In 1971, at the age of 14, I saw a few feet away from me, Frank Marino who was playing Hendrix songs on a flat bed at the Place Versailles, in the East of Montreal, that made its way afterwards to the Maurice Richard Arena for a tribute concert, for the first anniversary of Jimi Hendrix’s death.
I didn’t see the show at the Arena because I did not have a ticket or any money to buy one but, the 30-40 minutes that I observed Frank Marino play guitar, gave me the passion of the guitar and the obsession that one day, I would be the one that would give a concert and play Jimi Hendrix songs.
About 10 years later, at the beginning of the 80’s, I had the idea and the desire of putting a show together that would reproduce the major event that was Woodstock in 1969, idea that finally gave way to my work and other activities.
After becoming a guitar collector and still very much a Hendrix & Woodstock fan, I bought a reproduction of the Gibson ES335 that Alvin Lee played at Woodstock. I finally sold that guitar on Ebay in 2009, to a French doctor that invited me for a week of jamming at the Island of Embiez in the south of France, and the theme was Woodstock!
For that event, I thought of the name « Forty Years After » for our improvised band and the obsession of putting together a Woodstock show came back to me right then and there, stronger than ever!
After putting together a production company, a crew of 15 musicians plus a stage manager, sound & lighting technicians, a team of roadies and even a group of hippie girls that came directly from the 60’s, the premiere of Forty Years After « The Woodstock Experience » was held at Club Soda, on Saturday August 6th 2012!
We are now planning a revival of the show for 2019, aptly renamed Fifty Years After, for obvious reasons !
On stage, you will see and hear a reproduction of the best moments of Woodstock in sound and images, while staying faithful to the Sixties in regards to the equipment and the instruments; sound & lighting, costumes; incense & patchouli, headbands, and Peace & Love signs just like in 1969!!
This is a lot more than your average cover band, every musician was hand-picked to make sure they could reproduce the originals artist's performances from the 1969 Woodstock Festival.
Come and see Hendrix, Santana, Cocker, The Who and more at the grand premiere of « Fifty Years After»
Claude Zalac, President
Vintage Productions
