Woodstock Promoter Lang Drops Plans for 40th Anniversary Concert

Woodstock promoter Michael Lang has dropped plans for a 40th anniversary concert. Asked why he abandoned the pursuit for a third anniversary concert celebrating the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, Lang simply told Rolling Stone, "Money. No sponsors."

Lang, one of the four partners to stage Woodstock in 1969, had wanted to hold a free concert in Brooklyn's Prospect Park to coincide with the anniversary in mid-August. Those plans were postponed after he failed to find sponsors to cover the $8-$10 million cost. He then turned his attention to the end of September and had hoped to hold the concert in conjunction with Climate Week, which is set for September 20-26th and is part of the international Seal the Deal! Campaign. This effort, according to a United Nations Website, is pushing governments scheduled to meet at COP 15, in Copenhagen this December, to agree on a sustainable climate change pact and promote an international green economy. Lang had wanted to make any Woodstock anniversary concert as green as possible.

"It would have been a big boost for the issue," he said of the concert.

Lang, however, remains busy with Woodstock-related projects. On August 8th, he will join Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee and screenwriter/producer James Schamus in Woodstock, New York, for an advance screening of the comedy Taking Woodstock, which hits theaters August 28th. The film, directed by Lee, with screenplay by Schamus, is based on a book written by Elliot Tiber, who along with his parents ran a motel in Bethel during the Woodstock festival.

On Friday, August 14th, VH1 will air Woodstock: Now & Then, a documentary directed by Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple that Lang executive produced. The History Channel will show Woodstock: Now & Then on August 17th.

And on August 23rd at Belleayre Mountain, just west of Woodstock, Lang will co-present Kidstock, with a "Tribute to Woodstock" by young musicians from Paul Green's School of Rock, the inspiration for the Jack Black movie.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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