August 17th, 1969 - The Who play the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in Bethel, New York
They take the stage at 4AM and Pete was not happy. He recalls arriving at the festival: "
"People coming up to me - 'You're going to Woodstock? You're crazy. Turn back, go home, there's millions of people there, the food's poisonous and the water...' Well, I immediately got into an incredible state and I rejected everyone. I wouldn't talk to anyone. And I was telling really nice people like Richie Havens to f*ck off and things like that. And it just got to a point where when we finally did get out of the helicopter and the helicopter never arrived and we eventually got in a queue of cars it took about six hours to get there. Well, we got there and then we waited another ten hours in the mud; the first cup of coffee I had had acid in it. I could f*cking taste it."
Now that they are in a really bad mood, the promoters tell the band that, since Woodstock is now a "free festival", they do not have the money on hand to pay them but can write them a check. The Who will have none of it leading to a fourteen-hour standoff as They refuse to take the stage. Finally a bank manager is flown in by helicopter with money, the standoff ends
Finally on stage, and Pete lets out some of his fury by kicking Michael Wadleigh, who was on stage filming the acts as part of his documentary Woodstock
The Who run quickly through opening songs 'Heaven and Hell' and 'I Can't Explain' before launching into 'Tommy'. All the fury and tension come out through their instruments as They blaze through the rock opera in a spectacular performance captured by Wadleigh's cameras
At the conclusion of 'Pinball Wizard', radical firebrand Abbie Hoffman runs out and grabs Pete's microphone to announce, "
I think this is all a pile of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison!", referring to the manager of the Detroit rock band MC5 who got ten years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints. The Who are friends with the MC5 but Pete is in no mood for interruptions. "
F*ck off my f*cking stage!", he yells, and pokes Hoffman in the back of the head with his guitar neck causing Hoffman to retire from the microphone. Audio exists of the incident but, for some unknown reason, it is either not filmed or the film has been lost. A search of the outtakes in 1976 by Jeff Stein and Woodstock editor Thelma Schoonmaker found no trace of it
The sun comes up just as The Who reach 'See Me, Feel Me' and it is the first time the members of the band see the size of the crowd, a half million people stretching off to the horizon
Finally realizing the importance of the event, The Who put their all into the finale. After they play the new long version of 'My Generation', Pete tosses his guitar into the crowd as the band walks off. The Who's roadies run out into the audience and quickly retrieve the guitar
Footage of The Who's performance at Woodstock is included in the movies Woodstock and The Kids Are Alright.