Seth Hurwitz on Merriweather Hosting Woodstock 50: ‘We Are Ready To Do a Show If They Have One’

Merriweather Post Pavilion / Facebook – Merriweather Post Pavilion

News broke today that Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., may be hosting Woodstock 50, the star-crossed 50-year celebration of the original Woodstock festival, which has been in limbo since its original financial partner Dentsu pulled out of the event in late April. 

Pollstar reached out to Seth Hurwitz, the chairman and co-founder of I.M.P., which operates the amphitheater for the Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission. According to Hurwitz, I.M.P. “would help produce the show in-house for them if they bring us the show but as far as the content is concerned, we have nothing to do with that, that’s all them.” 

The “content” is an important sticking point as it’s not clear at this juncture with the festival possibly moving 272 miles south of the original Watkins Glen, N.Y., site would nullify the contracts of artists, all of whom have already been paid in full.

Pollstar: What’s going on with Woodstock? 

Seth Hurwitz:  Basically what I have to say is they approached us about finding a venue in D.C., I said Merriweather is available. We have a show booked that day [The Smashing Pumpkins are schedule to play Aug. 17], there’s still some things we have to work around. We’re not sure if we’ll do all those days or not. Which of those three days we’ll actually do, it’s still being talked about, but my role is merely as the venue. And we would help obviously produce the show in-house for them if they bring us the show but as far as the content is concerned, we have nothing to do with that, that’s all them.

Andy Gensler – Seth Hurwitz

Would you need county approvals for the show? 
No, we’ve never been denied a permit. We’re a venue, we’re open all the time. We already have them. That’s a given in our case. 

And you have other shows booked? 
Well we do and that’s why I don’t want to start trying to move it or make them part of that. Yeah, we do have a show in there and we need to talk to them about maybe being involved or maybe we wouldn’t do it on that day. Right now, I’m still waiting on them to present us with a show. We are ready to do a show if they have one.

What’s the capacity for festivals there?
Can go up to 32,500 or on the Saturday and Sunday. Friday is different because it’s in a functional town that people work and live in and the numbers are different on a weekday. 

That’s none of my business, I have no opinion. It’s just not anything I’m going to get involved in. Like I said, I’m really just the venue here. We’d have to work something out with the show that’s there and I don’t want to talk to them about it unless this is real. So I’m just waiting to see if it’s real. The venue is real, that I can tell you.  The venue is real, ready, willing and able.

I’ve seen the renovation at Merriweather and the amenities — it’s one of the best sheds out there.
I think it’s a great fit, giving the history of Merriweather. It is the D.C. amphitheater it makes a lot of sense to me but I cannot speak for artists. And I have nothing to do with the booking — I do wear a few hats here in D.C. For this one only the venue hat is on. 

So there’s no signed contract? 
They have a contract with us if they have a show to present along with a few details. If they have a real show than we have a real venue. It’s up to them to work things out with whomever they want to play, but it’s not my business. If they have a show we have a place for them to play. There’s no concern about permits or any of that. Anything beyond that I’m not even going to a stick a toe in it.

Dates could change depending on holds? 
And how many bands they have, maybe it will end up one day or maybe it will end up being three days, who knows? Let’s see who they tell me is playing.  That’s what I’m waiting for at this point. 

In terms of your business, is this the same as any festival, like Sweetlife or M3, asking to put on a festival there? 
Yes, the only thing is in this case is I’d want to speak to agents and make sure their artists are doing it.