BACK IN JANUARY, I blogged about the prospects of two celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock Art Fair, held in White Lake, Bethel, on a farm owned by Max Yasgur, from August 15th to the 17th (and actually into the morning of the 18th), 1969, billed as "three days of peace and music", and attracted over four hundred thousand fans. One of the new celebrations was to take place, appropriately, on the original site; however, the original promoters of that legendary festival decided to have a celebration elsewhere, choosing Watkins Glen International speedway, the site of another big rock festival, "Summer Jan" in 1973, which attracted even more fans, six hundred thousand to be exact.
As I had blogged back then, I questioned why, first of all, to have two festivals going on the same weekend, secondly, to have it at another venue that also made history unrelated to the original event, and thirdly, to have one of those fantastic proportions, remembering the violence at Woodstock 1999, the thirtieth anniversary festival in Ithaca, which literally went up in flames.
Well, several weeks ago, it was a done deal: "Woodstock 50" now has its definitive celebration at Watkins Glen, set for the same weekend this summer: August 16-18, 2019. Meanwhile, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, on the site of the original festival, backed out of any big celebration, instead, hosting a few classic rock acts, including the original performers Santana (who are also booked for Woodstock 50), as well as Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
Michael Lang, one of the original organizers, chose Watkins Glen, precisely for that reason: That the Grand Prix Raceway that held that Summer Jam event can simply hold more people. But the original site held all those people back in 1969, so why couldn't be there? Well, having visited the site back in 2010, apparently all concerts now take place in the amphitheater area as opposed to the open, sloped field, and has a far less capacity that what he was hoping to attract. So, apparently, the area where the original took place, is, indeed hallowed ground, and hey, this is 2019 so no gate crashing or traffic jams, and all that stuff.
Okay, that sounds logical. But again, this isn't the late 1960's, where the whole younger generation embraced peace and love, and all came together with little, if no violence, all with a common cause. Contrast that with 1999, where there was all sorts of rape, sexual assault, violence and fires, culminating in the crowd torching many stands and other standing structures during the Red Hot Chili Peppers set, ending the festival, and some say, sounding the death knell for rock as a viable genre.
Lang had an excellent response to this. Unlike the sixties, the nineties was one of relative prosperity. There were little hardships, nothing really to protest, and the dominate sub genre in rock was the dreaded "Nu-Metal", featuring bands like Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine, Insane Clown Posse, and many others, although there were also many milder acts performing at the multi-stage event. The young generation was much more "privileged" with no cause for uniting together like the prior generation. Bizkit's hit "Break Stuff', which launched that violent was pretty much an anthem for that generation, with nothing else to do with their lives, to just go on a rampage just for the fun of it.
Looking at the proposed lineup, none of the many acts that performed in 1999 are on the bill this time. With the exception of ten of the performers at the original festival coming back, all the acts have been around within the past fifteen to twenty years, and those that started before that weren't at Woodstock 99. Still, with the country politically divided and many protests by groups such as Antifa, and the like, wouldn't be risky to hold another big concert along those lines? Perhaps with the diverse lineup planned, there could be more unison, with something for everyone as hip-hop plays a significant part of the make-up of the festival.
Like Woodstock 99, as well as current annual festivals like Coachella, SXSW, and Lollapallooza, there are multiple stages, each with a lineup. I always wondered if it was too much, especially with all the planned artists to perform. The original concert had one stage, after all. True, if you weren't crazy about one band, you can always wander over to another stage. But on the other hand, suppose if the artists you love are performing at the same time?
So, what about the artists performing at Woodstock 50? At least the favorite ones of this blog has featured over the past eight and a half years. Although the notices that have gone out had indicated "and more", there are many Scenes n' Soundwaves favorites playing each day, along with a handful of those from the original festival.
There are four stages planned for the event: Peace, Love, Music, and Garden. Although I have no intention of attending, let's suppose I do, and evaluate which of the stages is worth checking out:
Friday, August 16, 2019
Peace Stage
The Killers, The Raconteurs, The Head and the Heart, John Fogerty, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Bishop Briggs and Grandson
Seems like a great hangout spot here as I am familiar with all except Grandson. Fogerty, of course, was part of Creedence Clearwater Revival who performed at the original festival. The Killers have been a favorite of mine (also loved their annual Christmas songs they released, especially "I Feel It In My Bones"; the Brendon Flowers-led band had a comeback album of sorts with Wonderful Wonderful. The Raconteurs, currently on the SNS 100, of course, feature Jack White, formally of The White Stripes, and also part of The Dead Weather. White is one of the best guitarists in the new millennium, at least in my opinion. Michael Franti and Spearhead had several songs on my SNS 100 earlier in the decade, and Bishop Briggs has had much recent success here, not to mention being featured on Cold War Kids' #1 SNS hit, "So Tied Up".
Love Stage
Miley Cyrus, The Lumineers, Run the Jewels, Maggie Rogers, Anderson East, Fever 333, Larkin Poe
An interesting lineup. Okay, I haven't heard half of these artists. Maggie Rogers is new to SNS with a recent add for "Light On" (currently #92). The Lumineers have had some key hits in the indie folk genre, namely "Ho Hey" and "Angela", and are from New Jersey. Some have questioned Cyrus' appearance. While much of her material leaves much to be desired, her more recent output shows much maturity in her artistry. "Malibu" was a huge hit with my blog two summers back, and she just returned to my top 10 this week with "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart", as featured artist to Mark Ronson. Give her a chance.
Music Stage
Santana, Robert Plant & the Original Shape Shifters, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Akon, Princess Nokia, Flora Cash, Dorothy.
Some classic flavoring here, with Santana, who essentially made their debut at the original festival (who could forget their awesome "Soul Sacrifice"?). Of course, the band surrounding leader Carlos Santana has changed over the years; however he reunited with the original lineup recently with the Santana IV album (which yielded an SNS #1, "Blues Magic"). It would be cool if they reunited here, too. Note that Santana is also playing Bethel Woods at the original site on Saturday the 17th, a venue that I saw them at back in 2010, incidentally. As for Plant, the voice of Led Zeppelin, he was not at the original (Zeppelin were playing Convention Hall in Asbury Park NJ that weekend), he has a new back-up band with the Original Shape Shifters (he usually balks at talk about a Led Zeppelin reunion).
New, but definitely a throwback to the classic sound are Nathaniel Rateliff and his band, having two SNS #1's to his credit: The awesome "S.O.B." and the more recent "Coolin' Out". This is a great band to check out. As for the others, Akon is a noted hip-hop artist who's been around much of the past fifteen years or so, Flora Cash had a recent SNS entry with "You're Somebody Else", and Dorothy had a #51 entry in 2016 with "Raise Hell". I'm not familiar with Princess Nokia, a rapper from Puerto Rico.
Garden Stage
John Sebastian, Melanie, Brian Cadd, Hinet Tayeb
This is a much smaller stage and features much of the folk-oriented artists who performed back in 1969. At the original festival, the first night, Friday, was pretty much reserved for folk-oriented artists. Obviously, Sebastian, formerly of the Lovin' Spoonful, but a solo artist by the time the original festival rolled around, and New Jersey-born Melanie who also not only performed then, but had a hit with a song about it, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", are the draws here. Sebastian allegedly had a hand in the recent Us Commoners project of a few years back. Cadd is also a veteran of that era, having played with the Flying Burrito Brothers as well as other pop/rock entities back in the late 1960's. Tayeb is a multi-media 35-year old talent hailing from Israel. As I'm not really familiar with either Cadd's or Tayeb's work, but should be, plus with the planned intimacy of the stage, I'll give this one a shot.
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Peace Stage
Dead & Company, Sturgill Simpson, Gary Clark Jr, Margo Price, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Jade Bird, Emily King.
Although the draw here for me would be Gary Clark, and Jade Bird, both currently on the SNS 100, for most, it will be for Dead & Company, which is the latest incarnation of the Grateful Dead, which played at the original. Three members of that original band,, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann, are joined with others including John Mayer. To be honest, I was never a "Deadhead", but since I am a fan of jam bands, they may be worth checking out. But for me, Gary Clark is the big draw. Bird is also a good listen, but I am vaguely, at most, familiar with the others.
Love Stage
The Black Keys**, Greta Van Fleet, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Dawes, Rival Sons, Soccer Mommy, Courtney Hadwin.
The first three bands listed here alone would sell me on this stage, although Dawes is pretty good as well. I do not know any of the others, however but they may be worth checking out, too. The Keys, recently reunited after a few years hiatus are back strong with "Lo/Hi" which, at #2 could become their fifth #1 on my blog. Their back-to-basics rock still resonates with me. Greta Van Fleet is a much talked-about, if not much-maligned band that many call a "Zeppelin throwback", but with two SNS top 20's (of which their current entry, "You're the One", at #12, doesn't really sound like them), and a Saturday Night Live appearance behind them, they are definitely worth checking out. Edward Sharpe has had a few big songs here and elsewhere, notably "Home", should be a nice addition as well. Leader Alex Ebert is still there, but I wish Jade Castrinos would make a return. Soccer Mommy (real name Sophie Allison, is an indie-rock artist from Nashville; Rival Sons, rockers from Long Beach CA, had a #76 entry on SNS in 2015 with "Open My Eyes". Finally, the most interesting performer could well be Hadwin, only 14-years old, from England and a recent contestant on America's Got Talent.
**LATE NOTE: The Black Keys were scheduled to play, but recently canceled as they had a "scheduling conflict". You can read about the story here: Black Keys Drop out of Woodstock 50
Music Stage
Chance the Rapper, Portugal.the.Man, Leon Bridges, india.arie, SiR, Taylor Bennett, Iamddb
Portugal and Bridges, of course, are the big draws for me, combining for three SNS #1's on my blog chart. I would really hope that Bridges isn't playing at the same time as Gary Clark, Jr, but again, that's the pratfalls of multiple-stages. India.arie is an accomplished artist who has been around since 2001. She's appeared on my blog chart once, featured on Santana's remake of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", #24 in late 2010. Chance the Rapper is a popular hip-hop artist, as is Taylor Bennett. SiR is an R&B singer who has worked with Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder and others. Iamddb is a jazz singer from Britain. An interesting, diverse lineuip. To be honest, I am not a hip-hop person, but I am willing to give SiR and Iamddb a try. Still, P.TM and Leon would be the main reasons to go here.
Garden Stage
David Crosby & Friends, Country Joe McDonald, Amy Helm, Pearl, John-Robert
Again, artists associated with the original festival abound here on this stage: David Crosby & Friends, features the once-member of The Byrds, and on-and-off member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young which performed at Yasgur's Farm in '69. Country Joe McDonald, leader of Country Joe & the Fish, were there as well and were noted for their "Fish Cheer/I'm A Fixin' to Die Rag", a Vietnam War protest chant/song. Amy Helm is the daughter of Levon Helm of The Band, which also performed then. I have no idea who the other two artists are.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Peace Stage
Jay-Z, Janelle Monae, Common, Vince Staples, Boygenius, Cherry Glazier, Victory
If you're a fan of hip-hop, this stage is for you. We all know who Jay-Z is, Common is rather commonly known as well. Staples was a member of hip-hop group Cutthroat Boyz. Cherry Glazier looks like an interesting garage/lo-fi rock band hailing from LA. Monae is an accomplished R&B/hip-hop singer and is the only one out of this group to make the SNS 100, going to #1, no less, as featured vocalist on fun.'s "We Are Young". German hard-rockers Victory, complete the line-up.
Love Stage
Imagine Dragons, Cage the Elephant, Courtney Barnett, Judah & the Lion, Reignwolf, The Zombies, Hollis Brown
Once again, the first three mentioned will get me to the stage in a hurry. While I am perhaps not as big a Dragons fan as the typical alternative music fan, I do enjoy some of their songs. Cage, of course is a fave…..two SNS #1 songs, several others reaching top 5, including their latest, "Ready to Let Go" reaching that this week. Courtney is another SNS regular with a #1, "Dead Fox" to her credit. Definitely must-sees. Judah & the Lion has had a lot of alternative success, but so far, only one song has made it on my playlist. Reignwolf is a blues-oriented Canadian rock band, and Hollis Brown, whose name was derived from a Bob Dylan song, is a roots/Americana band from New York.
The most intriguing inclusion here are the Zombies. For those wondering, yes, that is the British Invasion band responsible for sixties hits like "She's Not There", "Tell Her No", and "Time of the Season", as well as being a new inductee this year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band didn't perform at the original festival (they had broken up by then in spite of "Season" being a posthumous hit just a few months earlier. The band reformed in 2004 behind original members Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent (who had formed his own band Argent in the early 70's with hits like "Liar", "Hold Your Head Up" and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You"). Definitely one of the better stage lineups of the festival.
Music Stage
Halsey, Brandi Carlile, Young the Giant, Earl Sweatshirt, Pussy Riot, Levin Kali, The Marcus King Band.
The draw here is Young the Giant, with two SNS chart-toppers, "It's About Time" and "Mind Over Matter" as well as several other top 20 songs from various albums. Pop fans will undoubtedly go for Halsey, the Edison NJ singer who is currently popular on the pop charts. I've tried to take an inkling to her, but her sparse pop pretty much turns me off, even after giving a couple of her songs a try. To each their own, I guess. Carlile is an talented, underrated artist who perhaps is finally getting her due with her song "The Joke" moving up to #22 this week. Kali and Sweatshirt are both hip-hop artists. Marcus King Band is a blues rock band from Greenville,SC and is an outfit perhaps worth exploring in the future.
The interesting act on this bill is Pussy Riot. While the name might suggest some sort of metal band, they are actually a female Russian punk band with topical (read: controversial) songs and lyrics. What was that about avoiding possible violence at the festival?
Garden Stage
Canned Heat, Hot Tuna, Liz Brasher, Amigo the Devil, John Cragie
Another Garden nod to the original festival, with '69 performers Canned Heat, whose song "Going Up the Country" perhaps was a fitting theme to that festival. Hot Tuna was and is a spin-off group of the Jefferson Airplane who also performed then. As for the others, Brasher is a soulful rock singer/songwriter, Cragie an Americana folk singer, fitting right in with the original tone of Woodstock. Amigo the Devil I was unable to find anything about, thus remains an enigma.
SO, WHAT'S AT THE ORIGINAL SITE? Well, Bethel Woods isn't going dark. The site of the original festival does have music planned for those three days. Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, with special guests Arlo Guthrie and Edgar Winter will be playing on Friday the 16th. Guthrie was at the original festival and is probably more famous for his quote, "The New York State Thruway is closed. Far out!". Winter wasn't at the festival, but his late brother Johnny, was. Santana, fresh off from playing day 1 of Woodstock 50, will play at Bethel on Saturday the 17th, with the Doobie Brothers.
It does sound like the big event at Bethel Woods this year will be June's "Mountain Jam" which has moved over from Hunter Mount this year, with what sounds like a cool line-up which I'll cover in a subsequent blog.
KOOKS HIT THE TOP: Looking at my SNS 100, we have a new #1, by The Kooks, with "Chicken Bone". It was actually a tie with The Black Keys' 'Lo/Hi", but ties are broken by last week's position, which was in favor of the Kooks. It's their first #1 here, after coming close twice with "Junk of the Heart (Happy)" and "Is It Me" stopping at #2. The Brighton, England band has been around since 2005 and had some gems back then, namely "Naïve" and "She Moves In Her Own Way", both from 2006's Inside In/Inside Out, with the latter heard frequently at the hotel where I worked night audit until recently. The band has released five full-length albums with the current Let's Go Sunshine coming out last August.
The two big movers of note in the Top 20 are Fitz & the Tantrums grabbing the "Mover of the Week's honors with "123456" (41-18) and perhaps a surprise, Lil Peep's posthumous release "I've Been Waiting", which moves 25-8 in just its third week. The track, with also features ILoveMakonnen and Fall Out Boy, is also on the Hot 100 as well as Adult Top 40 lists, suggesting perhaps a big hit and might disrupt all the big names moving up my list right now.
I FEEL A HIT COMIN' ON: The big story among the debuts is the new one by Nick Waterhouse, "I Feel An Urge Coming On", the lead single from his just-released, self-titled fourth album. Waterhouse, unless you've been following my blog, is perhaps the best artist that nobody knows about.
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| Nick Waterhouse's first single from self-titled fourth album is dynamite. |
To be honest, I had never heard of Waterhouse, whose debut Time's All Gone, was released in 2012, until several months after his third release, Never Twice, released in 2016. (His second album, Holly, came out in 2014. But it wasn't until the spring of 2017 that, while dining at a local Applebee's, which had music piped in the background, I heard some cool retro-jazzy concoction which blew me away. As I usually do when I heard something awesome, I waved my phone and SoundHound-ed it, expected it to be something several years, if not decades, old. To my surprise, the track "It's Time" was from the latter half of 2016.
Waterhouse, born and raised in California started his career at age 16, with a band called Intelligia, circa 2002, which harkened back to Brit-invasion bands like The Animals and early Who (then called The High Numbers), perhaps setting the stage for his current style. Later, he became part of the Orange County (CA) underground music scene, alongside some blog-familiar acts like Ty Segall, Cold War Kids and The Growlers. In the early 2010's to support his first two sets, he toured all through Europe, and appeared stateside on the popular show Daryl's Place in upstate New York, jamming with host Daryl Hall.
While "It's Time" came and went nationally in the fall of 2016, it was the following spring that it blew me away and I added the song to my playlist. The song became the Top Debut on my chart dated May 28, 2017, coming in at #52, and attaining the top spot for the week of July 30th. It battled Miley Cyrus' "Malibu" for my top summer honors that year, as well as #3 on my year end top 100 of 2017. The song had that early 1970's jazz vibe to it that was perfect as a summer song.
While, to my knowledge, no other singles were released from Never Twice, I started exploring the album a little more. "Old Place", was another throwback to the mid-1960's, sort of a Ramsey Lewis cooking vibe there. That track reached #14 here. After that came "Straight Love Affair", another throwback with an awesome organ line that spiced up another summer cooker. Once again, it was a top song for me in the summer of 2018, and this time, it topped my year-end chart, despite no chart action at all, and even when I posted the song on Facebook, it got absolutely no likes or comments. Finally, I dipped into the album one more time and came up with a cool song "Katchi" which had been a hit in France in a remix by Ofenbach. The album version featured Leon Bridges and the catchy song peaked here at #4 and this week still hangs in there at #98.
So then, what about "I Feel An Urge Coming On"? Was the wait worth it, or, like many other acts, did the artist cave in and start sounding more pop? Well, I haven't heard the new album yet, but if this song is any indication, Waterhouse has stood his ground. The song doesn't sound like any of the above mentioned tracks from the last album, yet it's still another retro romp. Again, another good-time cooker that perhaps combined a bit of 60's garage rock with a hint of surf rock. This is another song that sounds like it could have been recorded live, in fact, this is perfect for an outdoor daytime concert, music that you can take all in. This is definitely an exciting release.
It appears that Waterhouse will have a third straight summer smash here.
In the coming weeks and months, I'll take a look at other tracks from the new set...I can tell you that another track, "Song For Winners', is just that....a winner. So, will Waterhouse try and do what others haven't been able to do, and change the course of popular music? Probably not and maybe that's a good thing. It's my best-kept secret, although I really hope that, unlike his last set, some of my music-loving friends will comment and take notice.
ADDS ALSO OF NOTE: Beck's new single, "Super Cool", is from the movie The Lego Movie 2, and features Robyn and The Lonely Island, and is a pretty cool techno rock with a bit of a rap in the middle. So far, no chart action, but let's hope that Beck's hot streak that started with his Grammy win in 2015 for Morning Phase continues....Catfish and the Bottlemen are back with "Longshot". It's already top 10 on Billboard's alternative chart and it's a bit more melodic poppy than prior efforts, but still rocks. Could top "Kathleen", their #17 blog hit from 2015......The National did really well last time out with "The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness" from 2017's Sleep Well Beast, peaking here at #4. . Their new one "You Had Your Soul with You", from new set I Am Easy to Find, due next month, is a little more sparser, with stripped down guitars and drums, that might take a few listens to get into...….Two Door Cinema Club has been a favorite in the past (four top 10's here), and "Talk", from an, as of yet, untitled, upcoming fourth set, is a sort of 80's flavored techno-pop romp.....the one new band to SNS this week is Half Alive, a Long Beach CA indie pop outfit, with one album, 3, to their credit. The new song, "Still Feel", already top 20 alternative, is from a forthcoming second set.
DIAMOND MINE: Since 2015, I've been adding red symbols to songs which receive play on my iTunes or iPod a certain number of times. A circle means there have been 25 plays, a triangle, 50. For the first time since then, a song currently on my SNS 100 playlist has achieved 100 plays, hence a red diamond next to the song, "Elizabeth's Theme" by Dirty Beaches, a "hit" from 2012 which I re-added a couple months back. It had 94 plays at that time, and finally reaches the century mark. Actually, many songs in the first couple years of my blog have long surpassed that; Adele's "Rolling In the Deep" leads with 193 plays. In fact 22 songs from the blog era (not counting Christmas songs or older, classic tunes) have achieved the century mark. "It's Time" and "Malibu" from 2017 were the most recent new members of that exclusive club until "Elizabeth's Theme". The song is probably in it's final week on the SNS 100, at #100. A song under the artist's real name, Alex Zhang Hungtai, "Pierrot", moves up to #60 this week.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
April 8, 2019
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 3 |
NUMBER ONE:
Album: Let's Go Sunshine
|
8 |
| 2 | 4 | The Black Keys - Lo/Hi | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | The Revivalists - Change | 10 |
| 4 | 2 | Elle King - Baby Outlaw | 11 |
| 5 | 6 | Cage the Elephant - Ready to Let Go | 8 |
| 6 | 9 | Kungs f Ritual - You Remain | 8 |
| 7 | 7 | STRFKR - In the End | 9 |
| 8 | 24 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
(Single Only)
|
3 |
| 9 | 10 | Panic at the Disco - High Hopes● | 23 |
| 10 | 12 | Mark Ronson f. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart | 9 |
| 11 | 8 | The Cranberries - All Over Now | 10 |
| 12 | 11 | Greta Van Fleet - You're the One | 11 |
| 13 | 5 | Tennis- I Miss That Feelin' | 11 |
| 14 | 19 | Slothrust - Rotten Pumpkin | 6 |
| 15 | 18 | Death Cab for Cutie - Northern Lights | 11 |
| 16 | 20 | Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper - Shallow | 16 |
| 17 | 16 | Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen | 7 |
| 18 | 41 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:
(Single Only)
|
2 |
| 19 | 15 | San Cisco - When I Dream | 10 |
| 20 | 17 | Lauren Daigle - You Say | 9 |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod.
¨ Songs with 100 or more
plays on my iPod.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
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