'Trainwreck: Woodstock '99' -- Film Review
Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 02:25PM Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (2022) is a three-part Netflix documentary series that chronicles the music festival that took place in Rome, New York on very hot weekend in July 1999. The festival was intended to be a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival. Things did not go as planned.
The documentary features interviews with festival attendees, musicians, and organizers, as well as archival footage of the event. It paints a vivid picture of the festival's many problems, including overcrowding, heat exhaustion, and sexual assault. The documentary also explores the cultural factors that contributed to the festival's failure, such as the rise of corporate greed and the decline of the counterculture movement.
The documentary features several interviews, including that of promoters John Scher and Michael Lang. When the original Woodstock - also promoted by Lang - was a counterculture movement of peace and love, the '99 version was pretty far from that ideal. Scher wanted to make money off the event, and that is fair. Music festivals are not cheap or easy endeavors and promoters deserve to make money on their events. That said, everything at Woodstock '99 was sponsored within an inch of its life and corners were cut everywhere, including with security. The festival took place at a decommissioned Air Force base (Griffiss) so that meant a lot of concrete and not much shade. Have you ever been on a military installation? I work for the USAF at a massive and important base. There are tarmacs, roads, sidewalks and fencing aplenty but not a whole lot of tree groves everywhere. Buildings are huge and crazy far apart. This was the case with Griffiss. That meant that festival goers were walking close to two miles between stages (horrible idea!) in the middle of a heat wave with little access to clean drinking water.
One of the most compelling parts of the documentary focuses on the lack of clean water. Attendees had their water taken at the entrance gates. Since the food and beverage was part of a sponsorship package, festival organizers had no control over pricing for things like bottled water. The fest promised plenty of free water for folks to use refillable bottles. There were so few water stations, the need wasn't met. There were way too few portable toilets that were disgusting just a few hours into the event. Remember, the heat was hovering around the mid-90s. The shower stall lines were out of control and snaked forever. Some of the attendees got pissed, broke the pipes to spray water and ended up causing a mass contamination. Basically, the mud pits around the portable toilets were really shit-pits. People were rolling around in human feces and also drinking the contaminated water. Trench mouth was common.
So the largely teen-to-college-age crowd was getting more pissed as each hour ticked by. They were hot, sweaty, thirsty and sick of being price gouged for food and water.
Behind-the-scenes VHS footage, taken by both professional and amateur videographers is compelling and shows how folks were really acting. The cuts of reality juxtaposed next to statement from Scher and Lang basically saying it was a "good event" with a "few bad apples" is pretty compelling.
Korn, Limp Bizkit and Red Hot Chili Peppers are featured because the crowd really went nuts during their sets. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit egged the kids on, but they were already pissed and ready to cause trouble. Passing out candles for an anti-gun violence memorial during the Peppers hit "Under The Bridge" was a nice thought in theory but disaster in practice. Who knew that fires and riots would break out after the angry crowd had had enough?
The most painful part of the documentary is the discussion of sexual assault and rape at the festival. It was a testosterone-fueled environment and women were being grabbed and exploited nonstop. Things really are different now but this was the 90s and holding a "show me your tits" sign was quasi-acceptable back then. I like to think that such actions today would be met with derision.
If you haven't already watched this documentary, do it. It's terrifying, maddening and entertaining all at once.
And if you don't have time to watch a three-part documentary, here's a two-minute news report of the fires and riots and also some clueless quotes from John Scher.
Woodstock 99
Reader Comments (9)
You really capture the tragically insular thinking of those who ran this stupid thing. Lang comes across as paradoxically oblivious and smarmy. Scher comes across as a lying mouth-hole, speaking whatever he thinks will sell out of his Janus-faced neck protrusion.
It didn't help that, to cater to the fans, they had to scrape the popularity barrel. What I mean is, this was not music--whether you loved it or not--that spoke to empathy, or love, altruism. It was music about rage, about pent-up aggression, about bro-culture. And shoehorning in a few nods to the female-fronted and nostalgic looks, in retrospect, cringey and craven as well. And I am still pained thinking about those three people who died, those that were injured, and those who were assaulted. But, hey, their hearts were in the right place. They gave them candles?!?!
I had a friend who attended. He had a great time. Then again, he admits that he can't really recall most of what went on! I certainly hope he wasn't turd-surfing with all the rest of the testosterone-boys in their backward-facing flat brims. And, I think he, like many others, just wanted to go and let off some steam, to enjoy some music, and get wasted.
Thing is, when you stuff a scorching hot piece of blacktop with tons of people, little security, and even fewer (free or affordable) amenities, you are asking for it. And Lang, you were asking for it. Then again, you can't hear me now. You died last year. Sher, you can hear me. But I doubt you listen to anyone other than yourself. I can't fathom how people like Sheri and Carly can look you in the eye and not start laughing so as not to scream and cry. Contrary to a a popular singer, I don't believe in instant karma. But I do hope, really do, that it will get you.
Again, great review. I really appreciate you sharing it.
One edit: 2022, not 2002. Trust me, I hate my editor too! Hahaha.
horrible turn of events.
just a perfect storm of what could go wrong, did go wrong. sad at every turn.
that said, how did the promoters expect peace love and understanding with that lineup of bands? not that that is an excuse for anything that happened - just know your audience, folks.
Gogmagog, respectfully, I think you are wrong. Why blame an artist for being who he was expected to be? True, Durst could have said "settle down, chill out." But Scher and Lang hired him and others to be transgressive. Well, not entirely. They hired them to sell tickets. And they got what they paid for. To call Durst the scummy one in this puddle of filth is to point fingers at the guy that got paid, and not at the guy that said "yeah, let's pay this guy."
And I say all of this while noting that I absolutely don't condone what he did, don't really like much of his music, and don't really care about him as an artist. Like I said, people died. Others were sexually assaulted. But that is on the people who put on this event. Not Durst. He saw a moment, and he acted. Scher saw a dollar sign, and he waffled, hedged, coughed, and acted--years after the event--like it wasn't on him (or Lang). That, to me, is scummy. Scher, to me, is scum.
I was at Aftershock. Lame Beefsteak were playing the side stage. I was interested in seeing what they had to offer. They did a cover of Rage Against the Machine . . . that just had the crowd destroyed!!! I mean, I was in awe of what they did that day. Borland was in his usual S&M garb. Durst was flat-brimming and bouncing. And the crowd were acting like they had experienced the second coming of Christ. It was truly amazing.
As I walked away, I said to my friend: "I did not expect that. That was incredible." So, yes, the Lump Bisquicks have something to offer. And I, as pretty much a non-fan, will admit that.
The criminals are the ones who took advantage of it for their reasons.
Can I say again. I HATE FRED DURST, but not because of this documentary.