Woodstock 50 Is Officially Canceled

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Less than a month from when it was supposed to kick off, Woodstock 50 is officially canceled once and for all. Michael Lang, a cofounder of the original three-day concert, pulled the plug after attempting to move the event to Maryland. In recent months, he and his fellow organizers had attempted to stage the concert in Watkins Glen, New York and Vernon, New York. Lang said in a statement that he is now supporting the efforts of the 50th anniversary tribute to Woodstock that’s set to take place in Bethel, New York, near the original 1969 festival’s site.

“We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks has made it impossible to put on the festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating,” Lang said in a statement. “When we lost the Glen and then Vernon Downs we looked for a way to do some good rather than just cancel. We formed a collaboration with [voting encouragement organization] HeadCount to do a smaller event at [Columbia, Maryland’s] Merriweather Pavilion to raise funds for them to get out the vote and for certain NGOs involved in fighting climate change.”

He said that the festival released all of the talent it had booked, including Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, and Imagine Dragons, from their contracts, hoping that they’d play a free event in Maryland on a voluntary basis. Because the venue is close to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and because venues require exclusivity to play within a certain radius of the venues, Lang said bands started dropping out.

“I would like to encourage artists and agents, who all have been fully paid, to donate 10% of their fees to HeadCount or causes of their choice in the spirit of peace,” he said. “Woodstock remains committed to social change and will continue to be active in support of HeadCount’s critical mission to get out the vote before the next election. We thank the artists, fans and partners who stood by us even in the face of adversity. My thoughts turn to Bethel and its celebration of our 50th Anniversary to reinforce the values of compassion, human dignity, and the beauty of our differences embraced by Woodstock.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/woodstock-50-canceled-2-834313/

[Historic NY]

1. They thought they were going to just roll into town like in 1969...

but they couldn't even get their own act together with all the in-fighting.

[PJMcK]

34. They hardly rolled into town in 1969

In fact, the promoters had a lot of trouble finding a venue.

Consider this simple fact: the festival was called "Woodstock" but it was held in Bethel Woods, NY. That's because once the town of Woodstock realized the scale of the event, they withdrew the permits. Unfortunately, all of the tickets, posters and other promotional items already called the concert "Woodstock." The promoters then looked at other venues before getting a deal with the dairy farmer, Mr. Yasgur, to use his farm for the event.

Accordingly, It's not surprising that they had trouble finding a site to have their 50th reunion concert.

Your response was a bit flip, in my opinion, and you might read a bit of the history of the remarkable event. It's a spectacular story.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. '69 will remain in the books as THE one.

[SharonAnn]

10. "You Can't Go Home Again"

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Not intending to do "sour grapes," but c'mon!

There will always be only one Woodstock! And that was in 1969.

[Historic NY]

11. LOL and it wasn't even at Woodstock.....

It was 60 miles away in Bethel NY

[PJMcK]

35. Yep! (n/t)

[JI7]

4. it would have just been like what Coachella has turned into

[marble falls]

5. Don't try the brown acid, but if you must: chip it and cancel the concert, man!

[BlueTsunami2018]

6. The lineup was horrible.

No one wanted to go.

[jcgoldie]

7. Hey hey!

Take that back Dead & Co were headlining!

[BlueTsunami2018]

8. The majority of the lineup was horrible.

There were a couple of acts that were worth seeing.

Better? 😃

[jcgoldie]

9. Well ok then

But I was really looking forward to one more show this summer. Wife and I saw them twice each in CHicago and Boulder. (Mostly I just needed to escape the primaries forum debate vitriol right atm) Enjoy...

[waddirum]

23. I was at both Chicago shows

I also saw the opening 4 shows at Shoreline Amphitheater and Hollywood Bowl.

[jcgoldie]

24. Thats great!

Wrigley Field shows were lovely... I hope we get more shows this fall seems likely!

[mr_lebowski]

31. My little bro was at Shoreline ... I was there in the Bay the weekend before til Tuesday but

just couldn't stay til Friday when he went. I wished to hell I could ...

[Ligyron]

25. Who is the young guy playing & singing?

Not real familiar with the Dead.

Thanks for that soulful tune!

[jcgoldie]

26. John Mayer

Dead & Co has 3 original GD members including Bob Weir and the 2 drummers along with Mayer on lead guitar, Otiel Burbridge from the Allman Bros on bass and Jeff Chimenti on KB.

[mr_lebowski]

33. I really love that John goes out on a summer tour like this with Dead & Co and just plays his role

Dude could be playing these same venues ... maybe not quite the crowd sizes, but close ... and making a TON more cash, but instead he just goes out w/Dead & Co, just like a regular band member.

Nobody can REALLY take Jerry's place on the guitar, but I'm not sure anyone else could do it much better.

He shows a lot of respect and love for the Dead's legacy, and think that's cool as hell. He doesn't ham it up or try to steal the show or anything, from what I've ever seen.

Even if I don't think he's always been the best human being in his public utterances ... he still seems overall a genuinely good cat. And a phenomenal musician and songwriter in his own right.

[jcgoldie]

36. Right on

He's really a great player and he's carrying the torch. The shows are a blast the most active I've seen since the 90s with Jerry. So much fun. A lot of deadheads are hung up on the fact that he's too pretty and a popstar... but they aren't paying attention to whats going on... he really drives these shows with his playing and he's very improvisational playing each show uniquely in the spirit of Jerry.

[mr_lebowski]

40. And let's face it ... he absolutely KILLS on this song ... it's so freaking good ...

Esp. the 2nd half ... as a wannabe singer/guitarist, I sit there and go ... wow ... really? Man, I suck ... and John is THE MAN.

I'm not surprised some traditionalists look askance, but ... the guys a star in his own right, he doesn't need to go do this, but you know he does it cause he loves the Dead.

And yeah, he's a 'pop star' but he's made his bones playing rock and roll, and by being a great guitarist. He's a lot closer to Steve Miller than Taylor Swift, put it like that.

Allow me to share my absolute favorite song of his ... not a hit or anything, just an album track ... this video is cool, but the actual story told in the lyrics is just ... let's just say sometimes it brings a tear to my eye ... it's really an incredible song.

Walt Grace
Desperately hating his whole place
Dreamed to discover a new space
And buried himself alive

Inside his basement
Tongue on the side of his face meant
He's working away on displacement
And what it would take to survive

Cause when you're done with this world
You know the next is up to you

And his wife told his kids he was crazy
And his friends said he'd fail if he'd try
But with the will to work hard
And a library card
He took a homemade, fan-blade
One-man submarine ride

That morning
The sea was mad and I mean it
Waves as big as he'd seen it
Deep in his dreams at home
From dry land
He rolled it over to wet sand
Closed the hatch up with one hand
And paddled off alone

Cause when you're done with this world
You know the next is up to you

And for once in his life it was quiet
As he learned how to turn in the tide
And the sky was a'flare
When he came up for air
In his homemade, fan-blade
One-man submarine ride

One evening
When weeks had passed since his leaving
The call she planned on receiving
Finally made it home
She accepted
The news she never expected
The operator connected
The call from Tokyo

Cause when you're done with this world
You know the next is up to you

Now his friends bring him up when they're drinking
At the bar with his name on the side
And they smile when they can
As they speak of the man
Who took a homemade, fan-blade
One-man submarine ride

[kwassa]

12. I went to the first Woodstock ...

and now that I live in Maryland, it was very weird to have Woodstock 50 to leave New York and almost come to the closest performance center to me.

I never thought it would work, though. The first one was a giant accident, a unique thing that can never be repeated. After the first Woodstock, rock n roll became all about big money and stadiums. And imitations of Woodstock, none of which worked. Woodstock as history was the dividing line between the small and almost amateurish world of rock concerts before Woodstock, and the sudden realization of the potential audience involved, and the scaling up to stadiums after Woodstock. I went to concerts before and after, and the scale changed dramatically. Woodstock turned me off to really big concerts.

[hunter]

13. Woodstock 50 was never official.

[Initech]

14. This will go down as one of the biggest fails in music history.

[Ptah]

15. Save the date - December 6

Altamont Speedway Free Festival 50th anniversary reenactment.

[Ptah]

18. One can only hope.

[alphafemale]

17. Some people should just take their guitars to that field.

Smoke grass and drop acid.

Sing some damn songs

[panader0]

19. I know I'm an old fart, but the bands I saw lined up

didn't really embody the "spirit of Woodstock."
I was in DC that summer and almost attended.
My buddy's GF went and came home saying you couldn't
drive close and it was too far to walk.

[panader0]

20. Never made it to Woodstock but did attend the outstanding Laurel, Md. show.

It happened the same summer but earlier. As a side note, this was the same
place George Wallace got shot some years later.
But check out the list of bands! Zappa's performance was outstanding!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/before-there-was-woodstock-there-was-laurel-pop-marylands-fiery-rock-festival/2019/07/09/50530a82-a260-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f6b001d1fd04

[Tarc]

21. As Gen X'er, I'm tired of Baby Boomer nostalgia porn, honestly

Yes there were a lot of modern/recent acts in the lineup, but they were also going to dredge up John Sebastian, Country Joe, and others. We would have been subject to endless reminiscing, old footage of hippies fucking in fields, the stoned guy being amazed by port-o-potties, “don’t take the brown acid”, and all of it.

Look, I enjoyed the Woodstock 69 film, the music is great, it was an important thing, but it is a piece of history. For a generation that wanted to break with tradition and smash barriers and such, Boomers have slipped right into their parent’s shoes when it comes to nostalgia. Something magic was made in a field for 3 days 50 years ago, it can’t be held onto and re-done.

Stop trying.

[ConnorMarc]

22. I'm Gen-X as well, what else from that era has been recreated thus far?

Also/too...don't be so quick to bash nostalgia, you may find yourself doing the same things if you're lucky enough to make it to that age.

[Demovictory9]

28. exactly

[Tarc]

30. I'll bash nostalgia porn every chance I get, thanks

At least HST had the good sense to blow his head off before he could stumble too far down Senility Lane.

[Demovictory9]

27. next they should repeat that wembley stadium concert- the one with queen

[CentralMass]

29. By the time we got to Woodstock they had cancelled the damn thing.

It doesn't quite have the ring of the original one.

[Backseat Driver]

37. We named our doggie Woodstock(e), long deceased

and sang: By the time we got to Woodstock, he was peeing on the rug...how's that for boomer nostalgia porn.

[CentralMass]

39. :-) That's great.

[RockRaven]

32. When the article cites Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, and Imagine Dragons as acts you had under contract...

I dunno... I'm not sure venue parameters was the only thing going wrong with your festival.

[IcyPeas]

38. Hendrix $18,000, Grateful Dead $2,000 salaries from original Woodstock.. see the rest:

https://boingboing.net/2015/03/06/how-much-did-woodstock-69-mu.html