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Blind 15-Year-Old Hendrix Opens Woodstock Anniversary Show
He was just one pound, eleven ounces when he was born, and Saturday night, he was playing tribute to one of the biggest rock stars in the world with the eyes of the world on him. The kid who taught himself to play guitar listening to Hendrix rock Woodstock played Woodstock Saturday night.
Conrad Oberg opened the Woodstock anniversary concert at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, NY, and made his guitar scream in tribute to his hero for a feedback-laden rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
The song was his only of the night – completely blind in one eye, with only fifteen percent vision in his other, Oberg was escorted offstage with a walking stick in his hand, his guitar carried to safety – but it set the tone for a night filled with The Heroes of Woodstock, the biggest gathering of original Woodstock Festival bands since the ’69 concert.
Raised on Woodstock – both because of my parents’ age and my hometown’s proximity to the site – Oberg’s triumph was a stirring reminder of the affect the Age of Aquarius has had on the succeeding generations. Not to mention the kid totally rocked the house – we were all standing at attention.
Born in 1994, the fifteen-year-old was three and a half months premature and has suffered from blindness since birth. He started playing music at two and a half – that’s when his dad handed him a real keyboard to replace his banging on his toy piano. A guitar was to follow at ten, which Oberg taught himself while listening to Hendrix at Woodstock. Since recording an album in Memphis, he’s been in demand as a performer at blues festivals and NFL sanctioned Super Bowl events.
But playing Woodstock – specifically standing in for Jimi – was like “standing in for a friend.”
“I told my dad I always wanted to play Woodstock,” Oberg said to the crowd Saturday night. “I guess I made it.”
The Heroes of Woodstock will be selling the entire show on their Website, where you’ll get to see Conrad play. Check it out here or get a load of him playing at his own site.
Image: Sager Scenes
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[...] don’t think the school can handle ten thousand-some people (no offense, but neither do I – I shot the Woodstock anniversary show on Saturday with fifteen thousand people and it took a huge crew to handle them . . . a huge crew that’s [...]
Parents Freak About 50 Cent Elementary School Show | Strollerderby commented on Aug 19 09 at 12:29 pmAdd your take:
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