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Oppressive heat and difficult environmental conditions marked the festival from early on.
Oppressive heat and difficult environmental conditions marked the festival from early on.


Participants who had not brought sufficient food or water to the show were forced to buy from onsite vendors, whose merchandise many felt was grotesquely overpriced (a single-serving pizza sold for twelve dollars, and a bottle of water for four).
Participants who had not brought sufficient food or water to the show were forced to buy from onsite vendors, whose merchandise many felt was grotesquely overpriced (a single-serving pizza sold for twelve dollars, a 20-oz. bottle of water for four and a 20-oz. bottle of soda for eight).
<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.usmusicvault.com/woodstock99.html | title=''Woodstock '99: What the Hell Happened?'' | date=[[1999-07-26]] | publisher=U.S. Music Vault | accessdate=2007-10-07 }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.usmusicvault.com/woodstock99.html | title=''Woodstock '99: What the Hell Happened?'' | date=[[1999-07-26]] | publisher=U.S. Music Vault | accessdate=2007-10-07 }}</ref>
<ref> {{citation | last=Caldwell | first=Christopher | title=When in Rome… | journal=National Review | volume=51 | issue=16 | year=1999 | page=29}}</ref>
<ref> {{citation | last=Caldwell | first=Christopher | title=When in Rome… | journal=National Review | volume=51 | issue=16 | year=1999 | page=29}}</ref>
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Poor sanitation and security, the lack of available water, and 100-degree heat with no available shade quickly led to a dangerous environment.
Poor sanitation and security, the lack of available water, and 100-degree heat with no available shade quickly led to a dangerous environment.


The number of toilets installed proved insufficient for the number of attendees. Within a short time, the few facilities were unusable and overflowing onto the concert grounds. People stood in line for hours to access the water fountains, until frustration impelled a few to break the pipes apart to provide water to those in the middle of the line; this in turn led to the creation of large mud pits and attendant mud-fights that added to the general chaos.
The number of toilets installed proved insufficient for the number of attendees. Within a short time, the few facilities were unusable and overflowing onto the concert grounds. People stood in line for hours to access the water fountains, until frustration impelled a few to break the pipes apart to provide water to those in the middle of the line; this in turn led to the creation of large mud pits and attendant mud-fights that added to the general chaos.


===Violence===
===Violence===

Revision as of 19:14, 12 May 2008

Woodstock 1999, held July 23-25, 1999 was the second large-scale music festival (after Woodstock '94) that attempted to emulate the success of the original Woodstock Festival of 1969. Like the previous concerts with the same name, it was held in upstate New York, this time in Rome, New York. Approximately 200,000 people attended the 1999 festival.[citation needed] Cable network MTV covered the concert extensively and live coverage of the entire weekend was available on pay-per-view. Excerpts from the performances were later released on compact disc and DVD.

Woodstock '99 is best remembered for reports of violence, molestation, and ultimately the fires that closed down the show.

Attributes

Facilities

The concert was held at the former site of the U.S. Air Force installation Griffiss Air Force Base.

Prior to the concert the promoters of the event were determined to avoid the gate-crashing that had occurred at previous festivals, and had characterized the site as "defensible", describing the 12-foot plywood and steel fence intended to keep out those without tickets. About 500 New York State Police Troopers were hired for security..[1]

In addition to two main stages, secondary venues were available including several alternate stages, a night-time rave music tent and a film festival (sponsored by the Independent Film Channel held in a former airplane hangar.

In contrast to the more grass-roots nature of the original Woodstock festival, Woodstock 1999 was conceived and executed as a commercial venture with dozens of corporate sponsors, and included the presence of vendor "malls" and modern accoutrements such as ATM machines and e-mail stations. [2]

Commercialization

Critics later decried the use of the Woodstock brand name for such an event as “crass commercialization” and decried “concert organizers who gouged the kids with grossly overpriced water, beer, and food”. ” [3] Tom Morello, the politically-active guitarist for festival performers Rage Against the Machine later “suggested an affinity between the looters and rapists at the event and the corporate entities that sponsored it.” [4]

Authenticity

Despite the use of the "Woodstock" franchise name, the 30th anniversary music festival failed to achieve the free-thinking idealism often associated with the the original Woodstock festival. One critic wrote in retrospect: “The 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival had been all about peace, love, understanding, and the music. The thirtieth anniversary concert, Woodstock 1999, was anything but” [5] Ticket prices of $135 or more were considered high for a festival of this type. [6]

Reception

The festival featured a diverse lineup of acts and early reviews for many of the acts were positive; critics particularly praised performances by George Clinton, Jamiroquai, James Brown, Sheryl Crow, and Rage Against the Machine. [7] [8] However, critical and public attention quickly turned to the deteriorating environment and crowd behavior.

Problems of Woodstock 1999

Environment

Oppressive heat and difficult environmental conditions marked the festival from early on.

Participants who had not brought sufficient food or water to the show were forced to buy from onsite vendors, whose merchandise many felt was grotesquely overpriced (a single-serving pizza sold for twelve dollars, a 20-oz. bottle of water for four and a 20-oz. bottle of soda for eight). [9] [10]

Poor sanitation and security, the lack of available water, and 100-degree heat with no available shade quickly led to a dangerous environment.

The number of toilets installed proved insufficient for the number of attendees. Within a short time, the few facilities were unusable and overflowing onto the concert grounds. People stood in line for hours to access the water fountains, until frustration impelled a few to break the pipes apart to provide water to those in the middle of the line; this in turn led to the creation of large mud pits and attendant mud-fights that added to the general chaos.

Violence

Allegedly, some of the violence and looting began on the Saturday night performance by Limp Bizkit, including a rendition of the song "Break Stuff". Reviewers of the concert criticized Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst as "irresponsible" for encouraging the crowd to destructive behavior.[11]

Violence escalated the following night in the final hours of the concert as Red Hot Chili Peppers performed. A group of peace promoters led by an independent group called Pax had distributed candles to those stopping at their booth during the day, intending them for a candlelight vigil to be held during the Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance of the song "Under the Bridge". During the band's set, the crowd began to light the candles, some also using them to start bonfires. The hundreds of empty plastic water bottles that littered the lawn/dance area were found to be excellent fuel for the fires.[12]

After the Red Hot Chili Peppers were finished with their main set, the audience was informed about "a bit of a problem." An audio delay tower caught fire, and the fire department was called in to extinguish it.

Back onstage for an encore, the Chili Peppers' lead singer Anthony Kiedis remarked how amazing the fires looked from the stage, comparing them to a scene in the film Apocalypse Now.[13] The band proceeded to play their rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire", followed by "Sir Psycho Sexy". Kiedis later stated in his autobiography that Jimi Hendrix's sister asked the Chili Peppers to play "Fire" in honor of Jimi, and that they were not playing it to encourage the crowd.

Many large bonfires were burning high before the band left the stage for the last time. Participants danced in circles around the fires. Looking for more fuel, some tore off panels of plywood from the supposedly inviolable security perimeter fence. ATMs were tipped over and broken into, trailers full of merchandise and equipment were forced open and burglarized, and vendor booths were looted, turned over, and set on fire. [14]

MTV, which had been providing live coverage, removed its entire crew. MTV host Kurt Loder described the scene in the July 27, 1999 issue of USA Today:

"It was dangerous to be around. The whole scene was scary. There were just waves of hatred bouncing around the place, (...) It was clear we had to get out of there.... It was like a concentration camp. To get in, you get frisked to make sure you're not bringing in any water or food that would prevent you from buying from their outrageously priced booths. You wallow around in garbage and human waste. There was a palpable mood of anger."[15]

After some time, a large force of New York State Troopers, local Police, and various other law enforcement showed up. Most had crowd control gear and proceeded to form a riot-line that flushed the crowd to the northwest, away from the stage located at the eastern end of the airfield. Few in the crowd offered strong resistance and they quickly dispersed back toward the campground and out the main entrance. [16]

Aftermath

Police later reported that at least four rapes had occurred during the concert. [17] Seven arrests were made on the final night of the concert and, afterward, police reviewed video footage, hoping to identify and hold accountable looters who, amid the chaos, had not been arrested. Some one-dozen trailers, a small bus and a number of booths and portable toilets were burned in the fray. Six people were injured.[18]


Performer List

Rage Against the Machine burning the American flag onstage while playing "Killing in the Name" during Woodstock 1999.

Cancellations[citation needed]

Recordings

Music from Woodstock 1999 was released on a two-disc compact disc set, Woodstock 1999. The album features 32 performing artists, and was released on Epic Records in October 1999.

A DVD of concert highlights, also entitled Woodstock 1999 was released in March of 2000. It features one song each from 28 of the participating acts.

See also

References

  1. ^ New York Daily News, July 20, 1999 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ Maglitta, Joseph (1999), "Woodstock '99: Think E-Commerce, Dude", Computerworld, 33 (33): 42
  3. ^ Gottdiener, Mark (2000), New Forms of Consumption: Consumers, Culture, and Commodification, Rowman & Littlefield, p. 220
  4. ^ Gottdiener, Mark (2000), New Forms of Consumption: Consumers, Culture, and Commodification, Rowman & Littlefield, p. 220
  5. ^ Perone, James (2005), Woodstock: An Encyclopedia of the Music and Art Fair, Conneticut: Greenwood Press, p. 85
  6. ^ Bennet, Andy (2004), Remembering Woodstock, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited, p. 36
  7. ^ Gangadeen, Paul (1999-07-30). "Live Reviews: Woodstock". chartattack.com. Retrieved 2008-05-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ Wiskirchen, Julie. "Woodstock '99: I Will Survive. I Will. I Will. I WILL.". apeculture.com. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  9. ^ "Woodstock '99: What the Hell Happened?". U.S. Music Vault. 1999-07-26. Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Caldwell, Christopher (1999), "When in Rome…", National Review, 51 (16): 29
  11. ^ Jeff Stark (1999-07-27). "What A Riot". Salon. Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Seven arrested in connection with Woodstock '99 fracas". CNN. 1999-07-26. Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Steven Rochlin (1999). "Woodstock 99". enjoythemusic.com. Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "'Not the real Woodstock; they messed up'". CNN. 1999-07-26. Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "MTV's Loder flees out of control fest". USA Today. 1999-07-27. Retrieved 2007-11-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Repeated Violence". The Lantern. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  17. ^ Bill Wyman (1999-07-29). ""Three Days of Peace, Love and Rape."". Salon. Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Police investigate alleged rapes at Woodstock '99". CNN. 1999-07-29. Retrieved 2007-09-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Wartofsky, Alona (1999-07-27). "Woodstock '99 Goes Up in Smoke". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-09-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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