Isle of Wight Festival: Remembering 1970
The British music festival has become a corporatized holiday for middle-class, combat-trouser wearing philistines who own 25 CDs and never go any other gigs during the year. But it wasn’t always this way. In the mid-sixties, when the festival scene lurched into life, it was a disorganized mess of high ideals, low budgets, free food and incredible music. It seems high time to jog our, in the words of David Bowie, Memory of a Free Festival…
The Isle of Wight Festival debuted in 1968, and built a solid reputation for itself over the next couple of years with acts such as Jefferson Airplane, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Move, Joe Cocker, The Who and the Pretty Things. Bob Dylan had made his, er, triumphant return to live performance at the 1969 festival, following his infamous motorbike accident in 1966.
But it was the 1970 festival that was to go down in history – not least because it was one of headliner Jimi Hendrix’s final performances before his untimely death just days later. Attendance is estimated at 600,000 – reckoned to be even more than those who descended on Woodstock the year before. Considering the Isle of Wight has a population of 100,000, the sheer logistics of this many people convening in the one place were a nightmare. But, such was the attitude in those carefree hedonistic days, they did it anyway. Apart from Hendrix, there were performances from Chicago, the Doors, the Who, Joan Baez and Free.
One of the charms of the rock festival in its infancy was the raw, untamed technology involved – a far cry from the asinine cleanliness of today’s sound engineering. Hendrix’s Marshall stack produced some rude sounds, but could not defeat the prevailing winds which blew the sound sideways throughout the event.
In the face of these logistical problems, it soon became apparent to organizers that the event could not be profitable. It was declared a ‘free festival’. Unfortunately, the new gratis status of the event contravened the already-paid-for tickets snapped up by the majority of fans. Few cared. They were too busy having their minds – at least – blown. Nonetheless, the commercial disaster that was the 1970 Isle of Wight festival ensured there would be no such event for another thirty-two years.
Which brings us to the noughties, and the triumphant resurrection of a progenitor of the modern rock festival. It is back with a vengeance in 2011, featuring the return of Pulp, plus rock behemoths Foo Fighters, Kasabian and Kings of Leon. A fantastic way to experience this festival is in a camper van or caravan – check out the Park Resorts website to find out more about caravan sales Isle of Wight.