WOODSTUCK! How I tried to save the Woodstock 50 Festival

Bummer! Woodstock 50 couldn't seem to get its ACT(s) together!

In July 2019, I attempted to help the famous Woodstock festival from dropping its candy in the sand.

Below is my proposal, followed by reflections a year later.

7/22/19

Dear Rolling Stone,

I  have been following the drama around Woodstock 50 and decided to send out a creative emergency flare of an idea out today, first to Woodstock 50, then their artists/managers and now you and the Poughkeepsie Journal. I know this is not the way things are done, but the original Woodstock was not exactly an exercise in accepted protocol.  My draft idea below needs some refining and I am inspired by what I see on so many musicians websites when it comes to addressing issues that our country and the world is facing today.

Anyway, here goes! I send this message out of love for what you all are trying to do in continuing the resonance and significance of the 1969 Festival and what it means for the times we are living in.

• What if the musicians who have already been paid, used the money as commission for original compositions around the themes of Peace, Love and Music which Woodstock espouses? They might also pledge some money to good causes or kick off fundraisers. I have read that some of them may donate their commission to charity if the concert does not take place, so why not make some serious lemonade out of those lemons?

• This may enable a limited and symbolic kick off of Woodstock 50 which could be celebrated with a series of musical releases over the course of an entire year! Perhaps the Hendrix Hologram idea would be uniquely fitting to kick off a virtual Woodstock?

• Why not mark the 50th year celebration with a series of podcasts, smaller concerts or sets, which could be arranged by individual artists in  collaboration with Woodstock 50?

• Woodstock is being celebrated in innumerable parts of the world, so why not take the original festival brand global in this unique way?

• The theme of Peace Love and Music may better serve it’s original mission, going global, and given the crazy times we are in.

• The Woodstock brand could rise like a phoenix out of its current complications and past episodes, which somewhat damaged the brand and hurt the festivals chances for approval under the current tight timeline.

• Fans could look forward to numerous releases of music by their favorite artists while proliferating the brand and message of Woodstock beyond one large physical event every ten years.

• Sometimes resistance to a good idea is a sign of the need to move in another perhaps more powerful direction. Now that the suspense is built up about whether Woodstock 50 will take place, why not answer the situation with something that will totally blow peoples minds?

I am not sure if this message is going to get through, since, my inquiries months ago about vending did not..so I will be forwarding this message far and wide. Perhaps other minds will add their expertise to the concept I have suggested and hash out a workable manifestation and get in contact with you.

Peace, Love, Music and best wishes!
Stephen Oliver
Affinity Arts/Make it Right! Peace T-shirts
The sign of Peace for the next generation


7/22/20

A year ago today, I sat down and visited the website of the imperiled Woodstock 50 Festival. I shot out the above proposal to the festival, to every one of their artists that had a contact page on their website, to Rolling Stone Magazine, and to the Poughkeepsie Journal, the newspaper that was reporting on the final gasping attempts to keep the festival from not happening. I’ve long believed in Woodstock as a symbol of hope, because the original festival was a human made disaster with a happy ending. We have quite a few disasters in the making, that could benefit from Woodstock's example, and its good vibes.

I had been witnessing for months, the difficulty the festival was having with permitting, logistics, and financial backers. The months were dwindling down to weeks. Arguably, the greatest brand promoting peace next to the Nobel Prize was at risk of faltering at what should be its 50th re-coronation. I realized Woodstock had some serious issues in the past, even including the original festival, but it always seemed to persevere in the hearts of followers and in some physical format.

2019 was different though. The stakes seemed higher due to both domestic and international chaos getting a boost from the Trump administration. It seemed like the 50th Woodstock Anniversary was set to be a premier event to push back on the chaos with a fresh dose of peace, love and music right when our world needed it most. I was motivated to help, even though I had heard nothing for months about vending opportunities. You see, I had created a line of Peace T-shirts that for the last decade or so, served as an attempt to renew discussion and hope of peace. I was hoping to contribute that to the giant three day mix of hope, positivity, and loud music.

As you probably know, Woodstock failed. It became ‘WOODSTUCK’, leaving both dedicated fans and musicians looking for a way to hitch hike in the opposite direction. This brand’s rating should have inched close to Nobel Peace status. Instead, it landed just above the status of Volkswagen, after the car company jettisoned one of the greatest long term branding opportunities around peace and sustainability for the short term gain of lying about its diesel emissions. I hate to say it, because like so many, I loved them both, but at least in the case of Woodstock, its better to be STUCK, than to SUCK.

Had my proposal gained traction, the festival would have become a year long global celebration featuring podcasts, channeled through Woodstock’s website. Instead of being stuck, Woodstock would have largely transitioned to livestream 7months before Covid shut the entire concert world down. Woodstock could have perhaps had a re-coronation as significant as its first historic festival and would be leading the world with Peace Love and Music through the pandemic for another month. By the time August 14-16, 2020 comes, they could have been looking ahead at the next 50 years.

Instead, it is now up to independent artists building new legacies of peace, love, and music,  to help push back on the challenges that face us and help us all LIVE ON.