It was great talking about outdoor music festivals this morning during Throwback Friday. They really have become huge with music fans. They started out a little small, but have grown exponentially. I found this list on Ultimate Classic Rock, great national fest list. Below these 10, check out what I’ve found to be the biggest of our Iowa festivals
1. Newport Folk Festival, 1965 . . . It was the moment Bob Dylan stunned and angered fans by going ELECTRIC. Check out Bob, playing with his backup band. (they later became, The Band) You can definitely hear some booing.
2. Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival, 1967 . . . It was the first rock and roll festival in America. It included Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and The Byrds.
3. Monterey Pop Festival, 1967 . . . It was larger and more structured than Fantasy Fair. It included Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas and the Papas, Otis Redding, and The Who.
4. Woodstock, 1969 . . . Three days of peace and music, need I say more? There were over 500,000 people in attendance with 32 musical acts. These included Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, and The Grateful Dead.
5. Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, 1973 . . . This was even larger than Woodstock with more than 600,000 people, even though only 150,000 tickets were sold. There were only three bands in the lineup: The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, and The Band.
6. Ozark Music Festival, 1974 . . . It was notorious for debauchery in terms of drugs and public sex acts. The lineup had Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jeff Beck, Eagles, and Blue Oyster Cult.
7. Us Festival, 1982 . . . It was put on by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. It included Oingo Boingo, The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Cars, The Police, and Fleetwood Mac.
8. Farm Aid, 1985 . . . It was organized by Neil Young, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp to help family growers throughout the U.S. It included Bob Dylan, Foreigner, The Beach Boys, and Johnny Cash.
9. Lollapalooza, 1991 . . . It was created by Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell and is still around today. The first ever lineup included Nine Inch Nails, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Violent Femmes.
10. Coachella, 1999 . . . It helped shape modern day festivals. The lineup included Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Beck, and Morrissey.
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I have to include this one from Iowa!
Number 1, Wadena Rock Festival. I have heard so much about this festival. It was originally going to be done in Galena, Illinois. When that fell through, Wadena was the place. Unfortunately, I can’t find any video footage, but here’s a story from KCCI from a dozen years ago.
