The Redwood 70 National Music Convention, commonly referred to as Redwood 70, was a music festival held on Auckland Anniversary Weekend in

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...

West Auckland, New Zealand West Auckland ( mi, Te Uru o Tāmaki Makaurau) is one of the major geographical areas of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Much of the area is dominated by the Waitākere Ranges, the eastern slopes of the Miocene era Waitākere volcan ...

in 1970. Held six months after the

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

festival in the United States, Redwood 70 was the first modern multi-day pop music festival held in New Zealand. Headlined by

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

of the BeeGees with a line-up of predominantly New Zealand musicians, Gibb and his backing orchestra were pelted by objects from the crowd. While the concert did not turn a profit, it popularised the modern multi-day music festival in New Zealand.

Festival

The event was organised by local music promoter Phil Warren. Local media hyped the festival as the New Zealand version of

, which had been held six months earlier. While billed as New Zealand's first national music convention, Redwood 70 was an expansion of the multi-performer package tours of provincial centres, which had become popular in the mid-1960s. Two weeks before the festival, the owners of the venue, Redwood Park, attempted to cancel the event, concerned about the event's scale, and in mid-January Warren's office was broken into, with thieves exploding a safe and taking $850 in cash from Warren. In mid-January, Warren was still pursuing major acts to attend the concert, including

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and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

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and

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including "You're So V ...

, none of whom agreed to attend the festival. The concert was held over two days in Redwood Park,

, during the Auckland Anniversary Weekend.

of the BeeGees was billed as the headline act, performing during his brief solo career away from the band. The remaining line-up were New Zealand musicians, featuring a mix of pop acts featured a mix of pop acts and already popular musicians such as

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and

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, jazz, country folk and gospel acts, and rock musicians from the Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton club scenes. An estimated 9,000 to 10,000 people attended the festival, with 1,500 people staying overnight at the Redwood Park campground. Gibb's performance on the first night was mired by an unruly crowd, who threw cans, bottles and tomatoes at Gibb and his 17-piece orchestra. Many people attempted to climb onto the stage, ncluding one woman who embraced Gibb. As Gibb continued to perform, most his backing band gradually left, concerned for their safety and the safety of their instruments, and the set was finished early. Day two of the event featured a much stronger security presence, and due to advice from the police ended three hours early. The festival was the final performances of two acts in the line-up, Disraeli Gears and

Response and aftermath

Concert promoter Phil Warren did not make back the $25,000 in costs, however the festival left a lasting cultural impression on New Zealand, and became the first modern music festival in the country. Due to the financial loss of Redwood 70, festivals were held on a much smaller scale in the summer of 1970/1971, and no major festivals were held in 1972. The next large-scale festival to take place in the country was

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in 1973. During the festival, the mainstream media mostly ignored the local acts who performed at the concert, instead focusing on Gibb. A half-hour documentary on the concert was aired by the

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on 2 April 1970.

Performing artists

*The Arch *Armageddon *But We'd *Byble *Challenge *

*Cincinatti Underground *Cinderella *Classic Affair *

*Sonny Day *Dedikation *Disraeli Gears *Dizzy Limits *Fresh Air *The Game *

* Hamilton County Bluegrass Band *

*Tony Hopkins Gospel Groups *House of Nimrod *Killing Floor *Label *Mad Dog Jug Band *Maine Street *Jacob Manning Group *Mary Anne *The Ministry of Fog *Mixed Bag *Molly *

Larry Morris Larry Cleo Morris (December 10, 1933 – December 19, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Chicago Bears. The 1950 graduate of Decatur High School ...

*The Movement *Omnibus *Lynne Pike *Revival *Dick Roberts *

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*Roger Skinner & the Motivation *T'Bird Impressions *Tom Thumb

References

{{Historic rock festival 1970 in music 1970s in Auckland 1970s in New Zealand music February 1970 events in New Zealand Festivals in Auckland Robin Gibb January 1970 events in New Zealand Music festivals in New Zealand West Auckland, New Zealand