Great Performances to Savor

(2 of 2)
Hendrix at Woodstock
Bethel, N.Y., Aug. 18, 1969

By the time he got to Woodstock, the festival was already three days old and hopelessly behind schedule. By Monday, a half-million drug-addled, sleep-deprived, rain-soaked flower children had piled onto Max Yasgur's Catskill cow patch to hear everyone from Sha Na Na to the Who. But Jimi Hendrix was the headliner, whose contract stipulated that no other act could follow his. That probably wasn't necessary. Rousing the crowd on Monday morning with a 2-hr.-plus set that included his psychedelic, virtuoso Star Spangled Banner, Hendrix closed the books on the Summer of Love. Kent State was nine months away.

The Ice Bowl
Green Bay, Wis., Dec. 31, 1967

By game time, it had warmed up three degrees, to 13 below. In the stands, 50,000 Packer backers stuffed themselves into their flap-eared hats and sleeping bags. For the Dallas Cowboys, hell had frozen over. For fans gathered around their warm televisions, it was a frosty football treasure. Trailing 17-14 with seconds to go, the Pack pulled out the NFL title on QB Bart Starr's sneak.

Nadia's Perfect Score
Montreal Games, July 19, 1976

The 14-year-old gymnast became queen of the Montreal Games by making history as the first to rate a perfect score in the Olympics — on the uneven bars, punctuated by a backwards half-twist dismount. She followed with a perfect score on the balance beam. The Forum, normally filled with raucous French Canadian hockey fans, was instead roaring with appreciation for a 4-ft. 11-in., 86-lb. Romanian who would finish the Games with seven perfect 10s, three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Comaneci launched a thousand gymnastics clubs that night.

Secretariat's Triple Crown
Belmont Park, N.Y., June 9, 1973

He used to like to hang back a little and then put his magnificent red self into gear, as he did in winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. In the Belmont, only four other horses challenged. So Big Red raced history. He entered the far turn seven lengths in front and exited 20 to the good. And then he turned it loose for the adoring mob. At the finish he was 31 lengths in front. The 2:24 set a world record for 1 1/2 miles and a new standard for equine fame.

Philippe Petit Walks the Towers
World Trade Center, Aug. 7, 1974

The French tightrope artist had friends carry gear to the top of the still unfinished north tower. On a breezy morning he frolicked on a wire to the south tower, 1,350 ft. up, crossing eight times in 45 minutes, before a cop told him to come in.

Jackson's Moonwalk
Pasadena, Calif., March 25, 1983

During the Motown 25 anniversary show, Michael Jackson joined his brothers for a brief Jackson Five reunion, then appeared solo in bolo tie. The song Billie Jean began and so did Jacko's feet. He produced a Gumby-legged rock ballet, then topped it off with his moonwalk. The move created such a buzz that when the tape of the live show was televised, 47 million viewers dropped in.

Carson's Goodbye
Burbank, Calif., May 21, 1992

After nearly 30 years in complete control, Johnny Carson finally lost it. In his second-to-last show, Carson simply shrugged off a raunchy Robin Williams joke ("What are they gonna do — can me?"). Then final guest Bette Midler coaxed the king of late night into an impromptu duet and closed with a velvet cover of One More for My Baby that had Carson — memorably — in tears.

Miracle on Ice
Lake Placid, N.Y., Feb. 22, 1980

The game was bigger than ice hockey. When the two global powers finally met in the semifinals, the free world seemed to be at stake. And then the Red machine went clank. Never let an underdog think it has a shot. Mike Eruzione made the go-ahead goal 10 endless minutes before the buzzer. U.S.A. 4, U.S.S.R. 3.

The Three Tenors
Baths of Caracalla, Rome, July 7, 1990

It didn't begin until the Fat Guys started singing. When Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, along with a 200-strong orchestra, wowed 'em with vocal skyrockets like Nessun dorma, opera hit high C — and a merchandising concept was born.

A Tribute to Heroes
N.Y.C., L.A. and London, Sept. 21, 2001

The program was flawless for the task at hand: raising money for a still smoldering New York City and offering an entire country a way to share its grief. Performances, starting with Bruce Springsteen's My City of Ruins and ending with Willie Nelson leading dozens of stars in America the Beautiful, combined notes of mourning, strength and hope.