Great Barrington, Massachusetts (AFP)

"It is very rare to be in a historical moment and to know that it is historic". Arlo Guthrie does not remember if he slept or ate in Woodstock in August 1969, or even if he took drugs.

On the other hand, the folk singer remembers being on stage the first night of the festival, facing hundreds of thousands of excited young people and wondering: "We can not get along. public can? "

"Most people saw nothing, heard nothing, they were right there because everyone was," he told AFP. "But it did not matter, you just kept playing."

At the time, Arlo Guthrie, a 22-year-old angel-faced artist, surfed on the success of her album "Alice's Restaurant" and her hit "Alice's Restaurant Massacre", an 18-minute blues piece that unequivocally denounced the war in Vietnam.

- "We were amazed" -

The festival, from August 15 to 18, 1969, sometimes took chaotic turns in the middle of the slush, without food, clothing or shelter, but "we were amazed," says the 72-year-old artist, since its founding in the confines of the Massachusetts.

"It's just one of those moments that you think will mark you, such as being born or getting married, or when your dog is dying, something emotional," he says. "You have to accept it and it becomes a part of you".

Long white bows, aviator glasses resting on the nose, Arlo Guthrie is not nostalgic of the golden age of rock and American folk, but simply proud "that the music always holds up".

- The end of an era -

The son of Woody Guthrie - a pioneer of American folk, who inspired a myriad of socially engaged artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Bruce Springsteen - will be on stage Thursday for the launch of the festivities on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock , including Ringo Starr, Santana and John Fogerty.

This legendary festival has marked the end of an era, that of the counter-culture: "It was a celebration of the end of an era of anti-authoritarian, suspicious of anyone in a position of power, left, right or center ".

Even today, he believes "that we must somehow take these people in a position of power with a little suspicion."

If the time of the "Peace and love" is over, Arlo Guthrie considers that this mythical gathering in a farmer's field illustrated the power that music could have in the gathering and trust between individuals.

© 2019 AFP