Woodstock 50: How the Golden Anniversary Festival Went Off Track

"You just can't do these things overnight anymore," said one music historian.

When the organizers of Woodstock's 50th anniversary festival put the rock band Hollis Brown on the lineup, lead singer Mike Montali was elated, NBC News reported.

"It's such an iconic and legendary thing, man," Montali said, referring to the paisley-printed, mud-splattered 1969 original. "For us, a couple of guys who started our band in a garage in Queens a few years ago, getting on the bill of a Woodstock festival was a huge achievement. It was a dream come true." 

But now, less than a month before Woodstock 50 is scheduled to begin, the event is in doubt, plagued by a series of behind-the-scenes money headaches and legal setbacks. 

The festival has lost its financial backer, key producing partners and at least one venue, and tickets have not even been put up for sale yet for the Aug. 16-18 concert dates. The parallels to 2017's calamitous Fyre Festival have not been lost on online skeptics.

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