20 Years After: The Woodstock Reunion Concert

With the original event now 35 years in the rearview mirror, can we finally put the whole Woodstock-hippie thing to bed? Please? Heck, if Woodstock '99 couldn't do it--when the peace and love turned into burning, rioting, and rape--then why even hope that this lame offering will? We can assume from the title that the concert presented here (in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on three DVDs) took place in 1989, although we're not told precisely when or where. What is for certain is that there are bands featured here who were well past their prime (if they ever had one) by this point. Yes, some are legit Woodstock '69 refugees, but Melanie's quavering delivery and annoying tunes haven't improved with age, Country Joe McDonald sings a song called “Bring Back the ‘60s, Man” (and isn't kidding), and Canned Heat, who appear without their late leaders and frontmen Al Wilson and Bob Hite, is just one of the bands (most of them having nothing to do with the first Woodstock) bearing almost no resemblance to its original self. We're talking the Spencer Davis Group without Steve Winwood, Humble Pie without Steve Marriott, the Electric Flag without Mike Bloomfield, Iron Butterfly without…um, whoever. All in all, this has the earmarks of one of those classic rock tours that's not only bad but kind of sad. It sure ain't Woodstock, and nothing that acid casualty/'60s “psychedelic tour guide” Timothy Leary (whose meanderings are genuinely painful to behold) says in between the tunes here will alter that fact. Not recommended. Aud: P. (S. Graham)