I can't tell you how wierd it is after all these years to be writing this review. U2 at the Woodstock was the strangest concert I have ever been to, and one of the best. I was working with the Schultz family doing shows throughout the Southern California area ... and we were promoting all kinds of styles ... the Schultzs' owned the Woodstock,it was more or less a metalhead or mainstream rock club and they didn't have a big New Wave or Punk following back then. Bands like X-iter,WASP,Eden,A La Carte,Montrose,Great White, etc. were the big draws.

I had brought in Social Distruction to do a show earlier and there was a minor riot between our security and the band and their fans, so we were kind of giving New Wave and Punk a second try with U2. We seriously thought they were going to be a Flock of Seagulls type band. HA!

I even had to go home and get an iron, because they didn't have any clothes that weren't wrinkled. Can you imagine, ironing Bono's shirt and thinking, "I hope this is going to be worth it."

What can I say? We were blown away by what we heard that night. For us, it was like seeing The Doors at the Whiskey in the 60's, before they took off ... I felt like I was in a time warp, or a dream and I really didn't know how to react. It was great.

That night, U2 was a band no one could pigeon hole or define in any narrow terms and all of us there (probably less than 2 dozen)knew this was something special. Our bigest regret is that we didn't know enough to really promote them. Our Metal kids didn't come to the show and the Punks didn't know what U2 was all about either. Maybe that's why they're still around ... originality and creativity are something that inspires the soul. It did that night, it still does now. Mike Muckenthaler

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