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I taped Woodstock ‘94 off pay cable...filled something like six or seven VHS tapes.

It was pretty amusing seeing how “Corporate” the whole thing was compared to the original..but it appeared quite well run.

Joe Cocker and his back-up band were phenomenal..there were a few “returning” acts( Santana,CSN, ) plus new acts ( Nine Inch Nails, Primus, Cranberries,Red Hot Chili Peppers, Greenday )..but overall there was no real magic involved....

I still get a kick out of some of the original footage from 1969...
the Latin-tinged rock of Santana and the funk of Sly and The Family Stone were real treats way back then...

19 yr old drummer Michael Shrieve of Santana...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnamP4-M9ko

It wasn't until Woodstock that the music became “corporate”.

And the whole notion of “not paying” the promoter for the gigs really got off the ground here (and continued at The Isle of Wight show and Festival Express in Canada).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Festival
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Festival_1970
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_Express

Funniest moment in Festival Express is when the promoter tells of how he punched a Canadian mayor in the jaw for “demanding” that the show be opened to the public (the mayor was trying to appeal to the youth crowd and was inciting a riot against the event and the police that were hired by the promoter).

Even the Grateful Dead and others told the crowd to ease off and pay for tickets. The Dead ended up playing a free concert in the park for the bums who think that everything in life should be free even if there are signed contracts stipulating payment.

I just got back from SXSW. Thousands of bands playing hundreds of genres of music. And I paid to go to 3 of the concerts but that wasn't even necessary to see the bands I saw. And there was sponsorship (on an individual basis, not top-down strictly through the official organization).

There are ways to do these things without incidents. Woodstock is an old model. Like thinking that Shea Stadium is still a top ranked concert hall because the Beatles played there.

Here's an incomplete list of the freebies at SXSW last week:
http://showlistaustin.com/sxsw/2009/wedday.shtml
http://showlistaustin.com/sxsw/2009/thuday.shtml
http://showlistaustin.com/sxsw/2009/friday.shtml
http://showlistaustin.com/sxsw/2009/satday.shtml
http://showlistaustin.com/sxsw/2009/sunday.shtml

And here are the pay shows (cover was typically $5-20 a venue for the night)
http://sxsw.com/music/shows/schedule

And this IS where Michael Lang was when he was promoting another overrated Woodstock.

I still get a kick out of some of the original footage from 1969... the Latin-tinged rock of Santana and the funk of Sly and The Family Stone were real treats way back then...

Maybe this Brazilian band (Garotas Suecas) will appeal to you...

http://audio.sxsw.com/2009/mp3/Garotas_Suecas-Ghostwriter.mp3

http://sxsw.com/music/shows/schedule/?a=show&s=84853

They consider Sly Stone an influence.

Give it a spin, they cut into some guitar work about mid-way.