Europe had its fair share of phenomenal rock festivals during the late ’60s and ’70s, from the Isle of Wight to Rome and Rotterdam, Holland. From June 26th-28th, 1970, 100,000 people gathered to hear sounds as diverse as Santana, Soft Machine and Pentangle to name but a few.
The Kralingen festival went so smoothly and the audience were so peaceful, that the undercover cops that were present decided to not bust anyone for pot. According to Wikipedia, this lax attitude largely influenced the Dutch tolerance of marijuana.
Musical highlights of the fest include a particularly strong sets by Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and Tyrannosaurus Rex. However, the entire festival seemed to be filled with momentous performances from the especially progressive line up. Luckily, so much of this festival was recorded, it’s easy today to access the sounds that reverberated out from that peaceful trio of days in Rotterdam.
Who Played:
- It’s a Beautiful Day
- Jefferson Airplane
- Stone The Crows
- Santana
- The Flock
- Canned Heat
- Hot Tuna
- Pentangle
- Quintessence
- East of Eden
- The Byrds
- Family
- Dr. John and The Night Trippers
- Country Joe & The Fish
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- Renaissance*
- Third Ear Band
- Al Stewart
- Tata Mirando Gypsy Orchestra
- CCC Folk & Blues Inc.
- Supersister
- Mungo Jerry
- Art Ensemble of Chicago
- John Surman
- Han Bennink
- Caravan
- Fairport Convention
- Fotheringay
- Soft Machine
- Pink Floyd
- Focus
- Oscar Benton Blues Band
- Ekseption
- Cuby and The Blizzards
*=Billed but did not perform. (NOTE: Wikipedia says that East of Eden did not perform, but they’re present on live albums that have since been released…)
Video:
In 1971, a documentary film of the festival was released as Stomping Ground. It was rereleased in 2010 by Gonzo Multimedia as The Dutch Woodstock and includes performances by Pink Floyd, Santana, Canned Heat, Al Stewart, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jefferson Airplane, It’s a Beautiful Day, Country Joe and The Fish, Quintessence, The Flock, The Byrds, Soft Machine, Family and Dr. John. The entire film is available on YouTube:
Audio:
Packaged inside the reissue of the Stamping Ground film, Gonzo released a full disc of audio from the festival, most of which you can also hear in the film, along with tracks by East of Eden, Livin’ Blues and Cuby & The Blizzards.
A 2004 reissue of the self-titled debut album by Fotheringay, Sandy Denny’s first post-Fairport Convention bands, features four tracks from their appearance at the festival. You’ve got to hear these tracks. Here’s “Nothing More” from their set:
There’s also an entire galaxy full of bootlegs dedicated to single acts and various artists from the festival. Here’s Pink Floyd’s set available via YouTube as well a selection of bootleg album covers:
Record Crates United 