It was inevitable, we suppose. A planned music festival originally titled Woodstock Experience, spread over two weekends in August—the first in North Carolina and the second in Florida—has run into a legal snag. After a threat from original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang over usage of the Woodstock name, the southern event will now go ahead as WE2019. The fest will feature several alumni of the original festival as well as many acts not associated with the 1969 New York event.
The dates for the West Jefferson, N.C., opening weekend are Aug. 9-11, and the second, in Palm Bay, Fla., will be held Aug. 16-18.
In an article in the New York Post, Lang’s attorneys warned that the southern “event’s unauthorized use of the WOODSTOCK® trade name and trademark will cause consumers and the trade to mistakenly believe that [Lang’s] Woodstock Ventures has approved, or is connected with, your activities, and will dilute the strength of the WOODSTOCK® name and mark.” The letter demanded that they promoters cease using the name Woodstock.
Lang’s own planned Woodstock anniversary festival has run into a series of snags itself, and with a month to go until it’s supposed to open, a location has yet to be conformed and no tickets have gone on sale. Catch up on that drama here.
Our original item on what is now WE2019 read as follows:
“Keeping The Spirit Of Woodstock Alive” reads the headline on the WE2019 website. “50-years later, the event that shook the world and established a new music generation is celebrating its defining moment in time. Come! Experience and be a part of history.” The festival is presented by Saloon Studios Live, which offers standard tickets and special VIP packages at the website.
Melanie, Central Park, NYC, August 2018 (Photo © Jeff Tamarkin, used with permission)
The complete description for the first weekend is as follows: “Saloon Studios Live is elated to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock with the Woodstock Experience 2019: a full weekend of legendary live music, set in the peaceful tranquility of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. This all-inclusive, land-cruise style retreat is THE ULTIMATE Woodstock Experience, featuring Woodstock ’69 performers including Melanie, Jefferson Starship, Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Vanilla Fudge, and dozens more! Break bread with the artists, as we celebrate the golden anniversary of this tremendous landmark in music, history, and pop culture. Don’t miss out on the chance of a lifetime! Book your spot now!”
Related: We look at the lineup for Woodstock 50
In addition to the artists above (it should be noted that Vanilla Fudge did not perform at the original Woodstock and that no current members of Jefferson Starship were in the Jefferson Airplane lineup that played Yasgur’s Farm), the lineup includes the Woodstock-associated Canned Heat, Greg Errico’s Music of Sly & the Family Stone, Johnny Winter Legacy, Corky Laing’s The Music of Mountain, and Iron Butterfly, who were booked to play the 1969 fest but never made it. In addition, the two weekends advertise a number of artists with no association with the original, including Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Joey Molland’s Badfinger and others.
The Florida weekend coincides with two Woodstock anniversary celebrations taking place in upstate New York: Woodstock 50, at a still-to-be-determined location, and concerts scheduled for Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y., on the site of the original.
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Jump into a conversationWOODSTOCK RIPOFFS: It amazes me how promoter fool the people into thinking there will be another Woodstock….LMFAO. Wake up people, it will never happen again in this universe. Ya’ know why? Because what made Woodstock unique was the fact that they sold 80,000 tickets and 500,00 people showed up & it was violence free, understaffed, under fed, Raines all weekend & we all had a phuckin great time. Another thing was that all the bands that played were known acts. Not like this bullsheet Lang is putting together with 80% never heard of bands to line his sorry ass pockets with. KIDS, DONT FALL FOR THE COMMERCIAL, CORPORATE MACHINE TRYING TO SQUEEZE MONEY OUT OF YOUR POCKETS…..IWOODTOCK WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN….