or food, and bad weed and acid, etc., etc. All that negativity aside, it was the best time in music history. That's when some really cool stuff was about to happen in music.
Still the most individually compelling performance of the entire show. Would have loved to see The Band. ShNaNa instead of The Band, are you kidding me?
Richie Havens opens Woodstock with Freedom, not shabby either. But with all the big names (Who, Jimi, Janis, CSNY) Joe was the one who stands out. Kudos to Santana--Soul Sacrifice was tremendous. So was Sly and where is he?
Oh, how I wish I was at Woodstock...
If I had a time machine, if only, I would use it just to go to Woodstock! And I wouldn't sleep or leave until it's over!
Agree, belting out that set crystal clear was magnificent and makes me fall back wishing I could've paticipated. Love not war! Kilroy was here! Up yours baby! Laugh out loud!
Come on people make this number one. Joe Cocker gave it all! Oh to be able to travel back in time and see this show live
I can't imagine how awesome this would have been live. Just think of the showmanship! The Grateful Dead bombed on this show haha.
Great performance by jimi hendrix who protested against the Vietnam war by imitating the sound of bombs!
Love the song, love the who. Great performance
One of the Greatest performances by Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane of this classic.
Super song. Thanks for "Fear and loathing in las vegas" where I found him.
Janis is hands down one of the best artists ever in my opinion. She purée her heart and soul into everything word she sang and it's beautiful
Just watch the video on YouTube. Trust me, it's among the best live performances by any rock band! The Who members themselves didn't enjoy it and Roger Daltrey called it The Who's worst ever performance, but in my opinion, this is just as good as Live At Leeds.
The Who were really playing for their own lives at Woodstock! This has to be the best live performance of We're Not Gonna Take It/See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You, but Sparks is also another breathtaking moment of The Who's performance at Woodstock!
Best rock band ever.
This song still gets a crowd goin' whenever it's played 42-years later!
John Fogerty et al hit it sound on for what became the haunting call of Woodstock
Looking back 46 years after seeing the Woodstock movie at the Trans Lux East movie theater in NYC the 3 acts that stood out most for me then were; 1. Ten Years After; 2. The Who; and 3. Sly and The Family Stone. As a then 15 year old I was blown away by Alvin Lee's guitar playing on "I'm going Home". It's interesting to note that he got such a heavy sound not from a Les Paul or Fender Stratocaster but rather a semi-hollow electric guitar which he tended to favor throughout his career.
Who's # 1 is a matter of opinion, but I saw one top 10 list and TYA wasn't even on it. Not sure how anyone could rate their performance not worthy of being in the top 10. It was definitely a breakout performance for TYA.
Go watch it on YouTube if you don't believe me.
A career defining performance for this band, they would never top it.
Sly and the Family Stone, Santana and Ten Years After definitively had the most energetic sets at Woodstock.
"I'm going where the water tastes like wine." Well, that says everything, doesn't it?
Incredible track about love, forgiveness, timelessness, the spectrum of human emotion, and perfection through musical harmony
He played the longest set this was my favorite. Very passionate.
Because, no explanation needed.
Don't forget these guys performed when most people were sleeping
I'm surprised this song is number 16, to me this one of the best perfomances that I would have liked to see in the top 10
Greatest band ever.pete was electrifying
Kicking Abby Hoffman offstage would have been a blast to see
You would think that at a hippie festival, 50s music would be laughed at, but the crowd loved it. Not to mention they did this song about 100 BPM faster than the original Danny and the Juniors classic. Hendrix, Sha Na Na, Richie Havens, and Santana rocked the festival.
Probably the most fiery performance of these two interconnected songs by The Who...Contains all the classic who elements, psychedelic jamming...extensive guitar feedback from Townshend, Entwistles thundering bass, Moon going crazy on the drums, Roger with the tambourines...
Wall of sound. Amazing harmonies, perfect connection between the musicians. Perfect song!
