It’s stupid, but you can’t turn it off.

There’s a backlash against this flick. From people who weren’t there the first time and wouldn’t be there if this era ever came back, even though it can’t.

You see the Sunset Strip was populated by castoffs, those not wanted, those who didn’t fit in, not Ivy League graduates. It was a different era, your parents didn’t bribe colleges to get you in, they expected you to leave the house after high school and stay gone. What you did…

Was your business.

It’s hard to describe the power of rock and roll. It’s something you feel, oftentimes in your genitalia. It’s a power, it’s a strength. With the guitars blazing and the singer screaming and the beat pounding so loud you can feel it in you bones you feel like…

The rest of the world doesn’t matter, that you can conquer all. For that very moment you feel content and happy, in a world where that’s oftentimes not the case.

That’s right, the critics don’t have a sense of humor. Of course it didn’t go down the way it does in the flick. But that’s one of the reasons you became a rock star, for the girls, for the sex. You can either be rich or famous, take your pick, otherwise you’re gonna have a hard time getting laid.

And the women attracted to wealth and fame are willing.

That’s what we can’t discuss. Not women wrongly accusing abusers, but women who want to partake.

Groupies.

Originally it was famous people, they even wrote a book about them, Frank Zappa even concocted a band of them, Pamela Des Barres built a whole career on her behavior.

And then it was a zillion girls in every burg the band came through. They lined up. They wanted to touch the fame, when there was no Instagram and no influencers and very few people were famous and your chances of meeting someone…

Furthermore, you got a story, which you could treasure or laugh about for the rest of your life.

Of course this doesn’t excuse the abusive behavior, notoriously of the English bands, but that was then and this was now, before smartphone cameras, when there was no proof and everything was underground.

That was part of the appeal. If you were on TV, you were bigger than life. And it wasn’t only rock stars, it was also those who surrounded them. The original MTV VJs, most notably Martha Quinn… You just wanted to get closer.

We knew the label presidents. And the A&R guys. And Tom Zutaut is portrayed as goofy, but the truth is the A&R guys were the links to the labels, and without one, you just couldn’t make it.

And Doc McGhee looks like your father. But the truth is he dealt dope to fuel his business.

There was a whole economy built around rock and roll. And if it worked…you were as rich as anybody in America, with much more freedom. You existed outside the system, yet owned it. That’s why everybody wants to be a “rock star.”

Now if you weren’t around back then, and most people who’ll view this movie weren’t, you’ll peer in on a past age that was not so exciting to live through but looks positively glorious from this distance. We had to leave the house, there was nothing to do and no way to meet people at home. So we’d go out to hear bands, even crappy bands, to be part of the scene, to interact.

And we all interacted. The educated and the dropouts. We were all there together, hooked by the music. There was no VIP unless you truly were one, you couldn’t buy your way in. So you’d peer behind the rope and see rock stars and executives and say to yourself…I’m gonna be there one day.

There was that desire. And it’s so hard to make it, and so hard to stay in it.

You practiced. You formed bands. The bands broke up and you formed new bands. You laughed, you fought, you got drunk and did drugs. And got laid.

The women would buy you meals, support you, they wanted in just that bad. Judge ’em all you want, but that’s the way it was, ask any band that started out living in one room eating ramen.

And when you made it, you were certifiably BIG! Everybody in the demo knew you, because everybody was watching MTV, even those not in the demo. You were royalty.

And Tommy Lee married Heather Locklear and then Pamela Anderson. They wanted to be closer to the sound, to the scene. And Valerie Bertinelli married Eddie Van Halen. And oftentimes the famous women pursued the men.

And nobody was talking, still nobody is talking, it’s the code of the road.

Jeff Bezos has a rendezvous with Patrick Whitesell’s wife… Metallica went on an endless tour and the band members came home and all got divorced. This was not traditional business. It was every night another arena, an endless grind, of endless boredom, no wonder the musicians did drugs and trashed hotel rooms to cope.

But the critics were never there. They’re like the uptight neighbors pooh-poohing the music. And the car salesmen. The BMW salesman wouldn’t give Steve Lukather the time of day, until he came back with cash.

Believe me, Wall Street didn’t revere the rockers like they do the techies, they were outcasts.

And then the whole thing flipped. The executives thought they were the stars, Napster killed sales and the internet flattened the scene, so there was no mystery and nobody was that big.

Which is why the younger generation is going to be intrigued by this flick, they not only want to know how it was, they envy it and want to re-enact it.

That’s right “The Dirt” will be influential. Never underestimate the power of rock.

And it plays more like “Wayne’s World” than drama. None of the characters are believable, the language is hokey, but the story remains.

And it’s on Netflix. Remember when “Eddie and the Cruisers” failed in theatres and then soared on HBO? Same deal here. It’s just a click away, just a click away.

Hell, I watched it, the hype got to me.

But you can’t get me out to the theatre, no way. And when those movies hit the flat screen it’s too late, the culture is on to something else, and it’s impossible to stay current, never mind catch up.

So if you’re an insider, it’s a must-see, just to see how the truth in your mind was depicted, the old days.

And if you’re a newbie… Sure, rappers shoot each other, get in trouble with the law, but rockers were more about getting drunk and getting laid and the truth is it can never be the way it was because of the aforementioned cameras, everyone’s got one in their smartphone.

And #MeToo. Rock is politically incorrect. Almost all of it. Could Jimi Hendrix even record a song called “Foxey Lady”?

I doubt it.

And my favorite Aerosmith song is “Lord of the Thighs.”

Nope, we’ve got to nix that one too.

But it didn’t used to be that way.

And “The Dirt” gets it right.

SUCKAS!

Today it’s from the bottom up, not the top down.

This is a complete one-eighty from the twentieth century. Used to be you aligned yourself with corporations which seeded media outlets for you to get traction. But this was back in a limited world with few slots, when entertainment was scarce, before Spotify, before Napster.

Now, that paradigm does not work.

Bernie Sanders raised $5.9 million on his first day of fundraising. Beto O’Rourke $6.1 million. All from individuals. If you’re taking money from the corporation, you’re gonna lose, just like Hillary.

The media missed Trump.

And it’s missing what’s going on in the music business. Conventional wisdom is it’s the same as it ever was, hit acts played on the radio are the most important. But just like in the MTV era, the faster you make it, the quicker you lose it. But the real winners are not those hungering for playlists or radio spins or even a record deal, but those forging relationships with fans.

It’s fan passion you want, not corporate indifference, where you’re a cog in the wheel.

Corporations are not to be trusted, fat cats either, on either the right or left of the political spectrum. And conventional wisdom amongst music acolytes is today’s hit acts haven’t earned it, they’ve been propped up by the machine, there’s nothing there. They’re losers, just like Hillary, endorsed by the press, irrelevant to them.

If you’ve got something genuine, you’ve got to start outside the system. Otherwise you’re going to be compromised by the system. You’ve got to use the new tech tools to establish a fan base and grow it. And the truth is your fans grow it, and radio is the icing on the cake, but there’s a good chance radio isn’t even gonna help you anymore, because your fans want to own you, although they can appreciate your broader success by saying they were there first.

That’s the litmus test, whether you have fans. Other than your significant other, family and friends. Are those not connected closed? If so, they’ll give you their time and money and work 24/7 as a marketing machine.

People don’t personally know Bernie or Beto, but they’re donating anyway.

Hillary went to corporate donors, who don’t give the money away for free, she was inherently compromised.

You can’t be compromised in the twenty first century.

Don’t look at the acts that have the biggest grosses, but those who sell out. You feel a rush seeing your favorite act up close in a small venue that supersedes seeing the superstar in an arena or stadium. You remember this event for your entire life.

In other words, you’re a star in your own world. Every act is a silo. There is no competition, other than with yourself. Is your fanbase growing, are your grosses growing? Do your fans want new music irrelevant of if it’s too soon for radio?

And there are so many ways to monetize. But you’ve got to do it yourself. The personal touch is everything. You want to meet and greet your audience, be available online. Sure, eventually you might get too busy and too big to do this, but that means you’re on your way.

Everything great starts from outside. But historically, you had to sell out to go big. Today, no one’s that big, no one’s ubiquitous. And just by aligning yourself with a major/corporation you’re compromising yourself. Because their goals are not aligned with yours. They’re about money, they’re about short term, they’re about what’s expedient. You’re willing to wait for money, delayed gratification is the way all the tech companies were built…have success, then charge. And you’re in it for the long haul. You’re fans first, not stockholders first.

And passionate fans will support you. And, once again, being around a long time pays dividends in today’s cacophonous world. People don’t want fly by night, they want to invest for years!

Bob,

You may have little interest in the social impact of the Woodstock legacy, but anyone who was there will tell you it was about way more than just the music.

W50 is not music by the numbers and we are not Live Nation or AEG looking to own the Festival world. This one-time event will not be back next year. We are independent and happy to be so.

You can look at our lineup and dismiss the headliners because they are headliners and have been for some time, and that’s because they make great music. Many of our acts are heavily committed to Social Change.

You can fail to look to the rich fabric of the undercard and you dismiss the incredible diversity and talent there as not worth a mention, But for you to ignore the power of music to once again move people to action is truly disappointing.

I think we are reliving some of the same issues we, (maybe not you), were passionate about back then. Civil rights, women’s rights, equal opportunity for all, ending a war we felt unjust, and awareness of the fact that our planet needed care. We gained a voice and we made a difference. Through music and community, we hope to help engage young people in these and other challenges once again affecting all of our lives, to encourage them to step up and make their voices heard.

We have a growing list of NGO partners like HeadCount and Conservation International as well as NGO’s coming from the likes of Miley Cyrus- Happy Hippies, JZ -REFORM, and Chance The Rapper’s Social Works.

And btw the Dentsu guys sold me! They wanted in. They saw this event as an opportunity with a payoff of doing some real good in the World.

Where will we be if we don’t all step up now ?

Best, Michael

It’s just another festival. Albeit with a legendary brand name, which has been tarnished by two previous anniversary iterations.

The festival business has changed. Everything doesn’t sell out. Some crater completely, like Pemberton in British Columbia. If you build it, there’s a good chance they will not come. Even if they’ve come before, they might not again.

Like Bonnaroo. Started as a jam band festival, it expanded its brand to the point of near-extinction. Phish is returning this year, and some of the Phishheads unable to fathom missing a performance will attend, but Bonnaroo peaked years ago and is one bad year away from going away.

Because it’s a lousy experience. In Tennessee in the near-summer with camping. It takes a special breed of person to want to do that, and there aren’t that many of them. People want to be pampered, and it’s about the audience, not the performers. That’s why the Fyre Festival was so successful, people bought tickets because they wanted to hang with movers and shakers, up their cred, make connections. The fact that it ended up a fraud is secondary.

Coachella continues. Because it’s the granddaddy and the first event of the festival season, taking place in April. But this is the year they switched formulas, from classic to contemporary. This may or may not work for them. Coachella may be Glastonbury, act-proof, but maybe not.

But the other mega-festivals in the U.S…

Are all located in cities. Lollapalooza in Chicago, ACL in Austin and Outside Lands in San Francisco. You’ve got to locate your festival in a metropolis, with infrastructure, people don’t want to only hear music and they don’t want to camp. This works for not only the three festivals stated above, but for JazzFest and Life Is Beautiful. Life is not beautiful sitting in the mud.

And speaking of mud, that’s always an issue with east coast festivals, the weather. Seems every year a New York City festival has to cancel a day for weather, wreaking havoc with the economics.

And it used to be festivals were a one time only experience. Now, the headliners appear at multiple events, in your region, there’s no need to travel, and if you don’t go to the festival, you can see them at your local venue.

The original Woodstock was such a legendary event because no one thought it would be so. The mainstream press did not participate in the buildup, unlike today, where the announcement of the bill is all over the web.

The original Woodstock was a cultural event, but we did not know this until after the show was over. When we saw the power of youth. All going, all being safe, all enjoying classic music.

But shortly thereafter, Meredith Hunter was killed at Altamont. And the wannabe events promoted were canceled, like Powder Ridge. And then there was the original Watkins Glen concert, with three legendary acts. The Dead and the Allmans built their careers on their live shows, the records paled in comparison, you had to be there to experience it. I was, it was not so great, the best I can say is I was there. We slept in the car and it rained and I would not want to repeat the performance.

No baby boomer would.

And millennials are all about creature comforts, lifestyle. Why would they want to camp?

Certainly the music is not enough.

In all the grosses and live experience hogwash, no one admits the music does not have the power it used to. When the Killers are headlining you yawn. Their hits are behind them and they’re not superstars to begin with.

As for Dead & Company… They play EVERYWHERE!

And Jay Z? He doesn’t go clean. We can argue whether it’s high ticket prices or demand…

The only act that seems to be somewhat about the music is Dead & Company. Didn’t Jay Z say he was a brand, man? Maybe that was someone else, but that’s everybody’s goal these days. The musicians are not aspirational for their music, but their ability to leverage that fame in other ways to make money. It’s hollow.

The acts of yore wrote their own material. Today’s acts perform “songs” written by committee, or someone else entirely, it’s not straight from the heart, but straight from the cash register.

Furthermore, in 1969, the music was exploring and exploding. It drove the culture. Jimi Hendrix played “The Star Spangled Banner” to close Woodstock. The innovation is limited today, we’re not in a heyday.

But you might argue with me.

But I’ll tell you it’s just business. Promoters don’t put up shows on a wing and a prayer, they look at the numbers, they make educated guesses, too many losses and they’re out of business. If anything, give Michael Lang credit for snookering Dentsu to pay for this. And I’m sure he told them about sponsorships, movies, the penumbra… They all came after the original Woodstock, which initially was all about the music and nothing but the music.

No one is looking at the Woodstock 50 bill and saying…WHOA, I HAVE TO BE THERE!

That was Desert Trip, with truly legendary acts in a one time only show.

The only attractive thing is the brand name. And people believe in Apple, Netflix and Instagram more than they do in Woodstock these days.

If anything, all the innovation is happening on the fringes, in the small shows, the bubbling under stuff. We’re hoping some of it blows up and inspires others thinking out of the box.

But Woodstock 50 is like a remake of “American Idol.” Or bringing back a sixties or seventies TV show because the networks are out of ideas.

I’m yearning for some disruption.

And even those not on the cutting edge don’t want to drive to nowhere to camp and see acts that won’t change their lives.

If Michael Lang really wanted to have a modern festival it would focus on the attendees, not those on stage.

But that’s a baby boomer, always locked in the past.

P.S. Jay Z said “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” That’s all you need to know about today’s music scene.