Review by Shawn Perry
Photos by Kevin Ferguson / Bethel Woods
Fifty years after he and Creedence Clearwater Revival tried to wake up half a million hippies lulled to sleep by the Grateful Dead, John Fogerty returned to the scene of the crime to celebrate the golden anniversary of Woodstock. It didn’t come easy.
The singer and songwriter was on the bill for Woodstock 50 until the festival crashed and burned. “I was looking forward to seeing how it would get reworked 50 years later,” he told Rolling Stone when the event was still in motion. “It’s not every day you get to go back to a 50-year reunion.”
Though that reunion didn’t pan out, that didn’t stop the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts from marking the occasion with a full week of activity — beginning on August 15 with a gathering on the original 1969 site that included an appearance by Arlo Guthrie and the screening of Michael Wadleigh’s Woodstock film, followed by concerts at the amphitheatre featuring Ringo Starr (August 16), Santana (August 17), and John Fogerty (August 18).
Unlike what happened at the inaugural “Aquarian Exposition,” the roads were clear, secure, and tightly monitored. Only ticket holders for the concerts were allowed on the grounds, keeping the numbers well below the hundreds of thousands who showed up out of nowhere in 1969. There were plenty of food, beverage, and swag options; a museum to stimulate the senses and provide a historical perspective; all the proper facilities huge crowds of human beings expect and need — oh, and reserved seats to sit in if you wanted to be close and covered.
Revelers who showed up early tailgated and roamed the original site. You could lounge in a hammock or zip-line over the slope. On the hillside overlooking where the Woodstock stage stood, “50” was spelled out on the grass. The zero doubled as a peace sign. Tents lined the top of the hill where money could be spent, arts and crafts created and admired, and friends and acquaintances connected.
The Writer’s Den featuring authors such as Mike Greenblatt, who wrote Woodstock: Back To Yasgur’s Farm, occupied one tent, while Nick and Bobbi Ercoline, the Woodstock couple embracing each other under a blanket on the cover of the soundtrack album, held court and posed for photos at another. Who could have imagined when Jimi Hendrix played “The Star-Spangled Banner” that 50 years later to the day, thousands would come together to celebrate the muddy, disastrous happening that somehow worked.
The only commonality aside from proximity and performers the Sunday night show shared with the festival was the weather. Spectators on the lawn could either head back to their cars until further notice or wait out the brunt of the approaching thunderstorm wherever they could. The show was delayed by a little over an hour. When the clouds grew dark, lightning snapped, the afternoon’s breeze stirred up, and a heavy downpour soaked the site. It was the full Woodstock experience without the mud! A stiff drizzle continued on after 7:15 when opener Grace Potter and her band took the stage. When a rainbow appeared on the horizon, the mood lightened.
Delivering a lively 30-minute set, the fiery, charismatic singer belted out a handful of selections of her own next to an improvisational version of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind” and an acapella swoon through Taylor Shae’s “Nothing But The Water.” She expressed her admiration for those of us in the throes of a cleansing from the wandering clouds above. A Vermont native who gave birth to a baby boy in 2018, Potter will release Daylight, her first new album in four years, in October 2019.
Potter mentioned something about cutting things short because of the weather, though that didn’t seem to be the case with the acts that followed her. By the time Tedeschi Trucks Band went on, the rain had stopped and spirits elevated. The 12-piece ensemble is simply one of the best, most musically satisfying American outfits on the road today. And they wasted no time letting everyone know they were here to celebrate Woodstock’s 50th along with everyone else. Though it was played by its creator the night before, Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice” book-ended TTB’s set and displayed a skewed reverence to the original with Derek Trucks’ biting, angular attack on his Gibson SG punctuating the intensity.
Susan Tedeschi’s soulful voice and steady guitar work serve as the perfect complement to her husband’s searing, roughly hued no-pick style. The couple even traded leads at various points. That’s got to be a healthy way to keep a marriage together. You add horns, percussion, a well- balanced blend of background vocals, and an overall jazz-flavored sensibility to something like Mike Mattison’s “Midnight In Harlem,” and the mix is magical, unfathomable. Extending this chemistry to the cover tunes the band tackled added extra sweetener to an already sonically charged elixir.
Tedeschi’s impassioned vocal on the Boxtops’ “The Letter” reminded everyone of how beautifully interpretable the classic song can be (and as homage to Joe Cocker, whose own 1970 rendition became his first Top 10 single, though he didn’t perform it at Woodstock). Other tributes to the festival included The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Darlin’ Be Home Soon” (which John Sebastian spontaneously performed 50 years before) and the big funky finale of Sly & The Family Stone’s “Sing A Simple Song” and “I Want To Take You Higher.” Everyone was on their feet, dancing wildly, Tedeschi traded harmonies and verses with Mattison, Mark Rivers, and Alecia Chakour, and Trucks commandeered the train to a resounding conclusion. It felt like the night couldn’t possibly get any better.
Clearly, anticipation for John Fogerty was piping hot with a wealth of sentiment. After Creedence played their set at Woodstock, Fogerty was reportedly dissatisfied with their performance and refused for it to be included in the movie or its soundtrack. Their exclusion didn’t little to sway their popularity. Upon hearing recordings of CCR at Woodstock, Fogerty’s son Shane convinced his dad that the band was a lot better than he remembered. This prompted the release of Live At Woodstock, which includes the 11 songs Creedence Clearwater Revival played on August 16, 1969 in Bethel. Signing on for the aborted Woodstock 50, and playing Bethel Woods almost begs a question of affirmation and mutual respect between Fogerty and the festival. Tonight, the two would come full circle.
At just a little after 10, Fogerty and his ever-capable band opened up with “Born On The Bayou” and “Green River,” the same pair of songs CCR began their set at Woodstock with, just in case anyone’s keeping track. There was talk that Fogerty would recreate Creedence’s setlist, song by song. Instead, he swerved left and right with a batch of Creedence classics, alongside a few choice nuggets from his solo career and some suitable covers.
With Shane Fogerty on second guitar, James LoMenzo on bass, Bob Malone on keyboards, and drummer Kenny Aronoff, Fogerty in a Pendleton with fringes tore through his songbook with unbridled passion. He included seven tracks from Cosmo’s Factory alone. Though a little late with its message, “Who’ll Stop The Rain” purred smoothly, and “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” leaned closer to Marvin Gaye than CCR.
A take on “With A Little Help From My Friends,” ala Joe Cocker was the first nod to others from the Woodstock Generation. Later, Fogerty would put his own spin, complete with a horn section and dancers, on Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everyday People” and “Dance To The Music.” You have to wonder why Sly & the Family Stone themselves weren’t invited to the party. Well, it’s just a thought.
Shane Fogerty was given the spotlight to crank out “The Star-Spangled Banner” in all its blazing glory. Keeping it all in the family, Shane’s younger brother Tyler twisted up, dressed all in white, and sang “Good Golly Miss Molly” with his dad. You could definitely hear a resemblance in their tone and delivery. Going deeper, Creedence hardcores may have recalled how John Fogerty and his brother Tom also shared a stage for many years, including one just over the hill.
A burning run-through of “Keep On Chooglin’” featured Fogerty on harp and a stunning drum solo from Aronoff. The singer dedicated “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” to his youngest daughter Kelsy, who didn’t make an onstage appearance like her older brothers. “Rock And Roll Girls,” “Centerfield,” and “The Old Man Down The Road” were the only three songs from Fogerty’s solo years that made the cut. The 50 Year Trip tour, which closed after tonight, was clearly all about the songs of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
A sizzling “Fortunate Son” ended the main set. And then it was time for a spunky trifecta of “Travelin’ Band,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Proud Mary,” ending the night and a week of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary with a colorful bang. As everyone made their way back to their cars, a 20-minute fireworks display lit up the night sky, casting a surreal glow over Bethel’s green hills and meadows A full moon, hardly bad, shone brightly overhead. “I love you Woodstock!” John Fogerty shouted out before he left the stage. This week, breathing in the summer air and listening to music where a mighty cultural shift captured the world’s attention, we all love Woodstock.
