Opinion: Mourning two music legends wrapped up in one Woodstock

Sometime around 3 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2016 — six years ago Monday — I was either woken by an iPhone text alert from the BBC, or had just coincidentally woken up to see that it had just arrived.

The text alert announced that musician David Bowie — an iconic British rocker who maintained very strong ties to Woodstock, Ulster County, the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley — had died.

Fast forward six years to very early Sunday morning, Jan. 9, 2022. In a hauntingly familiar scenario, I woke up sometime after 3 a.m. to find my iPhone ablaze with more sad news from the music world. Michael Lang, the longtime Woodstock resident and driving force behind the 1969 Woodstock festival, had died.

It’s a pretty odd coincidence. And it shows how the song, spirit, history, legacy, past, present and future of Woodstock and its mystique bind many of us together.

Perhaps this odd coincidence speaks to a bond that Lang and Bowie shared, but never realized. Did the two men ever meet? I don’t know.

But I have to think these two rock and roll heavyweights crossed paths at some point. Maybe it was while they were picking up takeout at the old Little Bear Chinese restaurant in Bearsville. Or perhaps they were coming and going from Cucina, the restaurant that sits at the edge of Woodstock, where state routes 212 and 375 intersect.

These two music men shared multiple traits. Both loved Woodstock. Both changed millions of lives through live rock and roll.

And for me, they will always share a sacred bond steeped in the afterlife.

That’s because news of both men’s deaths reached me in the same way, at the same hour of a pre-dawn morning, roughly six years apart, to the moment, minus 24 hours. The news of each man’s passing also left me pondering the power of music; how it shapes our lives; how it can unite, rather than divide; and how we turn to the power of song when uncertainty that consumes us — like in a pandemic — is compounded by loss.

Different origins and paths, united in love for Woodstock

At first glance, Bowie and Lang were as different as two men could possibly be. Bowie was from Great Britain. Lang grew up in Brooklyn.

Bowie’s place as a performer was center stage, in the spotlight, commanding attention for hours before taking bows at the end of yet another successful concert in a hockey arena, theater or smoky club. The next night, he would do it all over again, in another city, for more adoring fans.

Lang remains perhaps the most famous behind-the-scenes concert guy ever, the promoter of perhaps the most famous concert ever held, the guy who with his partners focused on logistics for a festival whose organizers did not anticipate, but ended up hosting a half million people for performances by Richie Havens, The Who, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

But unlike Bowie’s career, Lang’s spotlight ran for four days straight, in 1969, on an alfalfa field in rural New York. And while those four days, Aug. 15-18, shifted forever the generational dynamic between the counterculture and the establishment, Lang was unable to repeat that seismic success, despite trying again in 1994, 1999 and 2019.

But the differences that separated Bowie and Lang can be cast aside for the one thing that bound them together — a passion for all things Woodstock.

Woodstock has a rich arts history that pre-dates the 1969 festival — which wasn’t even held in Woodstock — by many, many years.

But for millions of people, Michael Lang put the Woodstock in Woodstock. And for a more recent generation of music fans, Bowie put the Woodstock in Woodstock.

Lang visited Woodstock as a kid, returned in the late 1960s and never left. Over the years, you could very likely spot him in town, at Bread Alone Café on Mill Hill Road, or at a screening during the annual Woodstock Film Festival.

Bowie apparently fell in love with Woodstock, the Catskills and the Hudson Valley when he arrived at Allaire Studios in Shokan to record his 2002 album, “Heathen.” Bowie also aligned himself with the local creative community by selecting three band members who were also Ulster County residents.

And thanks to Gaela Pearson from the Golden Notebook bookstore on Tinker Street, we all know how comfortable Bowie felt just being Bowie, while out in the community. Pearson shared a wonderful story of Bowie years ago sitting on the floor with her, helping to assemble a cardboard display. She had no idea who he was.

On Saturday, the world marked what would have been Bowie’s 75th birthday. On Monday, those same Bowie fans will reflect on the sixth anniversary of the day he died.

Those in Woodstock who knew Lang are surely still processing his death, still wondering how Woodstock can ever be Woodstock in his absence. And Bowie fans know from their grieving over the past six years that time can be your best friend when mourning the loss of someone who was important to you, regardless of whether you actually knew them.

Remembering unique local legends

I never met David Bowie, but I have gotten to know musicians who played with him. I saw him perform at The Chance in Poughkeepsie in August 2003, and I attended a Woodstock Film Festival party at Allaire Studios, so I can appreciate the impact of that sacred space, and how it affected him.

On the other hand, I got to know Michael Lang pretty well while reporting on all things Woodstock, the festival and the town, over many years. Prior to meeting him, I attended Woodstock ’94 in Saugerties and steered clear of Woodstock ’99 in Rome, New York. And I wrote for nearly a year about the failed attempts to stage Woodstock 50.

So I feel like I got a good handle on Michael Lang the person, in addition to Michael Lang the concert promoter. And I’ll tell you that Lang always returned my phone calls and emails. He always made time for me when I saw him in person. And he was always pleasant to me, even in unpleasant circumstances.

When I think about Lang’s passing, and the sixth anniversary of Bowie’s death on Monday, all I can really say is that the human condition travels some rough road.

But I will also say that Bowie’s legacy endures. Michael Lang’s legacy will endure.

Woodstock, whichever Woodstock you choose, will always be Woodstock. And through the uncertainty, the grief, the mourning and the passage of time, we will endure.