Will Woodstock 50 be a total disaster?

August 1969, the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair was celebrated in upstate New York. The festival became an instant sensation receiving over half a million people to enjoy “3 days of Peace & Music”, as states the official website. The line-up included many of the principal acts at the moment such as Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and many others. Woodstock has become an icon exemplifying the hippie, free love and peace movement that was originated at that time in the USA.

Legendary performance of Carlos Santana in Woodstock 1969. Source: YouTube

For the celebration of the 50^th anniversary, Woodstock’s co-creator Michael Lang has helped to organize an edition of the emblematic festival. It is scheduled to take place the weekend of Aug. 16-18 and it will include as headliners: The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Jay-z, Imagine Dragons and many more.

At this point you might be thinking that Woodstock 50 looks great, however, it is not yet sure that the memorable festival will finally take place. The festival’s organization has encountered thousands of problems in the process. First, less than one month after announcing the lineup, on the of the headliners, The Black Keys cancelled their performance due to scheduling conflict.

Later, the tickets were supposed to go on sale on April 22 and they have yet not gone on sale. This has been an effect of the two major complications the organization has come across: the investors and the festival’s venue.

Both issue have gone hand by hand as investors Dentsu Aegis Network ceased their involvement after the capacity was reduced to 75,000 (after being initially planned for 150,000 and later 100,000). Legal action was taken to the New York Supreme Court over the rights of the artists, as many of the artists had contracts with Dentsu Aegis. Other investors also backed up at that moment but soon the organization found trust in investors CID Entertainment.

Nevertheless, problems did not end at that point. On June 10^th, almost three months before the festival should take place, the venue owners (Watkins Glen International) announced they were cancelling the contract due to a missed payment of $150,000 and hours later CID Entertainment pulled out as an investor.

At the beginning of last week there was news about the fact that the festival was applying permits for a new venue: Vernon Downs. This site will reduce the capacity of event even more, down to 45,000-50,000 people.

Some sources say that till this date, artists have yet not been officially informed by the festival’s organization of the new venue.

What do you think? Will Woodstock 50 finally take place? Show your opinion in the comment section.

When Daft Punk changed live performances forever at Coachella 2006

You have probably already heard about Daft Punk, I mean, who has not danced to their catchy tune “Get Lucky”? Daft Punk is an electronic music duo, famous for wearing their astonishing robot helmets.

However, what you might did not know is that they do not appear very often in public. Their last appearances have been in the Grammy’s (2008, 2014 and 2017) and their last tour was in 2007.

Daft Punk performing in the Grammy’s 2014 featuring Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/26/showbiz/music/grammys-2014/index.html

Alive 2007 was the name of the last Daft Punk tour , performing in concert halls and festivals around the world. The tour came along with an album recorded live with the same name. But before the success of the tour and the album, which became an instant classic for group fans, the French duo had a big challenge ahead of themselves.

In 2005 Daft Punk had released their album ‘Human After All’ that had been a relative failure and many critics were questioning whether they had reached a peak in their career. Not long after they were presented with an opportunity that changed live performances since. They were offered to play in Coachella 2006, the world-famous music festival celebrated in Indio, California. The band accepted but requested a large sum of the money up-front to prepare the show. They were working on something special.

On Saturday, April 29, 2006, Daft Punk appeared on Sahara Tent stage after some delays. When the show started the public was able to see a gigantic structure in form of a pyramid that was lightened up with thousands of LED’s that combined lights and video. This was complimented with a medley that was a journey through their whole discography.

Footage of the famous pyramid stage, this time at Wireless Festival UK
Source: YouTube

It was revolutionary at that time, now we might be used to those kind of performances, especially in the EDM genre, but at the time it was not common the use of LED’s and such big structures.

The concert was such a success that the stage could only hold 100,000 people and there where 400,000. Everybody present was texting all their friends to come and see the groundbreaking moment. Daft Punk had proved once more that they were not a passing fad, the robots were here to stay.

Primavera Sound announces 2020 edition in Los Angeles

Yes, you heard well: Primavera Sound, the genuine and innovative festival sited in Barcelona is turning 20 next year and they are celebrating as they best know: with more events and more music.

The exciting news was announced during the celebration of the 2019 edition (welcoming this year 220,000 people from over 150 countries around the world) with a giant mural.

The festival has partnered with Live Nation for this thrilling adventure that will take place in September 19th and 20th at Los Angeles State Historic Park, venue of other festivals such as HARD and FYF Fest.

This is not the first time that the organization extends its borders from Barcelona, it has been 7 years since the Primavera Sound family debuted in Oporto, Portugal with Nos Primavera Sound, and it is still going on.

“Our goal is to bring the Primavera Sound spirit and vibe to cities with a similar feel: creative, colourful and welcoming. And with this, to give something new to the city, to show a new side and new possibilities to be built and harvested together. So it’s a dream to finally say: yes, it had to be Los Angeles.” has stated Gabi Ruiz, Primavera Sound Director.

“Fans can expect a lineup featuring the classics, icons of today, and artists of tomorrow during an incredible weekend of music without stylistic barriers that includes a public commitment to gender equality.” has explained the organization.

The Primavera Sound team is planning a very special twentieth anniversary: The first celebration will be with another special edition that will take place in Benidorm in November 2019, called Primavera Weekend, this will be an appetizer for what will come in 2020. Also there is a secret event posted in the website with the name “???” that will surely surprise us all.