A press conference announcing a second Woodstock music festival. Some fragments from an exchange between the producers (whose backers include a record company and a film company) and the press:
“Ten years ago, a little magic happened that touched the nation, the world.”
“I don’t think we are fools.”
“The reason that we want to do it is that since Woodstock there have been a lot of music films made and none of them had what ‘Woodstock’ had. The ten years since Woodstock have not been as exciting as the sixties.”
“The tenth anniversary was a good time to do some of the things we hadn’t been able to do last time. There is so much new technology today that you didn’t have then.”
“One word I would use to wrap up the whole thing is ‘energy.’ Try to turn that energy on.”
“The kids, the youth …”
“No cultural event that sums up the seventies. This has
been a down decade, full of inflation, you know. No sense of optimism.”
“Where will you hold this festival?”
“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“We talked to the youngest, most exciting bureaucrats in this state. They believe in New York. They want us to stay here.”
“How much money is going into it?”
“Money is coming from the record deal and the film deal.”
“Six million dollars. Last time, we spent three million dollars. With inflation, everything is double.”
“How much do you hope to get out of it?”
“Nobody is trying to get rich and retire from this.”
“I’ve been involved in Indian projects for a while.”
“Money. It’s a real boring subject.”
“Can you recapture the spontaneity?”
“Yes. No matter how much you plan, you can’t kill spontaneity.”
“We are not trying to kill the looseness of the event.”
“What acts are you going to sign?”
“Can’t say.”
“You said you would never touch another rock festival. You said the first Woodstock was the worst disaster. Now …”
“No.”
“It’s an epochal festival.”
“I could stand here until four o’clock and tell you what we are doing.”
“What about drugs?”
“What about drugs?”
—April 23, 1979