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Woodstock Redux?
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It was a mega event for a lifestyle credit card taking the '90s tripping back in time to the '60s. So was this really Woodstock? HEMANGINI GUPTA lets `you decide'
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As the peace, love, sex and drugs jamboree of the Sixties turned a hard-sell theme...
Woodstock Jam — a mega consumer event for the ambitious and upwardly mobile customer.
WELL, SO it was a little bit different the last time you checked but Woodstock is being forced to change with the times. Manhattan, the "global super brand and India's first lifestyle credit card", appropriated the idea of Woodstock as a theme to popularise its new card. The peace, love, sex and drugs jamboree of the late '60s, celebrated on a farm in New York State, became the hard-sell theme of a consumer product in a crowded, mainstream nightclub of the '90s.
Scenes from the past
Playing silently on an outdoor screen were scenes from Woodstock '99, that watered-down attempt to revive the classic festival, which many dubbed a flop, a sham. But who noticed? Not the vodka-sipping crowd that was hardly aware of the hanging marijuana leaf cutouts (labelled "Marijuana" for those not familiar with the weed) and the upside-down peace signs (we'd like to believe those were an unintended feature and not a dark prediction of our times).
The music wasn't from Woodstock, although a few of the groups who played there were featured, like The Who and The Mamas and The Papas. No Jimi Hendrix, no Grateful Dead or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Bandanna-sporting compères egged on the audience to join the karaoke in singing the Beatles — a group that never played at Woodstock, by the way. And neither did Bob Dylan, whose "Forever Young" was played as a sop to those who were 40-plus. The time zone expanded by a decade or two as CCR gave way to Police, Dire Straits, The Eagles and Bon Jovi.
The younger members of the audience were the most effervescent, though not the most knowledgeable. Cheerfully someone replied to the inquisitorial compère's question: "What was Woodstock?" with a novel answer: "It's a British rock festival." Which brings us to: what was Woodstock? A party for consumer credit in a glitzy nightclub with a heavyweight corporate sponsor for the evening?
The celebrity set had their answers pat. Theatre doyen and jet-setter Dolly Thakore, who flew in from Mumbai for Thursday night's party, said: "Well, I wasn't actually expecting it to be in a place like this..." gesturing at the plush sofas and muted lighting, "I thought it would be out in the open... but you know it's all about music and a way of life and a lot of younger people don't know about that, so who cares who gives the money? It's the message of Woodstock that matters."
Still alive
The message was still alive for writer Mala Sen. Looking the picture of a flower child with open, waist-length hair and flowing white cotton dress, she was heard recalling her student days in Britain when she was arrested for taking part in an anti-Vietnam war protest. "There's a war on now, you know." Iraq, she meant, of course.
The irony of a corporate sponsored Woodstock was not lost on everyone. Playwright Mahesh Dattani seated with a group of friends said: "Yes, Woodstock was anti-establishment... but I am enjoying this party because the music is great and I'm here with all my friends."
The music went from amateur karaoke to professional live later on in the evening with Madhoo Chandra Das, a graphic designer from Manhattan. "I just happened to be in India, and when Dolly told me there was going to be a Woodstock I knew I just couldn't miss the experience," he said.
Madras accent
Madhoo then "pretended" to put on "a Madras accent" (ha ha) and launched into a karaoke version of "Born to be Wild". He later changed into a glittering Elvis costume (er, wasn't he 10 years too early for Woodstock?) and let fly a medley of Elvis numbers. He's just released his own album which "is a tribute to the Beatles," he says. "I'm passionate about the Beatles and learnt all my music from them... I'm really into Woodstock as well; I've watched the documentary 12 times till the Joe Cocker part." His album brings Indian sounds into popular Beatles' numbers (Norwegian Wood, anyone?) and he says it cost him a bomb since he had to acquire permission. But well worth the effort since he may now get a chance to meet Paul McCartney.
Elvis and Bon Jovi, marijuana cutouts and upside-down peace signs. So was this Woodstock? The credit card says it best: "You decide!"
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