HAMMOND —- It’s been roughly 55 years since a crowd of 400,000 descended on a farm in rural upstate New York for what would become the greatest rock ‘n’ roll concert of all time.
Artists like The Who, Joe Cocker, and Jefferson Airplane mesmerized scores of young people as rain and thunderstorms pounded the concert site over three days, turning the 600-acre farm into one giant mud pit.
While a time machine may be the only way to truly experience that once-in-a-lifetime concert, The Columbia Theater will do its best to replicate the music and good vibes of that infamous festival this Saturday, Aug. 17, with the Southern Summer of Love: One Night of Peace and Music show. The event will feature Will Vance and the Kinfolk, Greg Talmage Band, Electric Ramble, and other special guests.
Similar to Woodstock, the event aims to make a positive impact, with funds going towards Keeping a Light for Kallie, a Northshore-based charity that supports pediatric cancer families and research. The foundation was started by Loranger residents Justin and Hayley Dickens, whose daughter Kallie died in 2022 at just four years old after being diagnosed with a terminal form of brain cancer in 2021.
The family says charitable events like this help other families in similar situations while also keeping the memory of their daughter alive.
“It helps us keep her alive while also doing the big part of supporting other pediatric cancer families going through the worst thing imaginable and then also being able to fund the research to help find a cure because there is no cure for a lot of these types of cancer, and that’s just not fair for kids,” Hayley Dickens said.
Hammond-based rockers Will Vance and the Kinfolk helped lay the groundwork for this charitable effort after playing at another fundraiser for the Dickens family that was held at Gnarly Barley. The family says Vance reached out to them earlier this year to ask if they could raise funds for Keeping a Light through the Summer of Love showcase.
“One of the things that you’re most scared about when your child dies is that they’ll get forgotten,” Hayley said. “For Will and the Kinfolk to do this, it’s incredible. They’re remembering Kallie, but they’re also helping us help these other families.”
Lead singer Will Vance, who is also a father of a young child, said the Dickens’ story profoundly touched him.
“It’s not fair for anybody to get cancer, but especially a young kid. And God forbid, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my son, so it’s near and dear to my heart,” Vance said.
The Summer of Love concert will also mark the third tribute show the Kinfolk have performed at The Columbia Theater in as many years. Two years ago, they performed a tribute to “The Last Waltz”, the famous The Band concert filmed by Martin Scorsese, and last year they did a tribute to the Allman Brothers’ classic “Eat a Peach” album.
Kinfolk bassist Michael Gray says there’s no better time than now to revisit Woodstock’s message of peace, love, and unity.
“The music is uplifting,” Gray said. “There’s a message of positivity and coming together for the common good of your fellow man.”
While Woodstock was a three-day concert event that drew in more than 30 bands, the show at Columbia will be decidedly smaller, which Vance said made it especially difficult to pick which songs and bands should be covered.
Vance assured that artists like Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Santana would be prominently featured.
“We found a website that listed everybody that played and their setlist, and we got the bands to look at that and just kind of cherry-pick what they wanted to play,” Vance said, adding that Kinfolk lead guitarist John Mark Gray helped create the set lists and flow for each band’s performance.
Learning all those songs wasn’t an easy task, but Vance said the Kinfolk took it slowly, focusing on a few songs at a time before practicing the full setlist.
“Everybody in the Kinfolk are just phenomenal musicians, so I couldn’t do any of this without them,” Vance said. “Hats off to those guys for all the work they put in because I’m not the talented one—they are. My name’s out front, but those guys are the talent.”
The Dickens family hopes people will come out to the concert to support other children and families going through the most difficult experiences a parent can face.
“Kallie has been gone for over two years now, but the fact that she has made an impact that will hopefully last longer than even we’re here—that means the world to us,” Justin Dickens said. “Her life has impacted so many others, and we’re hoping it will continue to do so.”
If you’re interested in attending, tickets can be purchased on The Columbia’s website or at the door the night of the show. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $40 for VIP access.
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