WOODSTOCK DIARY

If there is one event that epitomises the protests, peaceniks and headbands of the summer of love, it's Woodstock. Even now, 35 years on. It has passed into our musical mythology and, indeed, if all those who claim to have been there actually were the attendance figures would number in the millions.

Woodstock Diaries does a pretty good job in capturing the spirit of the times. It supplements the footage of the performers by telling the story of the festival from the germ of an idea in the heads of organisers John Roberts, Joel Rosenman and Michael Lang (the festival was intended to publicise the wider venture of developing a recording studio in the Woodstock area), through the search for a suitable venue and the ongoing organisational and financial problems that beset them at every turn. In this aspect, the film accesses footage that most of us haven't seen and gives us some fascinating insights, particularly the catering arrangements and the unwittingly hilarious "hog farmers." The DVD is a long one, three hours in total. It justifies its title by separating each of the three days of the festival into a unique programme. There are stand-out performances from Richie Havens, The Who, Santana, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, welcome footage of Johnny Winter, Joe Cocker and Paul Butterfield and the utterly forgettable Quill, Mountain, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie and Country Joe.

Steve Slater