Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were invited to perform at Woodstock but declined, with Zappa later dismissing the festival as “a lot of mud”. The article argues that the refusal reflected more than practical concerns: Zappa was deeply sceptical of the hippie movement and its idealised image of counterculture.

Woodstock drew more than half a million people in 1969 but was affected by bad weather, traffic, disrupted schedules and technical problems. Several major artists also did not appear, while Zappa’s 1968 album *We’re Only in It for the Money* had already satirised the values associated with the era’s youth culture.