Pete Townshend vs. Abbie Hoffman

PUMP UP THE VOLUME
At Woodstock in 1969, Hoffman interrupted The Who's performance to attempt to speak against the jailing of John Sinclair of the White Panther Party. He grabbed a microphone and yelled, "I think this is a pile of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison ..." Pete Townshend was adjusting his amplifier between songs and turned to look at Hoffman over his left shoulder. Townshend shouted "Fuck off! Fuck off my fucking stage!" and reportedly ran at Hoffman with his guitar and hit Hoffman in the back, although Townshend later denied attacking Hoffman. Townshend later said that while he actually agreed with Hoffman on Sinclair's imprisonment, he would have knocked him offstage regardless of the content of his message, given that Hoffman had violated the "sanctity of the stage," i.e., the right of the band to perform uninterrupted by distractions not relevant to the show. The incident took place during a camera change, and was not captured on film. The audio of this incident, however, can be heard on The Who's box set Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (Disc 2, Track 20, "Abbie Hoffman Incident"). (Wikipedia, Abbie Hoffman entry)

#petetownshend #AbbieHoffman #thewho #woodstock #guitarstrike #pinballwizard #DoYouThinkIt'sAlright? #TheLois99

[kevinhisee]

Lucky it wasn't Roger Daltery who intercepted him. He could actually fight.

[xanzibar]

Honestly I don't blame him. Imagine performing at a festival in front of half a million people at 4AM, and someone comes up during the show and does this.

[rjramone]

Townsend has stated in many interviews over the years that you DO NOT go on his stage. Hoffman learned the hard way.

[SgtStash]

The "I can dig it" to me seems like Townsend agrees with what Hoffman was saying. But pissed that he did it during their set.

[whofan]

How is there no video of this? I've literally seen their entire Woodstock set, yet this part has no video. I'd love to see Pete swing his guitar at this guy.

[petervandervlies]

Yep, he never was the most friendly guy....
But a guitar player like no one else. Saw him with The Who in 1972 in Amsterdam.
Never heard a better guitar sound since. 👍👊😁

[ryanedwards]

Pete is so awesome! I wish I could have seen this show, but I was only 1 year old. I was fortunate enough 30 years later in KC, MO. Seeing 3/4 of the original members was GREAT!

[moosephilotus]

Their performance at Woodstock was incredible.

[psyxicle]

a crowd of hippies cheering about a pro-weed activist getting kicked off the stage. That is the power of The Who. it's all about peace and love until The Who are blowing your minds! 🤘

[domogee]

Pete did that little wiener right! Clobber um with the guitar !!!

[sera]

"I'm sorry Baba Looey, I was overcome by a kabonging frenzy" (cit.)

[JesusangelCasareslaso]

UNO DE LOS MEJORES GUITARRISTAS DE LA HISTORIA

[jdh]

Hippies lol. Pete was having none of that nonsense. "I can dig it!" lmao.

[MezzMcGillicuddy]

Townshend made short work of that tosspot! 😂

[kevinkhoy]

Hoffman's timing was terrible! Showing The Who's performance of "Tommy" Zero Respect! Besides the fact it was 5:30 AM in the 🌅 Wrong Time for a Political Statement! He's very lucky he didn't get his head caved in 🤕 with Pete's 🎸

[orestestavares]

A carreira SOLO, de Pete, é fenomenal

[buddytesla]

I still don’t understand how no footage of this exists. Yes, I understand they had to change film, but there was also black & white video being shot at the time and hundreds of people taking still photographs. The lack of proof emboldened Hoffman to claim he was never thrown off the stage by Townsend. Fortunately, audio of the incident survived and proves it really happened.

[ElaineWood-ft]

Physical violence and death threats at the event that has long been called "Three days of peace, love, and music." It just seems odd to me.

[EricPamula]

Yes, Townsend took his performing on stage very seriously.

[Workerbee-zynx]

This clip makes no sense...Marshall Stacks..