The concept seemed strong enough when we first heard about it earlier this year —- a 50th anniversary celebration of the first Woodstock festival.  But here we are, just a few weeks away [August 16 – 18] —  and things are hardly ready to go for a concert event of this scale.  Let me bring you up to date:

• Woodstock 50 does have some GOOD news —- it finally solidified a place to have the show.  After attempts to keep it in New York, the festival ended up moving to a smaller venue in Maryland on Thursday.
• BUT —- the move out of state means they have NO CONFIRMED LINEUP.  All artist agreements were cancelled because moving 350 miles away was a breach of contract.  But the festival is HOPING artists will just show up. The Lumineers, Imagine Dragons, The Killers, The Raconteurs, Portugal. The Man, and lots of others were originally scheduled to appear.
• The festival apparently is also hoping the FANS show up, too.  It’s being reported that now that Woodstock 50 will now be a FREE event, with donations to charity being encouraged  That’s a long way from the $400 tickets people were talking about months ago.

I could be wrong — and this could be an amazing fundraiser filled with artists embracing the spirit of the original.  But right now all I see is a bunch of wet mattresses and plain cheese sandwiches. Call me “Netflix jaded.” —- [eric]