Category: Bethel

  • The Backstreet Boys Set To Hit Four New York Venues This Summer

    The Backstreet Boys, one of the most famous boy bands of all time, have announced that they will be touring through the United States and Europe this year.

    The band is set to hit three New York locations. They will be visiting Darien Lake on July 3rd, the Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh on July 16th, Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs on July 23rd, and Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel on July 24th. They will also tour through two New Jersey destinations. The full schedule is available down below.

    The Backstreet Boys
    Photo Credits: Dennis Leupold

    The Backstreet Boys will be touring their 10th studio album, DNA, which was released in 2019 via RCA Records. The album debuted at #1 and features the Top 10 hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”

    Tickets for the Backstreet Boys go on sale Friday, April 8th at 10 am local time on Ticketmaster.

    DNA World Tour

    4/8 – Las Vegas, NV – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

    4/9 – Las Vegas, NV – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

    4/15 – Las Vegas, NV – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

    4/16 – Las Vegas, NV – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

    6/4 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre

    6/5 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheater

    6/7 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl

    6/9 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion

    6/11 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater

    6/13 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater

    6/14 – The Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman

    6/15 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

    6/17 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP

    6/20 – Jacksonville, FL – VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

    6/21 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds

    6/22 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre

    6/24 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion

    6/25 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

    6/28 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

    7/1 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage

    7/2 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage

    7/3 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater

    7/5 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake

    7/6 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center

    7/8 – Milwaukee, WI – SummerFest (American Family Insurance Amp)

    7/10 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center

    7/12 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live

    7/13 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach

    7/14 – Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion

    7/16 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

    7/17 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre

    7/19 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center

    7/20 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center

    7/21 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater

    7/23 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center

    7/24 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

    7/26 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center

    7/28 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre

    7/29 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

    7/30 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

    8/2 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre

    8/4 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre

    8/6 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre

    8/7 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre

    8/9 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion

    8/12 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre

    8/19 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Arena

    8/21 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena

    8/22 – Portland, OR – Moda Center

    8/24 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

    8/26 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place

    8/27 – Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre

    8/29 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre

    9/1 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre

    9/2 – Quebec City, QC – Centre Videotron

    9/3 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre

    9/6 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena

    9/8 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

    9/9 – Memphis, TN – FedExForum

    9/11 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford PREMIER Center

    9/13 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena

    9/14 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center

    10/3 – Lisbon, Portugal – Altice Arena

    10/4 – Madrid, Spain – WiZink Center

    10/6 – Barcelona, Spain – Palau Sant Jordi

    10/9 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome

    10/12 – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes-Benz Arena

    10/15 – Hannover, Germany – Zag Arena

    10/18 – Mannheim, Germany – SAP Arena

    10/20 – Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle

    10/22 – Bologna, Italy – Unipol Arena

    10/25 – Hamburg, Germany – Barclaycard Arena

    10/27 – Zurich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion

    10/29 – Krakow, Poland – Tauron Arena

    10/30 – Leipzig, Germany – QUARTERBACK Immobilien ARENA

    10/31 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena

    11/2 – Budapest, Hungary – Sports Arena

    11/4 – Dortmund, Germany – Westfalenhallen

    11/6 – London, UK – The 02

  • Dead and Company Summer Tour 2022 to Make Stops at Citi Field, SPAC, Bethel Woods

    This summer, Dead and Company will embark on a 20 show cross-country tour, including shows at SPAC and Bethel Woods, plus a two-night tour-closing run at Citi Field.

    dead and company summer tour

    Summer 2022 marks the seventh tour for Dead and Company – Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, and Bob Weir, with Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti – since forming in 2015.

    During the Dead and Company 2022 Summer Tour, the band will make stops at Bay Area at Shoreline Amphitheater, two nights at University of Colorado Boulder’s Folsom Field, two nights at Wrigley Field in Chicago, a night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, and a night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, before wrapping up with epic shows at Citi Field in New York. 

    Dead and Company are no strangers to New York, having kicked off their first ever tour in Albany at the Times Union Center in October 2015, along with annual stops in Saratoga Springs, New York City, and all points in between.

    In summer 2021, Dead and Company made stops at SPAC, Bethel Woods (where they recreated the Grateful Dead’s less than memorable Woodstock set) Darien Lake and Citi Field.

    Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, April 8 @ 10 AM at deadandcompany.com

    To ensure fans get tickets directly in their hands, Fan Registration is now available HERE until Sunday, April 3 at 12 Noon PDT, through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program.

    Dead & Company 2022 Summer Tour

    Sat Jun 11 Los Angeles, CA Dodger Stadium

    Mon Jun 13 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre

    Tue Jun 14 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre

    Fri Jun 17 Boulder, CO Folsom Field

    Sat Jun 18 Boulder, CO Folsom Field

    Tue Jun 21 Maryland Heights, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

    Wed Jun 22 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center

    Fri Jun 24 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field

    Sat Jun 25 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field

    Tue Jun 28 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center

    Wed Jun 29 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre

    Fri Jul 01 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

    Sat Jul 02 Foxborough, MA Gillette Stadium

    Tue Jul 05 Hartford, CT The XFINITY Theatre

    Wed Jul 06 Saratoga Springs, NY SPAC

    Fri Jul 08 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live

    Sun Jul 10 Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Park

    Tue Jul 12 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake

    Fri Jul 15 New York, NY Citi Field

    Sat Jul 16 New York, NY Citi Field

    Check deadandcompany.com for complete tour information. 

  • LonCon 2022 Announces Lineup, Moves to Yasgur Road Campground in Bethel

    Long Island-based jam trio Baked Shrimp have announced the initial lineup for the 2022 edition of LonCon Festival. The two-night camping event, running September 8-10, 2022, will be hosted by the Yasgur Road Campground in Bethel, just a stones throw from the site of the 1969 Woodstock musis festival.

    This year’s event, the second iteration of the band’s annual festival, will feature headlining appearances from lespecial and Baked Shrimp, performing two sets. Also making two set appearances are Pennsylvania based roots act Cabinet, and Brother Maker, a new project featuring former members of Turkuaz. 

    loncon 2022

    The lineup includes an eclectic mix of notable Northeast jam acts, including Star Kitchen, Dogs in a Pile, ElephantProof (featuring Ben Atkind of Goose), Soule Monde, Escaper, and more. The event will also see the debut performance of Aliens Among Us, an all-star lineup featuring members of Twiddle, Goose, Dogs in a Pile, and more. Drunken Doja Monkey and Doey Joey will ensure the music never stops, with both acts scheduled to perform DJ sets. 

    We are beyond excited for LonCon this year! We really worked hard to bring in some incredible talent from all different corners of the jam scene. Many of the performers I grew up going to see live, so having them at LonCon, and having the whole thing at Yasgur’s is really such an amazing collision of dreams coming true. 

    Jared Cowen – Guitar – Baked Shrimp

    The festival is hosted in memory of Lon “Conscious” Gellman, a longtime figure in the northeast jam scene who passed away unexpectedly in November 2020. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Lon Conscious Gellman Memorial Scholarship Fund, benefiting music students at Queens College. 

    A limited number of early bird tickets will be available through Friday, March 11th, followed by a general on sale.  For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit Lonconfest.com 

  • Phish 2022 Summer Tour Includes Stops at Bethel Woods, Jones Beach

    Phish will head out on a massive 34-date 2022 Spring and Summer Tour, kicking off Memorial Day Weekend in Alabama, and including their first four-night run at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado over Labor Day. Phish will also play a pair of two-night runs in New York, with shows at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts over July 22-23, and at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater on July 26-27.

    phish summer tour 2022

    Phish last performed at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in May of 2011, with three memorable shows including an incredible soundcheck of “Waves.”


    Phish are no strangers to Jones Beach, having performed there 14 times since 1992, including opening up for Santana at the fabled Long Island venue. Read our look back at the two-night run at Jones Beach in 1995.

    A ticket request period is currently underway at tickets.phish.com and will end on Friday, February 25th at Noon ET. Tickets go on sale to the public beginning Friday, March 4th (continuing Saturday). Specific ticketing information for each show is available at phish.com/tours.

    Travel Packages will be offered in Bethel, Atlantic City, East Troy, and Commerce City. All packages include concert tickets and local hotel accommodations and go on sale Thursday, March 3rd beginning at 10AM ET. The Atlantic City shows will again offer a special Foundation Ticket that includes early admission, a dedicated viewing area, a Foundation lounge and bar, and early access to merchandise. A portion of proceeds from each Foundation Ticket will benefit the WaterWheel Foundation, celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2022. For full details and pricing click here.

    Phish will take to the stage later this month with Phish: Riviera Maya set for February 24-27 and April will see Phish return to Madison Square Garden in New York City for their rescheduled four-night NYE run now taking place April 20-23, including a three-set show on April 22.

    Phish Spring and Summer 2022 Tour Dates

    5/27 The Wharf Amphitheater, Orange Beach, AL
    5/28 The Wharf Amphitheater, Orange Beach, AL
    5/29 The Wharf Amphitheater, Orange Beach, AL
    5/31 Credit One Stadium, Charleston, SC
    6/1 Credit One Stadium, Charleston, SC
    6/3 Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN
    6/4 Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN
    6/5 Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN
    7/14 Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
    7/15 Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
    7/16 Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME
    7/19 TD Pavilion at the Mann, Philadelphia, PA
    7/20 TD Pavilion at the Mann, Philadelphia, PA
    7/22 Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY
    7/23 Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY
    7/24 Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, CT
    7/26 Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
    7/27 Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
    7/29 Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, Raleigh, NC
    7/30 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
    7/31 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
    8/2 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
    8/3 Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
    8/5 Atlantic City Beach, Atlantic City, NJ
    8/6 Atlantic City Beach, Atlantic City, NJ
    8/7 Atlantic City Beach, Atlantic City, NJ
    8/10 Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
    8/12 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI
    8/13 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI
    8/14 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI
    9/1 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
    9/2 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
    9/3 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
    9/4 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO

  • Jimmy Buffett to Perform at Jones Beach and Bethel Woods this Summer

    Attention Parrotheads! Jimmy Buffett is coming to New York this summer, with a show on Tuesday, August 4 at Bethel Woods. He’ll also make a stop at the all too familiar Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater this summer, on Tuesday August 9th, 2022.

    jimmy buffett

    Heading into his 50th anniversary of his singer-songwriter career and turning 75 this year, Jimmy Buffett has much to celebrate in 2022. Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band continue to hit the road performing with the ‘Life on the Flip Side’ Tour which this year has created deeper meanings.

    We’re thrilled to welcome back Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. Jimmy is one of the most requested acts from the Bethel Woods audience and we are as excited as ever to have him perform at the historic site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival. You don’t want to miss this one!

    Eric Frances, Chief Executive Officer of Bethel Woods

    Latest release from Jimmy Buffett’s 2020 debuted #2 on the Billboard with album ‘Life on the Flip Side’ and another album ‘Songs You Don’t Know By Heart’ which showcased lesser played songs with an acoustic sound.

    We can’t wait to have the Parrot Heads flock to Jones Beach for what will be the party of the year – do not miss out!

    General Manager Adam Citron

    With over 40 tours under his belt from his first tour back in 1976, ‘Pink Crustacean’ Buffett has landed the phrase with his concerts “The Big 8” for his hit songs Margaritaville, Come Monday, Fins, Volcano and many more.

    Jimmy Buffett detoured off the music path to become an author and write three number-one best sellers: the short-stories collection, Tales From Margaritaville, the novel, Where is Joe Merchant?, and biography, A Pirate Looks at Fifty.

    Tickets for Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band go on sale Friday, February 18th at 9am EST.

  • The Who 2022 Tour will Arrive at MSG and Bethel Woods in May, UBS Arena in October

    The Who, one of the greatest rock bands in music history, will embark on a 2022 North American Tour this spring and fall. The two final tour stops in May will be at Madison Square Garden and Bethel Woods, while the October leg of the tour brings Townshend and Daltry to UBS Arena in Belmont.

    the who 2022 tour

    The music of The Who spans generations, with Roger Daltrey’s soaring vocal prowess building off the sparks of Pete Townshend’s songwriting. These two remaining members of the original lineup join together in a shared legacy while time is passing, one found in the pages of their recent autobiographies -Townshend’s Who I Am (2012) and Daltrey’s Thanks A Lot Mr. Kibblewhite; My Story (2018) – and among their regular touring schedule. 

    Some shows on The Who’s 2022 tour were originally planned for 2019 but delayed due to a vocal ailment Daltrey was suffering from, while some others on the tour are a substitute for those canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Commenting on The Who Hits Back! 2022 tour, Roger Daltrey said:

    Pete and I said we’d be back, but we didn’t think we’d have to wait for two years for the privilege. This is making the chance to perform feel even more special this time around. So many livelihoods have been impacted due to Covid, so we are thrilled to get everyone back together – the band, the crew and the fans.  We’re gearing up for a great show that hits back in the only way The Who know how.  By giving it everything we got.

    Roger Daltrey

    The Who Hits Back! Tour features a pure and easy lineup including guitarist and backup singer Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother), keyboardist Loren Gold, second keyboardist Emily Marshall, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey and backing vocals by Billy Nicholls. Lead violinist Katie Jacoby and lead cellist Audrey Snyder will be getting in tune with orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, delivering many of The Who’s classics, as well as songs from their most recent album, WHO.

    Regarding the inclusion of local orchestras and strings for each show, Townshend spoke to Rolling Stone, saying:

    It gives me a chance to make sure what I play, what I do, where I look, how I behave on the stage, is more connected with the people around me, and with the audience, and with, to get prosaic about it, an inner sense. In other words, I don’t lose myself the way I did when I used to jump around, have a big adrenaline rush, and then come off the stage and someone would say, ‘Great show,’ or someone would say, ‘Terrible show,’ and I wouldn’t really know what I had done, to be honest, since I was like someone running a marathon. So the orchestra gives me space.

    Pete Townshend

    The Who’s show at Bethel Woods also marks their return to the site of the original Woodstock Festival, where the group performed a memorable set that began at 5 AM on Sunday, August 17, 1969.

    the who the clash
    The Who at Rich Stadium, Buffalo, 1982. Photo by Marc Starcke

    American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets in select markets before the general public beginning today, Monday, February 7 at 10 am through Thursday, February 10 at 10 pm. The Who’s fan club presale starts Wednesday, February 9 at 10 am and runs through Thursday, February 10 at 10 pm.

    For more information visit LiveNation.com or thewho.com.

    The Who Hits Back! 2022 Tour Dates

    SPRING

    April 22 / Hard Rock Live / Hollywood, FL

    April 24 / VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena / Jacksonville, FL

    April 27 / Amalie Arena / Tampa, FL

    April 30 / New Orleans Jazz Festival

    May 3 / Moody Center ATX / Austin, TX

    May 5 / American Airlines Center / Dallas, TX

    May 8 / the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion / The Woodlands, TX

    May 10 / Paycom Center / Oklahoma City, OK

    May 13 / FedEx Forum / Memphis, TN

    May 15 / TQL Stadium / Cincinnati, OH

    May 18 / TD Garden / Boston, MA

    May 20 / Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia, PA

    May 23 / Capital One Arena / Washington, D.C.

    May 26 / Madison Square Garden / New York City, NY

    May 28 / Bethel Woods Center of the Arts / Bethel, NY

    FALL

    Oct 2 / Scotiabank Arena / Toronto, ON

    Oct 4 / Little Caesars Arena / Detroit, MI

    Oct 7 / UBS Arena / Belmont Park, NY

    Oct 9 / Schottenstein Center / Columbus, OH

    Oct 12 / United Center / Chicago, IL

    Oct 14 / Enterprise Center / St. Louis, MO

    Oct 17 / Ball Arena / Denver, CO

    Oct 20 / Moda Center / Portland, OR

    Oct 22 / Climate Pledge Arena / Seattle, WA

    Oct 26 / Golden 1 Center / Sacramento, CA

    Oct 28 / Honda Center / Anaheim, CA

    Nov 1 / Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA

    Nov 4 + 5 / Dolby Live at Park MGM / Las Vegas, NV

  • Midlake Release New Single “Bethel Woods,” Set to Perform in Manhattan and Woodstock

    Folk-rock veterans Midlake are back with their new single ‘Bethel Woods’ from their upcoming album For The Sake of Bethel Woods. The official music video stars actor Michael Pena and is directed by filmmaker Brantley Gutierrez, who has also worked with the likes of Paul McCartney and Diplo.

    midlake bethel woods

    Inspiration for “Bethel Woods” came after the discovery of a documentary still of Midlake keyboardist Jesse Chandler’s father, Dave, at Woodstock 1969. Combining this photo with the idea of an eternal paradise, the song was written from Dave’s point of view with a hopeful message that we might all one day return to our special places to be with the ones we love.

    Director Gutierrez plays with these ideas in the music video by incorporating a ghost story concept, allowing for Michael Pena to showcase the emotions people experience when running through old memories.

    midlake bethel woods

    Midlake will also be embarking on an extensive world tour, including NA, UK and European tour dates. Tickets and more information are available here.

    Midlake 2022 Tour Dates

    5/8 – Nashville, TN – 3rd & Lindsley

    5/10 – Washington, DC – Union Stage

    5/11 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live (Downstairs)

    5/13Woodstock, NY Levon Helm Studios

    5/14New York, NYBowery Ballroom

    5/16 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall

    5/17 – Lexington, KY – Headliners Music Hall

    5/19 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway

    5/20 – Kansas City, MO – recordBar

    5/21 – Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City Music Hall

    The single is available now at all DSP’s and on all streaming platforms.

  • Michael Lang, Woodstock Co-Founder, Dead at Age 77

    Michael Lang, Woodstock Music and Arts Festival co-founder, and promoter of the 1994 and 1999 editions, has died at age 77, at Sloan Kettering in New York City. The cause of death was a rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to family spokesperson Michael Pagnotta.

    michael lang
    Michael Lang at Woodstock 1969. Photo by Henry Diltz

    Michael Lang was raised in Brooklyn and attended college at New York University and University of Tampa before eventually moved to Coconut Grove, Florida where he opened a head shop, which was, as Lang noted in his autobiography, “the hub of the Miami underground.” Lang would shift into concert promotion in the late 1960s, producing the Miami Pop Festival in 1968, which featured a lineup that included Chuck Berry, The Mothers of Invention, and Jimi Hendrix, among others.

    Speaking of Miami Pop Festival, Lang told Ellen Sanders’ for the 1973 book Trips: Rock Life in the Sixties, “The climate is perfect, people are into a stimulating variety of artistic things and there was no place for them to get together.” The seeds of next year’s Woodstock Festival in Bethel, NY can be found in Lang’s mindset.

    Miami Pop Festival 1968 Poster

    Lang partnered up with Artie Kornfeld, a Bensonhurst, Queens native, who was then East Coast Director of Contemporary Entertainment at Capitol Records. The two hit if off after their initial meeting, one that was set up by Lang playing to Kornfeld’s roots, saying he was ‘from the neighborhood’. Lang would move in with Kornfeld and his wife Linda in New York City, and their all-night conversations would be the genesis of the Woodstock Festival, both the event and the cultural impact still felt today.

    Lang and Kornfeld would connect with business partners Joel Rosenman and John Roberts while working with the band Train, and ultimately form Woodstock Ventures Incorporated in March 1969, named for the town Bob Dylan was living in at the time. Lang wrote in The Road to Woodstock “I thought it was time to head to back to New York. Ninety miles north of the city, Woodstock had become a magnet for musicians. I remembered its small-town, artsy vibe from when we used to visit there in the fifties. The town had a history of attracting artists and bohemians. My girlfriend Sonya and I decided to check it out for ourselves.”

    Roberts and Rosenman brought the money and financial experience, while Lang and Kornfeld brought their own knowledge of rock music culture and production skills to pull off the event. Lang and Kornfeld had proposed building a recording studio in Woodstock, as a means to encourage local residents Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and The Band to record at, but the idea was scrapped in favor of an outdoor music festival.

    Meeting in February 1969, Lang recalled an early interactions with Roberts and Rosenman:

    We met with them in their apartment on 83rd Street in a high-rise. They were kind of preppy. Today, I guess they’d be yuppies. They were wearing suits. Artie did most of the talking, because I think they seemed puzzled by me. They were curious about the counterculture, and they were somewhat interested in the project. They wanted a written proposal, which we had but we didn’t bring with us. We told them that we would meet again with a budget for the festival.

    Michael Lang

    By the second time they met, a budget of $500,000 was discussed, with a potential attendance of 100,000. Ultimately, Woodstock would have a pricetag of more than $2.4 million (nearly $18 million in 2022 dollars), and would be billed as “Three Days of Peace and Music.” But the location for the festival would prove to be a challenge for Lang and company.

    When he was younger, Lang spent summers attending camps in Sullivan County, home to Bethel, where he would later produce Woodstock and cement his name in music history. Initially looking into the town of Woodstock, the partners would settle on Wallkill in Orange County, While at first, the town and location were hospitable to the event, soon the residents turned on Woodstock Ventures, essentially pulling the plug for the festival on July 2, 1969.

    The news caught the attention of a young Elliot Tiber, who was working at his family’s El Monaco Hotel in White Lake, and he alerted Lang to the location, just outside of Bethel. Lang later told the New York Times, “Elliot was part of the magic of Woodstock. Without his phone call bringing me to Bethel, Woodstock might never have happened, and for that I am eternally grateful.”

    While the El Monaco Hotel would not be able to host the event as Tiber envisioned (it did serve as Woodstock Ventures headquarters over the next month), he did offer a suggestion to check out his friend Max Yasgur’s farm, located on Happy Ave in Bethel. Upon meeting Yasgur and securing the property, as well as agreeing to return the farm to its original condition post-festival, Lang made the move with a month to go before Woodstock was set to kick off. Lang was later portrayed by Jonathan Groff in Ang Lee’s 2009 film Taking Woodstock, based on Tiber’s memoir.


    The Upstate New York festival would draw more than 400,000 people to Yasgur’s farm, becoming a signature moment for the counterculture movement, at the end of one of the most tumultuous decades in American history. Musicians including The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, John Sebastian, Richie Havens, Sly and the Family Stone, Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young all performed, among many other music legends.

    Lang would later have a hand in the 25th anniversary Woodstock Festival, held in 1994 at Winston Farm in Saugerties, which would bring the Woodstock spirit and history to a new generation, catering to Generation X with artists including Nine Inch Nails, Green Day, Blues Traveler, Sheryl Crow, The Roots, Salt-n-Pepa, as well as bringing back artists from the original Woodstock, among them Country Joe McDonald, Crosby Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker and Santana.

    michael lang
    photo by Steve Malinski

    The ill-fated Woodstock 99 festival also saw Lang at the helm, this edition being held in Rome, NY on Griffiss Air Force and featuring a lineup that melded genres in a way that was both similar and dissimilar to previous Woodstock festivals. While the lineup provided a little something for everyone, subsequent price gouging, lack of basic infrastructure (water, bathrooms and shade among them) and intense heat culminated in an angst-filled riot that saw fires set as the Red Hot Chili Peppers closed out the festival. Lang would tell Syracuse.com in a 2019 interview:

    In the end, it was partially my fault, partially the fault of the fans of Insane Clown Posse who were running amok all weekend. But at the end of the show, the Chili Peppers were on stage closing the festival. They had been given permission to hand out candles, and that was a mistake. [People] started to set things on fire, and it started to grow. It was a very different show, and a very different time musically. But overall, people had an amazing weekend.

    Michael Lang on Woodstock 99

    Lang made efforts to throw Woodstock 50 in 2019, but could not pull the event off due to local opposition as well as limited ticket sales, despite star-studded lineups and locations that included Watkins Glen International and Vernon Downs in Vernon, NY. The year-long effort to pull off a 50th anniversary event on par with the original was not in the cards, although there was a celebration at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts over the weekend of August 15-16, 2019.

    When something pushes back as hard as this did, you have to get the sense that maybe there is a reason behind it.

    Life is full of experiences, and not everything works out. But you keep trying or nothing works out… That’s always been my attitude.

    Lang, speaking to Pollstar, reflecting on Woodstock 50
    michael lang
    Michael Lang at the Long Island Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony 11/7/2018

    In addition to managing Billy Joel and Joe Cocker at various points of their career, in 2019 Lang received the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Lifetime Achievement, noting his commitment to peace. Lang said in his speech accepting the award:

    I think if Mr. Ali were here with us today, he might rhyme that only together and with love, can   we change this world for the better. But we have to earn it, we have to show up and fight for the issues we believe in, the way Ali would. 

    The fight against global warming as we near that point of no return… Sensible gun control, Immigration reform, Whatever your opinions, I know Muhammad Ali would tell you to make your voices heard and encourage everyone to get out and vote this year AND in 2020.

    Michael Lang

    Michael Lang is survived by his wife Tamara, their sons Harry and Laszlo, and daughters LariAnn, Shala and Molly.