On August 19, 1969 Jimi Hendrix was the final performer at Woodstock, hitting the stage at 9am on Monday morning.
The guitar hero was supposed to close the show ’round midnight but due to the scattered showers, delays, screw-ups, and inability to quickly get bands in and out of the gig without a helicopter, the schedule was running about a half day behind schedule.
Jimi was offered the midnight slot anyway but he was being paid the equivalent of $100k to close the show so he was gonna close the damn thing.
Originally Woodstock’s co-creator Michael Lang wanted singing cowboy Roy Rogers to be the last performer so he could sing “Happy Trails” to the hippies as they sauntered back to the world.
But when Rogers’ manager told Lang “it wouldn’t be a good idea,” the left-handed guitar slinger got the honors.
Hendrix’s performance was poised for doom. A few months before Woodstock, he and his trio, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, headlined the Denver Pop Festival where there had been riots from fans who wanted to get into Mile High Stadium for free.
read more at: Setlist.fm