Untitled

[jwooleyposts-blog]

Jeff Wooley

Erna Smith

Journalism 201

14 December 2015

588 Words

WoodChella: A Tale of Two Festivals

Upon evaluating the video content available for each festival, it became very clear that Woodstock was covered to document shock value while Coachella is being covered to emphasize spectacle. Everything about Woodstock embodied shock value and counter culture, while it seems that Coachella conforms to the mainstream by playing into the celebrity culture and advertisement world. Woodstock was more of a movement that was about the people attending and what they did, as opposed to the artists performing and what took place on stage. While the performances of Woodstock 1969 are certainly legendary (Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” Cover, Country Joe and the Fish’s anti-war songs, etc.) the festival was the first time our nation had seen such a large mass of people acting in such an expressive way at a concert and established the foundation for future music festivals to come.  

Coachella on the other hand, while a host of many interesting outfits and occasional nudity, doesn’t seem to hold as much social traction within the press given that we’ve become accustomed to these behaviors when thinking of music festivals. In fact, after watching video after video of Coachella, I began to notice how trivial every matter being covered was. For example, many YouTube channels are built around merely documenting the celebrity fashion trends taking place at the festival in addition to festival goers not even knowing which bands were real or fake (according to Jimmy Kimmel’s Lie Witness News). At Woodstock, everyone there was united around at least the fact that they were anti-Vietnam War and sought change. Additionally, there weren’t as many pretty lights to look at, the festival simply didn’t have the technology (according to Evolve Money) This energy allowed festival goers to push the boundaries for what was considered socially acceptable, and in the process angered many older people of the generation. Seeing as it was viewed as abhorrent and crude by people such as my grandparents while also running under the headline “Bethel Pilgrims Smoke ‘Grass’ and Some Take LSD to ‘Groove’”, I find it fascinating that it was such a popular movement. Furthermore, I could very well envision an anti-War rally music festival held in Northern California, or just a festival held to protest something in general happening today. While I understand that Woodstock was motivated by Vietnam and Vietnam was a very turbulent time in our nation’s history, it doesn’t necessarily need to be something as heavy as that topic. For example, I’m surprised there hasn’t been an anti-Trump rally or demonstration surrounding music yet; if there was, I’m sure the media would be all over it not because of how his hair looked or what he was wearing, but because people genuinely hate trump and can unite behind that common belief.

I believe that it’s only a matter of time until there comes another peace advocating music festival, and when it arrives, the media certainly won’t be concerned about whether or not Kanye dissed someone, but rather if he said something constructive and relevant to the political situation at hand. It’s frustrating to watch as one of the largest music festivals in the United States has gone from at least an artistic, expressive environment to a conformist, mainstream spectacle trap, designed to entice and attract young people to attend and spend all their money away. According to the owner of the farm where Woodstock 69 took place, it was about the music and the young people - nowadays, the media only wants to see the celebrity drama.

Works Cited:

http://www.evolvemoney.com/2015/03/31/from-woodstock-69-coachella-2015-whats-changed-music-festivals/

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/woodstock-in-newsprint/?_r=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_IzYUJANfk

[jwooleyposts-blog]

WoodChella

Upon evaluating the video content available for each festival, it became very clear that Woodstock was covered to document shock value while Coachella is being covered to emphasize spectacle. Everything about Woodstock embodied shock value and counter culture, while it seems that Coachella conforms to the mainstream by playing into the celebrity culture and advertisement world. Woodstock was more of a movement that was about the people attending and what they did, as opposed to the artists performing and what took place on stage. While the performances of Woodstock 1969 are certainly legendary (Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” Cover, Country Joe and the Fish’s anti-war songs, etc.) the festival was the first time our nation had seen such a large mass of people acting in such an expressive way at a concert and established the foundation for future music festivals to come. Coachella on the other hand, while a host of many interesting outfits and occasional nudity, doesn’t seem to hold as much social traction within the press given that we’ve become accustomed to these behaviors when thinking of music festivals. After watching video after video of Coachella, I began to notice how trivial every matter being covered was. For example, many YouTube channels are built around merely documenting the celebrity fashion trends taking place at the festival in addition to festival goers not even knowing which bands were real or fake (according to Jimmy Kimmel’s Lie Witness News). At Woodstock, everyone there was united around at least the fact that they were anti-Vietnam War and sought change. This energy allowed festival goers to push the boundaries for what was considered socially acceptable, and in the process angered many older people of the generation. Seeing as it was viewed as abhorrent and crude by people such as my grandparents, I find it fascinating that it was such a popular movement. I am curious to see if similar movements take place in the future, given the constant push for change in today’s society. For example, I could very well envision an anti-War rally music festival held in Northern California, or just a festival held to protest something in general happening today. While I understand that Woodstock was motivated by Vietnam and Vietnam was a very turbulent time in our nation’s history, it doesn’t necessarily need to be something as heavy as that topic. For example, I’m surprised there hasn’t been an anti-Trump rally or demonstration surrounding music yet; if there was, I’m sure the media would be all over it not because of how his hair looked or what he was wearing, but because people genuinely hate trump and can unite behind that common belief. I believe that it’s only a matter of time until there comes another peace advocating music festival, and when it arrives, the media certainly won’t be concerned about whether or not Kanye dissed someone, but rather if he said something constructive and relevant to the political situation at hand. It’s frustrating to watch as one of the largest music festivals in the United States has gone from at least an artistic, expressive environment to a conformist, mainstream spectacle trap, designed to entice and attract young people to attend and spend all their money away. According to the owner of the farm where Woodstock 69 took place, it was about the music and the young people - nowadays, the media only wants to see the celebrity drama.

[jwooleyposts-blog]

DiverSCity and how it is embodied by the USC community:

#AdamGootnick is a Jewish business student here at USC. He is a member of a fraternity and noted how few ethnicities are proportionally represented within the greek system.

#DanielUngar is a Jewish philosophy major here within the USC community. He enjoys swimming and reading.

#JeremyMemmi is a Jewish cinema major here at USC and dates a girl from South Africa. They have trouble pronouncing foods from each person’s respected culture.

#JonathanBrewster is a Korean student here from San Diego. Growing up with friends who are white, he is always the victim of jokes from his friends.