PEACE & LOVE
They’re back in Woodstock 50’s starry lineup
Get ready for three more days of peace and music featuring some of today’s — and yesterday’s — hottest acts.
Fifty years after crowds broke down the fences at the Woodstock music festival in upstate New York, Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, Santana and Halsey have been revealed as some of the headliners taking the stage at a massive anniversary concert this summer.
Called Woodstock 50 Music and Arts Fair, it’ll go down Aug. 16 to 18 in the village of Watkins Glen in Schuyler County, about 250 miles northwest of New York City.
Just like the original concert, it’ll take place over a long weekend. Friday will be headlined by Miley Cyrus, rock band the Killers, and Santana, the Latin rock band that also played the 1969 fest. Other bands announced for Friday include the Lumineers, the Raconteurs, and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats.
On Saturday, Dead & Company — made up of former members of the Grateful Dead, which also performed in 1969 — along with Chance the Rapper and the Black Keys headline. Also expect Sturgill Simpson and Greta Van Fleet, among others.
And the celebration closes out Sunday with headliners Jay-Z, pop rock band Imagine Dragons and singer Halsey. Other acts performing on this day include Cage the Elephant, Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe and Common.
“We’ve lined up artists who won’t just entertain but will remind the world that music has the power to bring people together, to heal, to move us to action and to tell the stories of a generation,” Michael Lang, co-founder and producer of both the 1969 and upcoming Woodstock festivals, said in a state- ment. “Our hope is that today, just as in 1969, music will be the constant that can inspire positive change.”
Tickets to Woodstock 50 will go on sale on Earth Day, April 22. The festival will also highlight emerging talent, and feature specialty food offerings, workshops and crafts as well as a dedicated “Kidstock” area.
Five decades ago, the original festival was billed as “3 Days of Peace and Music” and featured legendary acts from the Who and Jefferson Airplane to Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. While less than 200,000 tickets were sold, hundreds of thousands more showed up and the event was eventually declared free.
While the original run was plagued with rain, sanitation problems and food shortages, the mostly peaceful fest is considered a success and a defining moment for the counterculture generation.
Anniversary events have taken place in past milestone years, most notably in 1994 for the 25th anniversary, which featured acts from Green Day and Aerosmith to Bob Dylan and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Woodstock ’99, celebrating 30 years since the original and offering acts such as Live, Sheryl Crow and DMX, was marred by reports of violence and sexual assault.