Why Roger Daltrey Labels Woodstock As The Who’s Worst Gig

For music lovers, Woodstock is still a landmark event, even if you weren’t present. The famed lineup of the 1969 festival featured Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead. However, it was a game-changer for The Who. With the band promoting their ground-breaking rock opera, Tommy, their appearance at Woodstock exploded their prominence in the United States. Even while Woodstock is frequently seen as the height of the counterculture, not everyone was a fan. The Who’s Roger Daltrey actually detested the experience.

A Rocky Start

The performance by The Who was planned for Saturday evening, August 16. They left their hotel early to avoid traffic, only to discover when they got there that tickets were no longer available. The audience was so large that the promoters had given up on trying to sell tickets. However, the band refused to perform without a cashier’s check since they weren’t going to play for free. The promoters rushed to raise money because the banks were closed. In the meantime, the band’s nervousness overcame them. Acid was dropped by John Entwistle and Keith Moon. Pete Townshend didn’t, but he was in a hallucinogenic state because his coffee was tampered with. Daltrey, for his part, made himself a cup of tea, but even he felt the acid’s effects.

The Who eventually took the stage early on Sunday morning after hours of anticipation. When protester Abbie Hoffman rushed onto the platform as they were starting, Townshend pushed him off with his guitar and yelled, “F–k off my f–king stage!”

A Performance to Forget

In an interview with The New York Times in 2019, Daltrey recalled the performance as “the band’s worst set” despite all the mayhem, describing 14 long hours of waiting and dealing with malfunctioning equipment. “For me, it was especially difficult,” Daltrey remarked. The machinery was malfunctioning. He also expressed his bewilderment by the altercation between Townshend and Hoffman, saying that if Pete had actually struck Hoffman, he wouldn’t have “recovered.” I could hardly hear what I was singing.

Peace and Love? Not So Much

While Woodstock is remembered for its message of peace and love, Daltrey had a different take. “By the time it all ended, the worst sides of our nature had come out,” he said. “Woodstock wasn’t peace and love.” Daltrey, never one to get lost in nostalgia, made it clear: the festival wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.