AP Source: Jay-Z pulls out of Woodstock 50 performance

[www.apnews.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-26 19:08 by bye bye johnny.

Seth Hurwitz on Merriweather Hosting Woodstock 50: ‘We Are Ready To Do a Show If They Have One’

By: Andy Gensler


Photo: Merriweather Post Pavilion

Pollstar reached out to Seth Hurwitz, the chairman and co-founder of I.M.P., which operates the amphitheater for the Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission. According to Hurwitz, I.M.P. “would help produce the show in-house for them if they bring us the show but as far as the content is concerned, we have nothing to do with that, that’s all them.”

The “content” is an important sticking point as it’s not clear at this juncture with the festival possibly moving 272 miles south of the original Watkins Glen, N.Y., site would nullify the contracts of artists, all of whom have already paid in full.

Pollstar: What’s going on with Woodstock?
Seth Hurwitz: Basically what I have to say is they approached us about finding a venue in D.C., I said Merriweather is available. We have a show booked that day [The Smashing Pumpkins are schedule to play Aug. 17], there’s still some things we have to work around. We’re not sure if we’ll do all those days or not. Which of those three days we’ll actually do, it’s still being talked about, but my role is merely as the venue. And we would help obviously produce the show in-house for them if they bring us the show but as far as the content is concerned, we have nothing to do with that, that’s all them.

Would you need county approvals for the show?
No, we’ve never been denied a permit. We’re a venue, we’re open all the time. We already have them. That’s a given in our case.

And you have other shows booked?
Well we do and that’s why I don’t want to start trying to move it or make them part of that. Yeah, we do have a show in there and we need to talk to them about maybe being involved or maybe we wouldn’t do it on that day. Right now, I’m still waiting on them to present us with a show. We are ready to do a show if they have one.

What’s the capacity for festivals there?
Can go up to 32,500 or on the Saturday and Sunday. Friday is different because it’s in a functional town that people work and live in and the numbers are different on a weekday.

And you have two stages?
We have the rotating stage and the Chrysalis. We’re ready to go if they have a show and if we can work thing out with the show that’s there in place now.

Is there an issue with artist contracts and the venue being moved?
That’s none of my business, I have no opinion. It’s just not anything I’m going to get involved in. Like I said, I’m really just the venue here. We’d have to work something out with the show that’s there and I don’t want to talk to them about it unless this is real. So I’m just waiting to see if it’s real. The venue is real, that I can tell you. The venue is real, ready, willing and able.

I’ve seen the renovation at Merriweather and the amenities — it’s one of the best sheds out there.
I think it’s a great fit, giving the history of Merriweather. It is the D.C. amphitheater it makes a lot of sense to me but I cannot speak for artists. And I have nothing to do with the booking — I do wear a few hats here in D.C. For this one only the venue hat is on.

The news has already gone out today that it’s happening.
I can’t control what anyone else says. I’m waiting for a show.

So there’s no signed contract?
They have a contract with us if they have a show to present along with a few details. If they have a real show than we have a real venue. It’s up to them to work things out with whomever they want to play, but it’s not my business. If they have a show we have a place for them to play. There’s no concern about permits or any of that. Anything beyond that I’m not even going to a stick a toe in it.

Dates could change depending on holds?
And how many bands they have, maybe it will end up one day or maybe it will end up being three days, who knows? Let’s see who they tell me is playing. That’s what I’m waiting for at this point.

In terms of your business, is this the same as any festival, like Sweetlife or M3, asking to put on a festival there?
Yes, the only thing is in this case is I’d want to speak to agents and make sure their artists are doing it.

[www.pollstar.com]

Quote
dmay
Having been to Merriweather Post many times, a few things to keep in mind: Entry is/was via various gates where you show your ticket to get in; the lawn is a terrible place to be and you can't really hear let alone see the performers; the concession stand lines, as I remember, are long and everything is/was overpriced including bottles of water; there aren't/weren't enough bathrooms; parking is (or was) available near the venue, but, as we learned, better to park on the mall parking lot and walk to the pavilion; its August in Maryland which generally means hot and muggy. Granted, its been a few years since I lived in Maryland, but I don't think the conditions for going to and being at Merriweather for a show have changed.

On another note or two, outside of trying to rake in money from Boomers nostalgic for their past and maybe grabbing younger folks money in the process, why is anybody bothering about re-staging Woodstock? And does anybody really believe that's John Fogerty's natural hair color in the photo above?

Are you referring to Saratoga Performing Arts Center ? (SPAC ) because you have described it to a T

Woodstock 50 Releases All Artists From Contracts After Maryland Announcement

7/26/2019 by Dave Brooks

Organizers of the Woodstock 50 festival have formally released all artists scheduled to play from their contracts, Billboard has learned.

John Fogerty and Jay-Z had already reportedly pulled out of the Aug. 16-18 festival and last night (July 25), reps for the festival and organizer Michael Lang emailed talent agents with bands on the bill and informed them that they would not try to enforce performance contracts for the event. Organizers attempting to move Woodstock 50 to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbus, Maryland after their permit to stage the festival in Vernon, New York had been rejected.

Moving the event 350 miles south would be a breach of the performance contract many artist signed, although most agents believed that Woodstock 50 had breached their contracts in late April when investor Dentsu, who had spent millions on upfront artist advances, pulled out of the event and tried to cancel the festival. Today's news frees the artists on the lineup to perform at different events on Aug. 16-18, but with only weeks to go, it's unclear if there is enough time to add more shows.

After the Dentsu cancellation in late April, many artists had remained quiet expecting festival organizers to cancel, but instead Woodstock organizers refused to throw in the towel, racking up months of losses in court, having multiple permit applications rejected and a steady stream of event professionals -- including three different festival producers -- try to save the festival, only to quit weeks later.

With news that the event was trying to move 350 miles away, agents representing the acts on the original Woodstock 50 roster said the shift was a breach of the performance contract, which said the anniversary event would be held in Watkins Glen, New York.

Woodstock 50 organizers are now trying to book new artists for a possible event at Merriweather Post Pavilion, with the venues operater Seth Hurwitz from I.M.P. telling Billboard he has offered to help the event.

"Michael Lang called me a week ago about doing the show in DC proper but, on this short notice, there really wasn’t anywhere to do that. I suggested Merriweather would be a low risk option and is considered DC. Plus it has a similar historic legacy," Hurwitz tells Billboard. "We made a deal quickly contingent on him putting a show together and dealing with the fact that we have a show booked on one of those dates. So now I’m just a venue waiting to see if the promoter with the hold is going to confirm."

[www.billboard.com]

"Woodstock 50 organizers are now trying to book new artists for a possible event at Merriweather Post Pavilion"


I feel sort of bad now joking about this disaster, so in return I'll volunteer my services as a guitar player for free, but please don't ask me to sing.
I can do a mean cover of Hendrix's Purple Haze (without vocals), not to mention a blistering version of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes - (again without vocals). lol

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

@Hairball,
can you also do Townshend's windmill without hurting you fingers? - Who knows, maybe they take you on if you can do without payment but offer a little donation instead. The way things look, they're gonna need it...

Here's my list/suggestions for potential participants:

The Santana Revival Band
The Who Revival Band
The CCR Revival Band
The CSN&Y Revival Band (under the conditions that Revival-Young not be seen in the movie...)
The Arlo Guthrie Revial Band
The Joan Baez Revival Band
The ShaNaNa Revival Band
The Grateful Dead Revival Band (no, not the DSO, they're too professional)
The Jimi Hendrix Revival Band (or, alternatively, Robin Trower)
The Canned Heat Revival Band
The Sly Stone Revival Band
The TYA Revival Band (since the present TYA are just a TYA Revival Band they might do as well)
and others

They will also need someone to give The Max Yasgur Revival Speech and a Wavy Gravy Revival MC, in addition to some Revival Mud & Rain & Traffic Jam.

Considering the progressing climate change, the No Rain chant may be changed to a No Sun chant.

Hell, it was a wacky idea from the outset (as all these revival festivals are). I'm following this thread in utter disbelieve.

In case they get no groups to play they can still stage an academic symposium such as "Woodstock at 50 - Repercussions on 21st Century Societies" etc. Likewise heady.

Throw em all on a fire. Burn all hippies!

Dead & Company Drop Out of Woodstock 50 as Artists Flee Beleaguered Festival

[www.rollingstone.com]

Woodstock 50 free? As organizers scramble, festival could return to its roots

[www.poughkeepsiejournal.com]

Herald Sun --- 28 July 2019



ROCKMAN

Rockman, getting tricky with the semi-transparent Photoshop layers,

….. heck Schill maybe you could turn it into a
revolving mobile so that both sides can be seen by all … hhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa...gaga...googoo



ROCKMAN

owowowowowowow!

Woodstock 50 vows ‘peaceful enjoyment,’ free tickets at Merriweather Post

Neal Augenstein
July 29, 2019

If Woodstock 50 indeed happens at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, in Columbia, Maryland, concert tickets will be free — and valid for a single day only, WTOP has learned from festival organizers.

With a maximum capacity of 32,500 for a weekend concert at Merriweather Post, and Woodstock 50’s stated goal of “3 days of peace music,” reports over the weekend that tickets would be given away for free raised the possibility of security issues in Howard County, Maryland, where the amphitheater opened in 1967.

Organizers of Woodstock 50, led by 1969 co-founder Michael Lang, tell WTOP safeguards are in place to ensure that hundreds of thousands of fans in search of a free ticket don’t descend on Columbia.

In 1969, what began as a festival with an admission charge became free, as approximately 400,000 attendees overwhelmed the concert infrastructure. A 10-mile traffic jam clogged the New York Thruway, as close to a million young people migrated toward Bethel, New York.

“A free concert does not mean an unticketed event, and Woodstock 50 will be a ticketed event,” a Woodstock 50 spokesperson told WTOP.

“While there are peaceful, unticketed events, such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, which has now grown to some 750,000 people over three days after 18 years, it has worked primarily because of its footprint in Golden Gate Park.”

Golden State Park measures approximately 1017 acres, while Merriweather Post is approximately 40 acres.

“Merriweather requires ticketing,” said the Woodstock 50 spokesperson, who asked to remain unnamed. “For the peaceful enjoyment of all, thoughtful logistical planning has taken place for Woodstock 50 at Merriweather.”

Merriweather Post has hosted free concerts in the past, including Virgin Mobile FreeFest, from 2009 through 2013. Free online tickets were snapped up nearly instantly for that event, and “freemium” tickets were also available.

While the original 1969 Woodstock, as well as its anniversary festivals in 1979, 1989, 1994 and 1999 included makeshift camping for concertgoers willing to trade creature comforts for three days of music, that won’t be the case at Woodstock 50.

“Tickets are for a single day,” said the spokesperson. “Tickets will be distributed through HeadCount, participating artists’ foundations and local charitable partnerships in D.C. and Baltimore.”

Organizers have not stated which charities would benefit.

On Friday, Woodstock 50 organizers formally released all artists who originally signed up to perform in Watkins Glen, New York. An alternative site, in Vernon, New York was quashed by permitting problems.

Artists including Jay-Z, John Fogerty, and Dead & Company have pulled out of the festival.

With less than three weeks to go, organizers have not provided an updated list of performers, or if the now-free concert will include day-long concerts on Aug. 16, 17, and 18, as originally intended.

Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P., owner of the 9:30 Club and The Anthem, and operator of Merriweather Post, has expressed flexibility to host the festival for one, two, or three days, but is not involved in assembling the performers.

“We’re still waiting to hear who is playing, but that’s not our job,” said Hurwitz, Sunday night. “They do still have a venue if they have a show.”

[wtop.com]

Country Joe, John Sebastian Pull out of Woodstock 50 ‘Sinking Ship’

by Jem Aswad
July 30, 2019

Two iconic performers of the original Woodstock are the latest to pull out of the beleaguered Woodstock 50 festival, which sources tell Variety is now tentatively scheduled to take place as a one-day event at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland.

Country Joe McDonald and John Sebastian, both of whom were scheduled to appear at Woodstock 50, told the Baltimore Sun on Monday that they will not be performing. While Sebastian said he had a scheduling conflict with another concert in the area — a source tells Variety that radius clauses have complicated matters for several performers — McDonald was more critical, saying he hasn’t heard from festival producers in weeks.

“I have no airfare booked. I have no hotels. I have nothing planned,” McDonald said. “I’m not interested in getting on a ship that’s sinking, and I don’t see any indication that this ship is not sinking.”

McDonald said that his contract required him only to perform at the original Woodstock 50 site in Watkins Glen, New York, which pulled out of the festival several weeks ago.

A source tells Variety that the concert’s move from Upstate New York to Maryland, a distance of several hundred miles, has caused radius-clause issues for several artists who’d originally signed on to perform gigs in the Maryland area. That was the case for Sebastian, he said.

“I was with them all the way until the location changed,” he said. “And it pisses me off, because I feel like a blood brother with [Woodstock producer Michael Lang], and I would love to be able to join him.”

Headliners Jay-Z and Dead & Co., along with original Woodstock performer John Fogerty, have pulled out of the festival, and sources tell Variety that a large number of other performers are no longer planning to play.

Woodstock 50 lost its original site in Watkins Glen, New York and a second alternative in Vernon, New York due to permit issues, and now has a tentative hold on Merriweather Post. The Smashing Pumpkins are scheduled to play at Merriweather on Saturday, Aug. 17 and would have to either join the lineup or reschedule their show if it takes place over the weekend (as opposed to just Sunday; on Friday capacity at Merriweather drops to 20,000 so as not to disrupt the resident of Columbia, Maryland. Seth Hurwitz, of Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club and I.M.P. Concerts, who operates Merriweather, has been tasked with putting on the show, “if it’s real,” he told Pollstar.

[variety.com]

can't get back to this garden

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IORR Editor note:
Inline image links have been replaced by regular links, due to the large image size, and many images.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-30 18:07 by bv.

You know you need to cancel the festival when Country Joe pulls out. That son of a bitch can't be doing anything these days and if even HE won't show you know its bound to fail. Honestly, I didn't even know he was still alive.

Quote
RollingFreak
You know you need to cancel the festival when Country Joe pulls out. That son of a bitch can't be doing anything these days and if even HE won't show you know its bound to fail. Honestly, I didn't even know he was still alive.

1 2 3 what are we fighting for cause I don't give a damn 4 5 6 next stop is Vietnam 7 8 9 open up the pearly gates (it goes something like that and the credit for that goes to the Woodstock movie and all those Friday and Saturday midnight showings which were just an excuse to get wasted ( Good times which I sure miss a lot )

The Raconteurs and Santana are out.

[www.syracuse.com]

[www.poughkeepsiejournal.com]

ah so...
I get it, bv
bandwidth and such...
sorry about that

1. Born on the Bayou
2. Green River
3. Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)
4. Bootleg
5. Commotion
6. Bad Moon Rising
7. Proud Mary
8. I Put a Spell on You
9. The Night Time is the Right Time
10. Keep on Chooglin’
11. Suzie Q

Double vinyl or CD...release date August 2nd

[www.superdeluxeedition.com]

Herald Sun -- 31 July 2019



ROCKMAN

Quote
tatters
Other than Michael Lang, Is there really anyone anywhere who still wants this to happen?

How prescient was this comment given what has happened in the last week?!?

Miley Cyrus and The Lumineers are out

[variety.com]

Quote
bye bye johnny
Miley Cyrus and The Lumineers are out

[variety.com]

Oh, well, that's the deal-breaker right there. No Miley, no Woodstock. Miley Cyrus is Woodstock!

Woodstock 50 Officially Off

By Shirley Halperin
July 31, 2019

Woodstock 50 is officially off, multiple sources tell Variety. Vendors and stakeholders were notified this morning, July 31, that the beleaguered festival was not going on. The festival was originally scheduled for Aug. 16 through 18.

Yesterday it was reported that headliner Miley Cyrus had pulled out of the festival, joining the Raconteurs, the Lumineers and original Woodstock 1969 performers Santana, John Sebastian and Country Joe McDonald, all of whom since last night have said publicly that they’re not performing. Earlier, headliners Jay-Z and the Dead & Co., as well as John Fogerty, confirmed that they will not be performing.

The festival was supposed to take place at the Merriweather Post Pavilion outside Baltimore the weekend of Aug. 16 to 18, although a revised plan for a one-day show meant the concert would take place on either the Friday (for which the venue’s capacity is 20,000) or the Sunday (for which is it 32,000), because the Smashing Pumpkins are scheduled to perform their own show at the venue on Saturday, the 17th.

A statement is forthcoming and will include a suggestion that the artists donate 10% of their fees to the charity Headcount.

A representative for the festival did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Woodstock 50 lost its original site in Watkins Glen, New York and a second alternative in Vernon, New York due to permit issues, and has a tentative hold on Merriweather Post. Seth Hurwitz, of Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club and I.M.P. Concerts, who operates Merriweather, was tasked with putting on the show, “if it’s real,” he told Pollstar.

[variety.com]

Woodstock 50 Is Officially Canceled

Weeks before it was supposed to begin, Woodstock cofounder Michael Lang has decided to pull the plug after failing to get a free event off the ground in Maryland

By Kory Grow
July 31, 2019

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.””

[www.rollingstone.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-31 22:22 by bye bye johnny.

This is a great relief to everyone involved, I guess.
I wanted to make a joke about it, but then it came to my mind that if Lang and his team hadn't persisted in 1969, the original Woodstock would never have happened.
Better luck next time!

Guess we can look forward to Woodstock 2029!

…. Cant Quill reform and save the day ?????



ROCKMAN