One Night Of Music, Peace, And Love
By Mark Lewis
Photos By Don Eddy and Jeanette Long
“Remember Woodstock, It was not so long ago, Remember Woodstock, It made history as we know, Now were back together and we’re back into the flow… Remember Woodstock, 3 days of music, peace, and love…..Remember Woodstock, Jimi, Janis, and Keith were there…” (lyrics from “Remember Woodstock” by Canned Heat).
Woodstock in 1969 was billed as “3 Days of Peace and Music”. It was that, but it went onto become so much more than that. It was originally started as a music festival, the popular artists of the day, today which we know legends such as The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Canned Head, Jefferson Airplane, Richie Havens, Bob Dylan, and The Who, all of which were contacted to play. It was originally conceived to be played in Woodstock, NY, but due to problems it was moved to Max Yasgur’s dairy and pig farm in the Bethel, NY area.
Some of the potential performers such as Tommy James got a call about “playing a pig farm in upstate New York” and passed, while others who did go, such as Janis Joplin, realized how big this event was truly going to be upon arriving at the site via helicopter, and looking down and seeing over 500,000 kids there on the ground.
Woodstock went onto become legendary in music and concert circles, and in one sense, will always be the show to beat. The only shows that have rivaled it thus far, in my humble opinion, are Live Aid and Live 8.
There was then the 10th Anniversary show in NY, and then the 25th Anniversary show in 1994, the 30th in 1999, and then, of course, there is the big event that happened this year, the Heroes Of Woodstock Tour which was to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock and even included a date in Bethel, NY, on August 15th, 2009 which falls on the weekend of the original Woodstock Concert.
Various places such as England, San Francisco (West Fest), and even Las Vegas had “Woodstock” and “Summer Of Love” commemorations planned this year to mark the heralded day in music history. I was there for two of the shows here in Las Vegas, billed as the “Summer Of Love” concert series. I saw Big Brother And The Holding Company (Janis Joplin’s original band) and Canned Heat both play live in Downtown Las Vegas.
Fast forward and we get to the last stop on the Heroes Of Woodstock Tour. This tour, through its length, included Ten Years After, Melanie, Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night), Leslie West and Mountain (on the Bethel, NY stop), Big Brother And The Holding Company, Canned Heat, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Levon Helm Band(on the Bethel, NY stop), and Jefferson Starship (performing the great songs of Jefferson Airplane).
The final stop on the tour was on October 10, 2009 in Coachella, Ca. I drove 5 hours to get there, two photographers in tow, and had a five hour drive back once the show was finished. I mention this because what I witnessed this night would have been worth 5 times the drive.
The show started out with, and had as emcee the entire evening, “Country Joe” McDonald of Country Joe And The Fish. He brought out Big Brother And The Holding Company and they just jump started the evening like a 1,000,000 watt generator being cranked up and coming to life.
They did a very short set but it was worth every minute they were on stage. The lead singer for Big Brother is a true “heir” to the Janis Joplin crown and throne and if you close your eyes and listen, she sounds dead on to Janis, but with her own style and flair for sure. There could be no doubt in anyone’s mind, after witnessing their performance, as to why they deserve to be called legends.
The four songs they performed were as fresh and live as the first day they were performed with Janis on the mike, and Sam Andrews and company (Ben Nieves and Sophia Ramos who are the newest members, and originals Dave Getz and Peter Albin) have apparently never lost a beat or missed any mark since day one.
Newest guitar player Ben Nieves is a guitar jammin’ master and never lets up, his heart and soul coming thru on every song. Sam, Peter, and Dave also hold their own, right in there, and show why they are such great musicians, from start to finish. Just simply awesome!!! To see Big Brother is to behold something very special, and to recapture a piece of history and go back in time.
After Big Brother finished a very masterful, but as before mentioned unfortunately short set, the stage was again taken over by Country Joe, and he set forth to bring on the next legendary act, Canned Heat.
Canned Heat took the stage, and just as in Vegas, “the heat blew forth out of the can”. They ripped thru again what would be a fairly short set, but mustered up energy, passion, heart, and soul like so few are able to do. Canned Heat is a not a virtuoso band, but a blues boogie band that command their craft in such a way as to electrify any crowd. The set that was so awesome also had a surprise in store as it included Country Joe on guitar, near the end.
Masterful, passionate, soulful, and blistering with energy from beginning to end, they went onto show why they are “the masters of blues boogie”. Also special in this performance is the fact that original Canned Heat members Larry “The Mole” Taylor and Harvey “The Snake” Mandel performed with them.
Country Joe came out again and performed, his awesome ability to read into and grab the crowd, infused in each word and song. He proceeded to read a list of those killed in the Vietnam War and the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The list of those killed will be listed at the end of this article. As someone who has served his country, in the US Navy, you could tell this was not just some anti-war protestor, but someone who truly cares what happens to our service men and women.
The next act to come out on stage was Quicksilver Messenger Service. They did a 4 song set that was not short, but was very sweet. This was the more subdued, mellow, but yet still all the while masterful part of the show. They showed why they too deserved to be on this tour and will also be considered legendary and a part of rock history.
The final act of the night was Jefferson Starship. Their set could actually in one sense be considered Jefferson Airplane, considering their set list is pure ‘Airplane’ from their heyday and Woodstock.
They went thru all seven songs on their set list with the style and mastery and grace we have all come to know them for and we would have expected no less. Tom Constanten, keyboard player for the Grateful Dead, joined them on stage halfway thru and again it was magical, but a new magic was afoot.
The band is compromised of such legendary members as Paul Kantner, David Freiberg, and newer but still legendary famous members of the band Slick Aguilar and Donny Baldwin. The new lead singer Cathy Richardson is heir apparent in her own way to Grace Slick and she is truly deserving of such accolades and press.
The very last song, “Somebody To Love”, brought out members of Quicksilver Messenger Service and Ben Nieves from Big Brother and The Holding Company to join them on stage, it was magical again, and what a perfect way to end such a perfect night. It was the “classic jam session”, the stuff that legendary performances are made of when stars all get together on stage and just jam together, not because they have to, but because they can and they want to.
The night, along with this tour, will go down as “Historic, Legendary, Once-In-A-Lifetime, Magical, and The Likes of Which We Will Never See Again”, a live show, so perfect and so pure, that it will never be duplicated and never happen again!! If you were there at any show on the tour, you know what I mean, and if you weren’t you definitely missed out on something so magical that words are hard to describe it, but I tried here. May the spirit of Woodstock 1969 live on forever!!!!
Editor's Note:I would like to extend a special "Thank-You" to the Spotlight 29 casino for all of their hospitality to me and my staff.
Set Lists Are As Follows:
Big Brother And The Holding Company
Down On Me
Summertime
Piece of My Heart
Ball And Chain
Canned Heat
Bullfrog Blues
On The Road Again
Time Was
Going Up The Country
Wade In The Water
Country Joe McDonald
Entertainment Is My Business
Death Sound Blues with Canned Heat
Fish Cheer/ Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die
Kiss My Ass
Tricky Dick
Air Algiers
U.S. Military Personnel from Sullivan County
New York who Died in the Vietnam War
Jerry Brian Evans, from Wurtsboro, Marine Corps, he was 19 years old.
William Robert Yaskanich, from Wurtsboro, Marine Corps, he was 19 years old.
John Calvin Crawford, from Monticello, Navy, he was 30 years old.
Frank Edward Stokes, from Monticello, Army, he was 20 years.
James Van Ness Muller, from Bloomingburg, Army, he was 20 years old.
Harold John Faldermeyer, from Rockland, Army, he was 24 years old.
Michael Joseph Galbraith, from Liberty, Army, he was 19 years old.
Robert Edward Johnson, from Highland, Army, he was 20 years old.
Lewis Patrick Iorio, from Highland, Army, he was 20 years old.
Sullivan County New York Iraq and Afghanistan casualties
US Marine Corporal, Gooden, Bernard George, 22, Mount Vernon New York, Apr. 4, 2003, Baghdad
US Army Reserve Sergeant, Dima, Catalin D., 36, White Lake New York Nov. 13, 2004 Baghdad
US Army National Guard Private 1st Class, Vonronn, Kenneth G., 20, Bloomingburg New York, Jan. 6,2005, Baghdad
US Marine Lance Corporal, Sovi, Nicholas J., 20, Ogdensburg New York, Feb. 17,2006, Afghanistan
US Army Private 1st Class, Kaiser, Anthony A, 27, Narrowsburg New York, March 17, 2007, Baghdad
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Fresh Air
Close Enuff For Jazz
Pride of Man
Mona
Jefferson Starship
3/5ths of A Mile In 10 Seconds
The Other Side of This Life
White Rabbit
Turn On Your Lovelight with GRATEFUL DEAD's Tom Constanten
Uncle Sam Blues
Wooden Ships
Somebody To Love
