‘By the time we got to Woodstock....’

Get out your flowing dresses, floral headbands and bell-bottoms because the Kraft Stadium will be rocking for the second annual Jerusalem Woodstock Revival.

By SARAH NADAV
Woodstock 311 (photo credit: Yehoshua Halevi)
Woodstock 311
(photo credit: Yehoshua Halevi)
Last year marked 40 years since the original Woodstock festival of peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll in upstate New York. In Jerusalem, members of the American Football Association decided to celebrate by having a tribute concert at the Kraft Stadium. I have a feeling that there were very few football players at the original Woodstock, but ex-pats make strange bedfellows.
And the truth is, 40 years later the music stands on its own, and it is rare to find an American who does not love the music of the 1960s.
“The festival was such a success last year, that everyone begged us to do it again,” says Steve Leibowitz, president of the American Football in Israel and director of the Kraft Family Stadium, where the six-hour benefit concert is set to take place on August 5 from 5 p.m. This year, the American Embassy is also involved and will be a cosponsor of Jerusalem’s very own football-sponsored hippie fest. So get out your flowing dresses, floral headbands and bell-bottoms because the Kraft Stadium will be rocking.
Mark Rashkow, an immigrant from Chicago who was at the original Woodstock, will be playing a special medley, including Santana, The Rolling Stones and Joe Cocker. Rashkow says that his experience at Woodstock was unbelievable, and he got to hang out with a lot of amazing musicians backstage. Despite being a young man at the time, he was already a well-known blues guitarist who had played with some of the greats, including Junior Miles, Buddy Wells and Muddy Waters. He performed last year at the Woodstock Revival and is excited about the chance to be back. “The energy was amazing,” he says, “and people were having such a great time.”
This year's line-up of artists includes Yael Dekelbaum from Banot Nechama, doing her rendition of Janis Joplin; Tree performing greatest hits of The Who; and Lazer Lloyd of Yood, who will be returning with more from Jimi Hendrix’s best. There will also be tributes to artists from the ’60s who were not at Woodstock for various reasons. Daniel Dor will perform some Bob Dylan classics; Larry and Mindy Fogel will sing some Simon & Garfunkel favorites; and Clare Diane and her band, Graffiti, will rock it with their rendition of Led Zeppelin.
A special guest at the event will be Abigail Yasgur, the niece of Max Yasgur, the man who hosted the original Woodstock on his farm. She has recently written a children’s book about the Woodstock story called Max Said Yes! The book tells the story of her uncle and how he came to host the most famous music concert of all time.
Jerusalem’s Woodstock Revival promises to be family friendly with booths, face painting, kids’ activities, food and great music happening all day and into the night.
Danny Gewirtz, one of the concert organizers, says, “Unlike Woodstock ’69, we promise there won’t be any mud, but along with rock ’n’ roll and hippies of all ages, we hope to bring a feeling of love to the people of Jerusalem.”
Tickets are NIS 70 in advance and NIS 90 at the door.

For more information and tickets, call or visit the following: • www.woodstockrevival.com • Nadia Levene: 0545-337-000 or ladidah2000@gmail.com • www.misterticket.co.il or 623-6443 • 54 B’moshava (54 Emek Refaim next to Cafe Hillel) • HaGov bar (Lion’s Den) 5 Rehov Shamai (corner Yoel Salomon)