Wacky Woodstock

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the legendary three days of "peace and love" music festival held up in Bethel, NY in August, 1969. It featured performances from (amongst many others) the likes of Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Country Joe and the Fish, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana, The Band, Crosby Stills Nash & Young -- even Sha Na Na! -- and closing out with Jimmy Hendrix's classic version of the national anthem.

Woodstock defined a generation and has captured the popular imagination ever since. It defined the anti-war, pro-diversity counter-culture that "square" America has been fighting ever since.

Since that event 50 years ago, there have been two sequels to Woodstock -- first in 1994 for the 25th anniversary, and then in 1999 for the 30th. The 1994 event didn't generate a lot of excitement and the 1999 one was a legendary disaster resulting in rioting and rapes and chaos. It was, in many respect, a fitting end to the 20th century and a harbinger of the dark 21st century to come. 

Now, 20 years later, there were plans for Woodstock 50 this August but, in the last couple of days, it's all fallen apart. Financiers are dropping out, artists are pulling out, and there's a big "Will it or Won't It Happen" question mark over the whole thing. The event planners are desperately trying to salvage the festival but it seems like it might be for nought, the event doomed.

Sad! But it seems, in a way, fitting for this age of disruption, instability, venality, and short-term thinking. The fact that, despite having literally YEARS to put this together, Woodstock 50 is on a knife's edge feels somehow, in the bizarre times we're living in, almost ... appropriate.

Personally, I'm agnostic about Woodstock 50. I hate seeing any big endeavor fail, I love comeback stories, so I hope that they might get this saved.

At the same time, trying to recreate something that was so special, so unique, so of its moment, is also kind of sad. Woodstock in 1969 was something the whole country needed, whether they liked it or not.  In 2019? It feels forced, and the only people who need it are the ones making money.

It'll be interesting to see how this whole thing -- wait for it -- "plays" out.