Collection Vol. 1: Woodstock ‘29

The statement with Collection Vol. 1 is simple:

Every human is welcome.

Like any good party, the guest list for our imaginary Woodstock ’29 got a *bit* long.

Make no mistake, this collection is a commentary on the way capitalism impacts everything. Today, that’s undeniably impacted the ways we connect, and the culture created by our collective experience.

AI might be the lead representative of the flattening of culture at this moment, but make no mistake the tension between commerce and culture existed before and will exist after.

This collection is also a roadmap for creatives to take culture back in our hands.

Woodstock ‘29

Everyone’s In

Creative Taxi Collection Vol. 1

What started as a mild obsession with band tees turned into a mission to curate creative history. To deliver your favorite shirt so you can be more expressive.

Because creatives wear our hearts on our sleeve. Sometimes quite literally.

We produce work that is raw, messy, and most of all: human.

At the heart of Woodstock is the concept of a gathering meant to bring everyone together through the power of music, peace, and love. Woodstock ‘69 was a keystone moment in music history.

It quickly inspired other festivals like the Kickapoo Creek Festival – later known as the Incident at Kickapoo Creek – in Heyworth, Illinois. A town of 1,200 people found itself swarmed with 60,000 concert goers ready to see REO Speedwagon and BB King, among other legends of the time.

The State Attorney wrote in the newspaper he would shut it down. And he tried. But he could not — thanks, in part, to security provided by the Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club.

You read that right. he people wanted to be together and experience live music — and likely show a bit of unified opposition to the forces of war and capitalism around them at the time, too.

Fast forward to ’99, on the 30th anniversary there was an attempt at an all-in event.

Many surely had pure intentions and became overwhelmed by the scope.

Happens all the time.

The lineup had many heavy hitters and legendary acts of the time: Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Limp Bizkit, DMX. And many more, like Alanis Morissette and Bush, even if their time slots were horribly misplaced.

There’s more: Deftones, System of a Down, Slipknot, Hole, Static-X, and many others were reportedly invited but already booked.

The seeds of another all-time gathering were planted.

And it was.

But as we know, ’99 is remembered mostly for the worst parts, in a string of large events getting more destructive, expensive, and extractive.

Corporate media saw ’99 as a pure money grab, go figure. In ’94, a smaller 25-year anniversary Woodstock did well enough on pay-per-view but was outmuscled by MTV’s free coverage.

Watching coverage from ’99, you'll see MTV’s fingerprints over all of the chaos – it was pure trash television in the time when that was doing numbers.

I believe this trend helped to accelerate much of what we find ourselves complaining about today.

One way: ’99 was a test of price gouging concert goers.

At one point when supply was extremely limited, vendors charged $12 for a 20 oz. water bottle. In ’99!

By contrast, when food sold out on the first day of Woodstock ’69, thanks in part to 400,000 people in attendance, locals set up free kitchens to make sure everyone was fed.

In the timeline where a Woodstock ’29 comes together, it starts with the ’69 spirit. It has to be an event founded in connection and mutual aid through the power of music and live performance. And our shared humanity; yes, even the pain that makes us feel. Ya know, like hunger and thirst.

The tagline for Collection Vol. 1 is Everyone’s In.

In Woodstock ’29, I’ve curated select Harley-Davidson shirts, including a few vintage pieces, from the hometowns of some dream acts: Bon Iver gets the weirdest design from Eau Claire, WI. The White Stripes get the red shirt from Detroit, MI. Hayley Williams gets absolute fire out of Franklin, TN. A grungy comfort tee from Seattle's Mt. Rainier to represent... you guessed it, Alice in Chains. Hard-to-find and out-of-print band and tour tees for Alkaline Trio, Paramore, Beartooth, Type O Negative, and others can also be found. We honor both influential bands that go by the name Death: one from ‘80s Detroit, the other ‘90s Florida. Plus a few legendary tour poster reprints.

Creative Taxi delivers curated creative history, so you get a way cooler, rare shirt, rather than whatever you’ll find marked up at most venues. Your support would mean a lot, and I can't wait to deliver your next favorite. 🚕🫧

Vol. 1 holds more stories, secrets, and memories for the lovers, rebels, artists, and all those among us who dare to be different. As you browse the collection, who would you add to the lineup? What if multiple communities held their own ideal Woodstock in a show of unity? What if we protected the joy of the punk kids and the hippie grandparents equally?

Peace,
​Andy