The Seattle Pop Festival’s line-up was a mix of established acts, native groups from the Pacific Northwest, and even jazz legend Charles Lloyd. ‘Sunday night was supposed to belong to The Doors’ As one of the first festivals to forego hiring police or off-duty officers as security, Grafmyre enlisted The Black Panthers to patrol Seattle Pop – a much smoother operation than Hells Angels’ provided at Altamont just a few months later, in December. Sometimes going to great lengths to achieve his ambitious goal, Grafmyre chartered a helicopter to fly The Doors from Seattle’s airport to the festival grounds, while renting a Cadillac convertible for Chuck Berry – the rock’n’roll pioneer’s preferred method of transportation.įor $6 a day – or $15 for the whole weekend – you could catch Led Zeppelin breaking America, and marvel at homegrown legends The Byrds, blues icon Bo Diddley, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Tim Buckley, The Guess Who, Santana, Ike, and Tina Turner, Vanilla Fudge, Alice Cooper, and Chicago Transit Authority (who later became Chicago), among many other rock luminaries and psychedelicacts of the day.Īn estimated 50,000-70,000 festivalgoers descended upon Gold Creek Park to enjoy relative peace, music and “a certain amount of nudity”, said Grafmyre.
The concept behind Seattle Pop was to have 25 acts play over three days. 1969 was the year of the musical festival: Denver Pop Festival was followed by Atlanta Pop Festivaland then Seattle Pop Festival, all leading up to Woodstock.
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