Woodstock - new documentary

Not the original 1970 musical doc, but a brand new behind-the-scenes documentary on the festival for its 50th (!!) anniversary. Lots'n'lots of archival footage from the original movie, but lots more, as well, and modern interviews with attendees and organizers.

Of course, the event itself was a gathering of some of the most incredible rock'n'roll bands - and individual artists - of all time. So, quite naturally, it attracted a huge crowd - far more than the promoters had anticipated. In fact, this doc focuses on the fact that it was truly, insanely unorganized for an event a fraction of this size (nowhere near enough toilets, food vendors, water, etc.) and it is sheer luck and the graciousness of strangers (and government) that kept this from being a complete disaster. In fact, my biggest takeaway from this was the fact that the government and the conservative townfolks came together to help out this large group of, frankly, rather clueless hippies, who they usually detested. I don't really see that happening these days although there would also be countless lawsuits if there was a festival that was this poorly arranged in this day and age (see the Fyre Festival).

Not really much in the way of new info here, but this event has become such a cultural icon that it is always fun to see another perspective on it and it does briefly highlight some of the artists that did not appear in the movie.