Woodstock was partly revived at Occupy Wall Street Tuesday afternoon when legendary singers David Crosby and Graham Nash arrived to play an acoustic set at Zuccotti Park.
The two singers from the influential group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had to push their way through a packed crowd aided by a security team and entourage a little before 3 p.m.
They got to the middle of the park and played standing on a marble bench for about 15 minutes.
"You know there's something going on here — right here!" Nash sang from the song "Long Time Gone," pointing to the crowd.
The band also played protest songs "They Want It All," "Military Madness" and the classic "Teach Your Children."
The duo is famous for their lungs, but it was still hard for them to sing over the noise of the city.
"I wish I could have heard it better," said Ellie Hamrick, 20, who lives a few blocks away from Zuccotti Park. "Everybody should have been singing along.
Hamrick said she saw Buffalo Springfield, at Bonnaroo this summer, along with Neil Young, and was excited to see his other '60s band at Occupy Wall Street.
"It was a great feeling; like watching history."
Aron Kay, 61, first saw Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young play in 1969.
"It was very inspiring that they came out for the cause, just like in the Vietnam war days" said Kay, who has been commuting from Brooklyn to Zuccotti Park since the movement began on Sept. 17.
A younger protester said seeing the band made her imagine what his must have been like during the height of the counter culture.
"It's like the era of 1968," said Jenna Mandaglio, 20, who lives in lower Manhattan. "It's nice having free spirited individuals down here."
The singers implored people to "speak out" before leaving the makeshift stage, pushing their way back out of the plaza while protesters tried to clear a path.
"I wanted to be part of the experience," said Hamrick. "It's pretty inspirational."
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