The lineup for Woodstock 50 was announced recently, and as you can imagine, the public is mixed. But the root of it, I think is, is that everybody has their own idea of what the original Woodstock festival was and how they can recapture that magic. But you can’t, you can only honor the legacy and recognize that fifty years have passed and music has changed.
Popular music in the 60’s was rock music, hence all of the acts being rock acts or rock-adjacent at the original festival. Popular music today is pretty much every genre, because genre is starting to not mean much anymore. Artists of all genres are slated to perform, and there is an emphasis on rock music in keeping with the legacy of Woodstock.
The thing that made Woodstock magic the first time was not necessarily the music. It was that news coverage leading up to the festival was that it was going to be a disaster, on all fronts. The acts were going to be terrible, the festival goers would start to riot, and destroy the Catskills. But that isn’t what happened. The acts left us with legendary performances, and the festival goers were peaceful and even helped to pick up the grounds at the end.
What should have ruined the legacy of Woodstock was Woodstock 99. That festival was the antithesis of everything Woodstock was. Fires broke out, unspeakable numbers of violent acts were reported, lack of adequate supplies of food and water. That was a dystopian nightmare. So, as long as that doesn’t happen at this year’s festival, it will be a success.
It is not imperative of the lineup in the musical acts performing to uphold the legacy of the festival, ultimately. The legacy is all dependent on the behavior of the those who attend. As long as they know about the ethos of the first festival, and are willing to participate in the peace and love that made the first festival such an iconic event, Woodstock 50 will be remembered as a true successor to the legacy of Woodstock.
By: Kerry Archbold