Why PINK FLOYD Didn’t Play At Woodstock – NICK MASON Explains

When people think of the legendary Woodstock festival of 1969, they often picture the biggest names in rock history—Jimi Hendrix, THE WHO, Janis Joplin, and more. But one iconic band was noticeably absent: PINK FLOYD. Despite being a rising force in the psychedelic rock scene at the time, the band never made it to the festival.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, drummer Nick Mason finally shed light on why PINK FLOYD wasn’t invited to perform at Woodstock.

Here’s what he had to say: “We didn’t feel like we missed out on Woodstock because we weren’t heavyweight at that point. We were playing the Scene club in New York to an audience of, probably, 150 people. And, well, I don’t think we’d have thought we could do Woodstock.”

PINK FLOYD, after losing founding member Syd Barrett, who had been crucial to their early psychedelic sound, underwent a significant transformation. They transitioned from A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) to more conceptual, fragmented works before achieving their definitive 1970s sound with Meddle (1971). “Echoes” and “One of These Days” from that album were key steps toward their later landmark albums.

Despite its name, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair took place in Bethel, New York, approximately 70 kilometers (approx. 43 miles) southwest of Woodstock. The festival became a defining moment for the era’s counterculture movement and gained further renown through the Oscar-winning documentary released the following year.