Powder Ridge Rock Festival
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2008) |
Powder Ridge Rock Festival | |
---|---|
Melanie Safka was the only artist ignoring the court injunction banning the festival; she performed on an improvised stage powered by Mister Softee trucks. | |
Genre | Rock music |
Dates | July 31, August 1 and August 2, 1970 |
Location(s) | Powder Ridge Ski Area in Middlefield, Connecticut |
Years active | 1970 (cancelled) |
Attendance | 30,000 |
The Powder Ridge Rock Festival was scheduled to be held July 31, August 1 and August 2, 1970, at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Middlefield, Connecticut. A legal injunction forced the event to be canceled, keeping the musicians away; but a crowd of 30,000 attendees[1] arrived anyway, to find no food, no entertainment, no adequate plumbing, and at least seventy drug dealers. William Manchester wrote: "Powder Ridge was an accident waiting to happen, and it happened."[1] Volunteer doctor William Abruzzi declared a drug "crisis" on August 1, saying "Woodstock was a pale pot scene. This is a heavy hallucinogens scene."[2]
History
Announcement and preparations
Tickets were sold by mail at a price of $20 (the equivalent of $144.92 in 2022 dollars) for the whole weekend. The announced line-up of musicians included:
- Day 1:
- Day 2: Tony Williams Lifetime, Zephyr
- Day 3: Janis Joplin, Chuck Berry, Bloodrock, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Grand Funk Railroad, Richie Havens, John B. Sebastian, Spirit, Ten Years After
Lawsuit
Powder Ridge was anticipated to be a significant historical music event, similar to the previous year's
Middlefield residents, worried about the impact of the crowd on their small town, obtained an injunction against the festival just days before it began.[3]
When the owner of the ski resort tried to contact the promoters to tell them of the injunction, they could not be found.[citation needed]
Attendees arrive anyway
Local authorities posted warning signs on every highway leading to Middlefield: "Festival Prohibited, turn back".[citation needed]
By 1970, rock festivals were regarded as having a political dimension. Carol Brightman wrote that "Rock shows... such as the Powder Ridge concert... were increasingly being covered by the national media as civil events, one step removed from street demonstrations."[5]
Promoters, however, kept hinting that there was still a chance that the concert would be held: "It's a total wait and see thing," a spokesman said and, after all, Woodstock had almost been cancelled too.[6]
Approximately 30,000 people came to the site for the weekend. Most of the musicians, however, did not show up. Only
The festival scene
Drugs were openly sold and commonly consumed at the festival.
William Manchester writes:
One of the more sensational scenes, attested to by several witnesses, occurred in a small wood near some homes. A boy and a girl, both naked and approaching from different directions, met under the trees. On impulse they suddenly embraced. She dropped to her knees, he mounted her from behind, and after he had achieved his climax they parted—apparently without exchanging a word.[1]
According to The New York Times, observers who had been at both Woodstock and Powder Ridge were struck by the contrasting moods of the two festivals:
The gentle euphoria—the grins, small smiles, and exchanged "V" signals— of people milling through the muddy fields of Bethel seemed to be missing at Powder Ridge. Instead, last night and this morning, the major pastime here was often shuffling walks along paved roads by grim-faced young men and women who looked remarkably similar to old people moving slowly along the boardwalks of the Rockaways or Atlantic City.[2]
In his autobiography,
Aftermath
Although the promoters of the festival announced plans to reschedule the event for another location, no such plans ever came through, and no refunds were ever issued to the ticket buyers.[citation needed]
See also
- List of historic rock festivals
- List of music festivals
Notes
- ^ Estimates vary from 15,000 to 50,000. "30,000" is from a New York Times article, July 31, 1970 p. 24
References
- ^ The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America 1932-1972, pp. 1212-1213. Bantam Books.
- ^ a b "Drug Peril Eases at Powder Ridge". The New York Times. August 2, 1970. p. 58, § 1. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
- ^ a b c Wollschlager, Mike. "Powder Ridge Rock Festival: The greatest show that never was". CTInsider.com. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- ^ Bill Mankin, We Can All Join In: How Rock Festivals Helped Change America. Like the Dew. 2012.
- ISBN 0-517-59448-X.
- ^ Plenty of Sex and Drugs, But No Rock ´n´ Roll, 2005 Hartford Advocate article.
- ^ Darnton, John (August 1, 1970). "Youths at Powder Ridge Maintain Festival Atmosphere". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-08-30.