Woodstock co-founder asks fans to 'get over' contemporary line-up: 'We cannot just have an oldies show'

Miley Cyrus, the Killers and Jay-Z are among the full line-up

One of the co-organisers of the 1969 Woodstock music festival has asked fans to stop complaining about the modern line-up of the anniversary event taking place this year.

Woodstock 50, as it has been dubbed, will take place in August in Watkins Glen, New York, marking five decades since the original “three days of peace, love and music”.

Miley Cyrus, the Killers and Jay-Z are among the acts announced as part of the full line-up last week.

The line-up has attracted mixed reactions on social media, including criticism from some who were expecting to see more acts from the 1969 festival, or more artists from the sixties and seventies.

“Please, somebody let me know that I’m not the only one that thinks the Woodstock line-up is whack,” one Twitter user wrote. “It’s going to literally be nowhere near the spirit of the first one.”

But Michael Lang, a concert promoter and manager who co-created the 1969 festival, told TMZ he believes it was important to make Woodstock 50 a “contemporary show” for a “young” audience.

Asked what he would like to tell purists who have expressed unhappiness about the current line-up, Lang said: ”Kind of get over it, really. We cannot just have an oldies show.”

He added: “This is really a contemporary Woodstock for today. The reason for it is really based around the social issues that we’re dealing with.”

Lang expressed the hope that Woodstock 50 would be an occasion to foster activism and “re-steer” the direction in which “the world seems to be heading”.

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The Woodstock 50 line-up does include some heritage acts, such as Santana and Dead & Company, made up of former Grateful Dead members.

Maggie Rogers, Bishop Briggs, the Black Keys, Chance The Rapper, and Halsey are all among the acts set to play during the three-day festival.