Woodstock

17 Stories

Tree That Relayed Woodstock Messages Has Come Down

Posted notes, sometimes on a paper plate, connected people at 1969 music festival

(Newser) - Masses of people at the 1969 Woodstock festival stopped by the towering red maple tree a little ways off from the main stage. Many scrawled messages on paper scraps or cardboard and attached them to the old tree's trunk. "SUSAN, MEET YOU HERE SATURDAY 11 A.M., 3...

Woodstock Singer Had Hits With 'Lay Down,' 'Brand New Key'
Melanie's Family Asks
Fans to Light a Candle
obituary
Jan 24, 2024 7:40 PM CST

Melanie's Family Asks Fans to Light a Candle

Singer of 'Lay Down' and 'Brand New Key' was a breakout star at Woodstock

(Newser) - Melanie, a folk singer who performed at Woodstock in 1969—solo and petrified—before having major pop hits with "Brand New Key" and "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," has died. The singer whose full name was Melanie Safka was 76. "She was one of the...

You Know His Poster, if Not His Name
You Know His Poster,
if Not His Name
obituary
Jul 3, 2022 10:15 AM CDT

You Know His Poster, if Not His Name

Arnold Skolnick, who created the iconic Woodstock imagery, is dead

(Newser) - When freelance designer Arnold Skolnick was asked to quickly churn out a publicity poster for an upcoming concert in 1969, he ended up creating what the New York Times calls a "symbol of the era." The upcoming concert, of course, was Woodstock, and Skolnick came up with the...

Woodstock Went Beyond Michael Lang's Hopeful Vision
Promoter
Planned 
'3 Days of
Peace & Music'
obituary
Jan 9, 2022 1:05 PM CST

Promoter Planned '3 Days of Peace & Music'

Woodstock went beyond Michael Lang's hopeful vision

(Newser) - Michael Lang, concert promoter and co-creator of the 1969 Woodstock music festival, has died. He was 77. A representative said Lang died Saturday in a New York hospital of a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Rolling Stone reports. Working with promoter Artie Kornfeld and a pair of businessmen, Lang conceived...

He Remembers Woodstock 99 as a Nightmare
He Remembers
Woodstock 99
as a Nightmare
essay
Jul 24, 2021 5:35 PM CDT

He Remembers Woodstock 99 as a Nightmare

Dave Holmes was covering it for MTV

(Newser) - You might expect a story that begins "I was at Woodstock" to take you back half a century. But in a piece for Esquire , Dave Holmes transports readers to the Woodstock of 1999, "the only live music event from which I have been evacuated." His piece coincides...

County Chucks Out 1971 'Anti-Hippie Law'

Woodstock-era law banned huge gatherings

(Newser) - Peace, love—and LaGrange. LaGrange County in northern Indiana has repealed a 1971 law that was intended to block huge gatherings like the 1969 Woodstock music festival in New York state, the AP reports. "I called it our anti-hippie ordinance," county commissioner Dennis Kratz said with a smile....

Woodstock Co-Founder on Why Woodstock 50 Imploded

'It's been a really bizarre trip,' says Michael Lang

(Newser) - Shortly after Woodstock organizers announced the shambolic 50th anniversary concerts were off after months of setbacks and holdups, Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang summed up the drama in six words: "It's been a really bizarre trip." Over the last six months, Lang, 74, moved like a cat using...

Woodstock 50 Is No More
Woodstock 50 Is No More
Jul 31, 2019 2:08 PM CDT

Woodstock 50 Is No More

Organizers cancel the troubled music festival

(Newser) - Woodstock 50 is officially canceled. Organizers announced Wednesday that the troubled festival that hit a series of setbacks in the last four months won't take place next month, the AP reports. The three-day festival was originally scheduled for Aug. 16-18, but holdups included permit denials and the loss of...

Jay-Z and John Fogerty Drop Out of Woodstock 50
Woodstock 50
Loses a Headliner
Jul 26, 2019 4:31 PM CDT

Woodstock 50 Loses a Headliner

Jay-Z pulls out of troubled festival, still scheduled for next month

(Newser) - Jay-Z has pulled out of the 50th anniversary Woodstock festival just weeks before the troubled event is supposed to take place. The rap king will no longer close the three-day festival scheduled for Aug. 16-18, a person familiar with the situation told the AP on Friday, speaking on condition of...

Woodstock 50 Turning Out to Be as Chaotic as Woodstock

A funder pulls out

(Newser) - Woodstock 50 is proving to be as chaotic as the original festival held in 1969. A financial investor in the festival announced Monday it was pulling its funding from the anniversary event, set to take place Aug. 16-18 in Watkins Glen, New York. "Despite our tremendous investment of...

Woodstock 50th Anniversary Lineup Revealed

Bill includes Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus

(Newser) - Jay-Z, Dead & Company, and the Killers will headline one of the 50th anniversary shows commemorating the groundbreaking Woodstock festival this summer. Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang announced Tuesday that Miley Cyrus, Santana, Imagine Dragons, Robert Plant, the Black Keys, and Chance the Rapper will also perform at Woodstock 50, which...

It's Happening: Woodstock 50 Confirmed

Organizer promises it will be nothing like Woodstock '99

(Newser) - Wish you could have experienced Woodstock? You'll get a chance, sort of, this summer on the 1969 festival's 50th anniversary. The organizer of the original festival confirms to Rolling Stone that a three-day music festival will be staged in Watkins Glen, NY, from Aug. 16-18—and it will...

Woman Caused $350K in Damage at Ex's House: Cops

Ana Rockman charged in very expensive break-in at former husband's NY home

(Newser) - There are bitter breakups, and then there's the case of Ana Rockman: State police have charged the 61-year-old New York woman with causing more than $350,000 in damage to artwork, antiques, and other personal property at her ex-husband's home. Troopers say Rockman, of Long Island's Elmont,...

Woodstock Legend Richie Havens Dead at 72

Opened 1969 Woodstock with three-hour set

(Newser) - Richie Havens, the folk singer who opened the 1969 Woodstock festival, died today from a sudden heart attack at home in New Jersey, Rolling Stone reports. He was 72. The Brooklyn-born musician is best known for the three-hour, partially improvised Woodstock set that brought him to prominence (and helped pad...

Woodstock Not Worth the Trip
 Woodstock Not Worth the Trip 
movie review
Aug 28, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

Woodstock Not Worth the Trip

Mixed reviews for 1960s coming-of-age flick

(Newser) - Taking Woodstock isn’t really about the music: it’s more about coming of age on the outskirts of the festival. Critics are lukewarm about Ang Lee's latest effort:
  • “You can’t deny the smiling mood that wafts through the film like incense,” admits Anthony Lane of the
...

The Music Sucked at Woodstock
 The Music Sucked at Woodstock 
OPINION
Aug 14, 2009 7:06 AM CDT

The Music Sucked at Woodstock

(Newser) - Woodstock become an iconic event of the '60s, but according to Wall Street Journal critic Jim Fusilli, it was a mediocre festival at best. Major artists like Lennon, the Doors, and Led Zeppelin stayed away, those who did show were drugged up, and sound equipment failed—the whole thing was...

Woodstock Was a 'Nightmare'
 Woodstock Was a 'Nightmare' 
OPINION
Aug 13, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

Woodstock Was a 'Nightmare'

(Newser) - Mark Hosenball of Newsweek was at Woodstock, and not only did he not have a good time, but he can’t quite figure out how we’ve “transformed a chaotic mudfest into an epic pageant of peace and love.” Hosenball reminisces about the “massive, teeming, squalid mess”...

17 Stories
Most Read on Newser