August 2019 – run | sew

The original Woodstock Festival ads were for a different location and lineup than what became the actual festival. We know that the festival site ended up being near Bethel and White Lake, NY. Not all of the bands listed in the original ad had actually agreed to do the festival. Some declined because of schedule conflicts and various other reasons.

This was one of the bands who didn’t agree to do the festival. Forty-one years later though, they did agree to do a concert at Bethel Woods, and that’s when I decided to check the place out for myself.

On my arrival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, there was no resemblance to the original setting we’re used to seeing in pictures and video. The entrance did not have a 1960s vibe, and it wasn’t artsy. It resembled a 1990s gated community.

There’s a museum inside.

On stepping into the museum, visitors were greeted with a video of Country Joe and the Fish singing, “And it’s 1, 2, 3, what are we fighting for?…” Museum goers then spontaneously started singing along, “Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn….”

The ‘artifacts’ in the museum are relics of the fun, glamorous image of hippies.

There is a nice, serious nod to Phil Ochs.

Then, as I was zooming in for a close up of this festival magazine ad, a security guard charged at me yelling, “No pictures! Photography is not allowed in here!” Seriously? Do they think a Doors album cover, or a photo of the Haight-Ashbury street sign, or a Woodstock magazine ad are rare and proprietary artifacts? Sheesh. Too many rules, man.

Annoyed, I made my way to the museum store and soothed myself with the purchase of a thin, overpriced t-shirt.

Moving on from the museum to the outside. They’ve constructed an outdoor amphitheater where concerts take place now. It’s way on the other end of the property from the original stage.

Before long, soundcheck was underway.

Then a good crowd started arriving.

The concert began.

Then, just like 41 years earlier, the skies opened and it began pouring rain. To my amazement, everyone on the lawn stayed seated and just put up umbrellas. The rain was coming down in sheets and buckets, but the audience just sat there listening to the music, and the show went on as if nothing were wrong. Pretty cool.

Back to the ‘garden’.

The morning after the concert, before heading to the airport, I circled back to the festival site to quietly take in the setting on a lovely Sunday morning.

This is looking at the original stage location from the Hurd Road side:

This is looking up the road with access to the original stage being that gravely patch on the right. I parked there, got out and climbed over the fence.

I stood at ‘center stage’. This is a stitched together pano of the view from ‘center stage’:

It really is a garden on that spot. (Someone should tell the group who now wants to excavate the stage location and ‘install’ a garden.)

Then it was time to get on the road. The 2-hour drive back to the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem) Airport was scenic.

This was the town of Eldred, NY, where I stopped for ice cream at the general store.

I crossed the beautiful Delaware River, and was back in Pennsylvania.

A little more driving and then a few hours on a plane and I was back in Kansas.

Almost a year ago, I took the Amtrak Heartland Flyer to Fort Worth, to see a concert. Now I’ve done it again, for another dose of culture, including the band ‘Yes’ and much more! This should definitely become a habit.

This trip was to see the ‘Royal Affair’ tour, consisting of Asia, Steve Howe’s Yes, John Lodge of the Moody Blues, and Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy with guest vocalist Arthur Brown.

The show opened with something ‘Crazy’ I never expected to experience live:

One thing that did draw me to the show was Carl Palmer. Fifty years ago, he was the amazing drummer for the amazing Emerson Lake & Palmer. Today he is possibly even better. He did sets with his own band, and as a member of Asia.

Curiously, there was a little megaphone on stage.

Before long, I knew why: One of the Asia members was in the Buggles. So I’ve now sung along to ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’…with Carl Palmer on drums!

Other special moments were hearing the John Lodge 10,000 Light Years band perform ‘Legend of a Mind’ (Timothy Leary’s Dead); a song from John’s early years with the Moody Blues at their most psychedelic.

Then Steve Howe’s ‘Yes’ did a full set of Yes songs. Steve’s guitar playing was another main highlight. The entire concert was over four hours long. Definitely a full evening.

The next morning, it was back to Fort Worth for an afternoon of museums via Bike Share. It was Sunday morning, so I had extra time to kill before the museums opened. I did some exploring around downtown, first with a bike ride around downtown, and then via the free Molly-the-Trolley loop. All of my modes of transportation were available from the Fort Worth Intramodal Transportation Center (Fort Worth ITC).

When the museums opened, I headed to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum via bike. It was already a hot day, but with a slight breeze, thankfully.

The museum district has these great murals on the buildings.

After that, it was time for an unplanned treat. Just down the street from the Cowgirl museum, the Kimbell Art Museum has a special Monet exhibit! It runs through September 15, 2019. I saw dozens of original Monets! It was fascinating, comparing the painted scenes at a distance, and then up close where the brush strokes and colors seemed almost random.