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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

How well did The Band play at 1969 Woodstock festival (rural NY) and Isle of Wight (same summer)?

 from Whispering Pines

chapter titled "The Weight"

by Jason Schneider (2009, ECW Press)

The Band's

general reception in Canada

(Summer 1969) was more tepid

than most would have expected. . .

Woodstock had a "mystique" that

Dylan and The Band had created. . .

Bob Dylan committed to appear 

with the Band later, safely across

the Atlantic at the Isle of Wight

festival. . .At Woodstock, they

hit the stage on the soggy Sunday

night, sandwiched in between 

the over-the-top blues of Ten Years

After and Johnny Winter.  Things

went marginally smoother in Britain,

only because of the unwavering

attention that was paid to Dylan.

Still this was a far cry from 1966. . .

"Like a Rolling Stone" was a

shadow of its former self, and

only during a barnstorming version

of "Highway 61 Revisited" did

the sound ever seem to catch fire.

However, by then the show was

nearly over, leaving many scratching

their heads and wondering

what all the fuss had been about. . .

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