Woodstock promoter Michael Lang addressed reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal regarding the contractual status of artists like Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, Greta Van Fleet, The Killers, Raconteurs, Jay-Z, and Cage The Elephant.
Woodstock 50’s talent ranges from veterans of the 1969 Woodstock, such as Carlos Santana, to current pop acts The Killers and Halsey, to artists like Chance the Rapper.
And all have been paid in full, Lang said. That was “a critical milestone to pass” in completing the event.
He said this is “typical in the world where new festivals have been canceled at the last minute. Agents are out to protect the artists.”
However, a report from Billboard, speaking to an unnamed source, stated that the artists’ contracts were with Dentsu Aegis, and subsequently were rendered void as soon as the financial group announced the festival’s cancellation.
Lang disputes this claim, stating the majority of contracts are exclusively with Woodstock 50, with some being between the artist, Woodstock 50 and the Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live. None of the contracts, he said, are exclusively with Dentsu Aegis.
Green Day drummer Tre Cool discussed Woodstock 1994 in a new The Member Guest Podcast interview.
“’94 Woodstock was a complete shitshow. It was a Pepsi-sponsored thing; it was, like, worldwide-televised, pay-per-view and all that stuff, and every band of significance was there. It was crazy.
“And of course people start going around the fence and sneaking in, and it kind of became mayhem. And then bad weather came and it was raining like crazy and the whole place became a mud pit. It was pretty chaotic, and set up really well for Green Day to take the stage and make all hell break loose.”
“We kept trying to play, but Billie [Joe Armstrong, guitar/vocals] was getting mud hitting his guitar and Mike [Dirnt, bass] was getting it on his bass and hitting him. Luckily my drum set was just far enough back where I was less in harm’s way… It was punk as fuck, and nobody expected that to happen.”
“After that day, tons of people were showing up at our shows,” he added. “That was kind of the pivot moment – that was the green jacket moment for this band.”
