It’s official. Woodstock 50 will go down as one of the most talked-about festivals of the summer (and decade, for that matter). And Michael Lang, who’s returning to produce the festival 50 years after he co-produced the first one in 1969, has been able to land a panoply of talent that will entice Baby Boomers, Millennials and everyone in between.
As saratoga living initially reported, headliners will include rap giants Jay-Z and Chance The Rapper, alternative rockers The Killers and Dead & Co., which rose from the ashes of The Grateful Dead.
But maybe most interesting is the number of legacy acts Lang was able to lure in, the majority of whom played the original ’69 affair. These include Santana, who performed at the original Woodstock high on LSD (he’s said that he hallucinated that his guitar was a snake); David Crosby, who played the original festival as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; John Fogerty, who played with his band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, at the original festival (he did a stand at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center last summer); Canned Heat, who played the original festival, and is best known for their ’60s anthem “Up The Country” (you might also recognize it from a Geico advertising campaign); Country Joe McDonald, who was a popular counterculture icon and played the popular hippie anthem, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” at the original festival; and John Sebastian (of The Lovin’ Spoonful fame), who did a solo set at the original Woodstock (he’s set to play Caffè Lena on June 29—good luck finding tickets).
Don’t worry, kids; Uncle Lang also hooked you guys up, too. The more Millennial-skewing acts will include Miley Cyrus, The Lumineers, Maggie Rogers, Greta Van Fleet, Portugal. The Man, Imagine Dragons, Halsey and Cage the Elephant.
And for all of my Generation X contemporaries, feast your eyes on the following: The Black Keys, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Sturgill Simpson, Gary Clark, Jr., Dawes (!), Margo Price, Brandi Carlile and Courtney Barnett.
“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,” said Lang, Co-founder and Producer of the 1969 and 2019 Woodstock festivals, in a statement. “Our hope is that today, just as in 1969, music will be the constant that can inspire positive change.”
Here’s a more comprehensive peak at the lineup:
Legacy Acts: Santana and Dead & Company, include Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, David Crosby and Friends, John Fogerty, Canned Heat, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian and Melanie.
Friday, August 16: The Killers, Miley Cyrus, The Lumineers, The Raconteurs, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, Run The Jewels, The Head and The Heart, Maggie Rogers, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Bishop Briggs, Anderson East, Akon, Princess Nokia, Grandson, Fever 333, Larkin Poe, Dorothy, Flora Cash, Brian Cadd, Ninet Tayeb and more.
Saturday, August 17: Chance The Rapper, The Black Keys, Sturgill Simpson, Greta Van Fleet, Portugal. The Man, Leon Bridges, Gary Clark Jr., Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Dawes, Margo Price, Nahko And Medicine For The People, India.Arie, Jade Bird, Rival Sons, Emily King, Soccer Mommy, SiR, Taylor Bennett, Amy Helm, Courtney Hadwin, Pearl, John-Robert, IAMDDB. and more.
Sunday, August 18: Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons, Halsey, Cage the Elephant, Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe, Young the Giant, Courtney Barnett, Common, Vince Staples, Judah and The Lion, Earl Sweatshirt, Boygenius, Reignwolf, The Zombies, Pussy Riot, Cherry Glazerr, Leven Kali, The Marcus King Band, Victory, Hollis Brown, John Craigie, Amigo The Devil, Liz Brasher and more.
Or, you can take a look at it here.
Tickets go on sale April 22, but you can get a jump on ticket-sale information here.
