by Daniel V. Garcia
Daily Lobo
This time of year must be an auspicious one for mini-music festivals in New Mexico.
Rock Out with Your Cause Out and Fall Crawl both take place Downtown on Saturday. Shlizstock, the overnight campout featuring tons of bands, happens Saturday near Santa Fe, and on Labor Day weekend the Thirsty Ear Festival unleashes its alt-country fury at the surreal Eaves Ranch. With so many shows to see in such a short period of time, I've taken the opportunity to look at the roots of music festivals in general by going back to the old school generation that started it all - the hippies.
Now, I'll bet you think I'm going to talk about Woodstock and the really cool film about it, which we've all seen roughly a dozen times apiece. Incidentally, if this is not true and you've never seen it, you should promptly maul yourself with a sharp object for neglecting this vital piece of American culture, and then go and rent the thing.
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While musical festivals didn't start with the Monterey International Pop Festival, they have never before been able to achieve the amount of diversity on as large of a scale as the Monterey Pop did.
The Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967 took place in California a full two years before Woodstock. Pioneering sound systems were used, and it brought together many huge bands who had never even met before. As far as countercultural events go, the difference between the Monterey Pop and Woodstock is like the difference between a Rainbow Gathering and the Burning Man festival. Rainbow Gatherings, like the Monterey Pop, are not-for-profit. The opposite can be said of Woodstock and Burning Man.
At Monterey, most of the musicians played for free, and the meager entry fees - $3 to $6 - were donated to the Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation.
It was this event that opened the eyes of America to a guy named Jimi Hendrix, who wasn't respected in his own country but was instead lauded in England. It exposed young people to the sounds of the person George Harrison considered the greatest musician in the world - Ravi Shankar. It was also the first time Otis Redding, rhythm-and-blues' finest, performed for an audience other than an African-American one.
Unfortunately, the original film of the Monterey International Pop Festival didn't feature many key acts. Now, all of the important ones can be seen on "The Complete Monterey Pop Festival" DVD. The preponderance of California bands is high, and the director seemed to have a predilection for head shots, but the stage footage and band interviews are indispensable.
Unlike Woodstock, there were no injuries or arrests at this event. It flowed extremely well, and the musicians were also treated well. This translates into some passionate performances by classic artists. While you may not be able to hit all of the upcoming shows, this DVD will do well to boost your spirits for the ones you can attend.
