Welcome back to cockertribute.com Today I am remembering, August 14-15, 2009, in Woodstock Illinois, Michael Stanard, put together a “Forty Year Anniversary of Woodstock” Show. It was Two days and nights of tribute acts. My Joe Cocker tribute, was given the honor of being The Headlining Act of this Two Date event.
My son, Jeremy, and I went up on Friday, before the show started, so we could see the Friday lineup of Acts. The weather was beautiful. The vibes was electrifying. Many people were dressed in Hippie garb, Bell-bottoms and beads, and lots of Tie-dyed clothing. There were vendors of all kinds. A helicopter was selling rides around and above the concert site. People were lined up to enter when the gates opened and by the time the show got underway, Galt Airport, was buzzing with a full field of spectators. People were walking with helium balloons, and blowing gigantic bubbles. People were being so kind and courteous to each other and backstage was like a trip back in time. The sound system, sounded terrific and when dusk came the lighting intensified the stage. All of the acts Friday impressed the audience. We went back to the hotel and I could hardly sleep from all the anticipation of Saturdays show. Saturday was more of the same excitement and fine tributes. The act on just before us was “The Wholigans”, they stirred up the crowd with every WHO hit you can think of. Three songs into their set, Laura Witlox, came up to me and said, “Your son Jeremy said, that you guys would like to take a Helicopter ride, if you follow me I’ll make it happen”. So we boarded the bird, Jeremy in front, next to the pilot, with camera in hand. I was in the back with Laura. Jeremy got some cool shots and when we landed we were escorted backstage to get prepped for our set.
When I came out of the dressing room, the band was nervous, as the horn section hadn’t shown up yet. The band had ridden up together, was dressed, and ready to go. However, The horn section had driven together in a van and had hit some detours, gotten off course, and was running late.
The Wholigans finished their set and their gear was being struck from the stage. Our gear was being placed and still no horn section. Keyboardist, Kevin Silva, looked worried. “Fifteen minutes”, said the stage manager. We all looked at each other. “I don’t want to have to go on without the horns”, I said.
Just then my phone rang, it was Saxophonist, Jay Young. “We just turned onto the road leading into the concert”, he said. “Five minutes, Mr. Kaye”, said the stage manager. I looked around and saw the security guys opening the gate to backstage and there was the horn section pulling in. They just had time to get their clothes changed, and grab their horns, when the stage manager said, “OK, go on up the M.C. is getting ready to announce you on. We took the stage to thunderous applause and launched into our set. The crowd was on it’s feet and stayed there for the whole set. We had a great night. Everyone was in good health and spirits. They never sounded better. When our show was done we left the stage and the applause didn’t die down, instead it rose to a frenzy. We returned to the stage for the encore and for our very last song, “With A Little Help From My friends”, we had the Promoter, Michael Stanard, his wife, and his staff, the stage crew, along with all the other acts join us onstage. It was a very memorable weekend indeed.
Thanks for visiting cockertribute.com
Sincerely,
Alan Kaye