TW: Assault, rioting, and drug use
What do you think of when you think of Woodstock? Music, Good Vibes, Peace-loving hippies? This was the intended goal of course, but what actually happened was far from what was intended. What was supposed to be three days of peace, love, and music, turned into three days of living hell.
I was bored at work one day when I saw the title at the top of my recommended: “TRAINWRECK: Woodstock 99”. Being a lover of all things hippie, I saw Woodstock and immediately clicked to watch the three-part docu-series, without watching the trailer. I have heard in passing about this Woodstock, but I did not realize the full extent of the chaos and fear that really happened, especially after watching them knock over the sound tower. I was shocked, to say the least. The whole point of Woodstock is peace and love, so why are people physically assaulting one another and setting everything they could on fire. This is not what the original Woodstock was like. Right? Turns out this was wrong. Woodstock ‘69 had the same issues as Woodstock ‘99, they just weren’t as covered by the media So I only have one question: What happened?
With Woodstock ‘99, mistreatment of participants and drugs were the leading cause. With no one allowed to bring any outside food or water to the three-day event, the food and water supply quickly dwindled leaving people to pay upwards of $11 for a bottle of water in 100-degree weather. People became so dehydrated, they started to search for any means of water necessary, including a water pipe that was contaminated with feces. They were also little shade on the airport bunker where the event was held on, leaving them to fight for any shade they could get. A lot of people found refuge in the rave bunkers, which had music and strobe lights for the sole purpose of partying. In these bunkers though, as was around most of the festival, free drugs were being passed around like candy at a parade. Delusions from the drugs, drowsiness from little sleep, and dehydration fueled by the rock and roll of the 90s sent people over the edge leading to property destruction and the assaults of many girls. The heckling even went to the artists, with the men making inappropriate remarks to female performers and multiple things getting thrown onto the stage. The pollution after the event took several weeks to clean up, with some people even leaving tents and all the belongings they brought. The documentary got it right, these three days was truly a trainwreck.
Now the 60s Woodstock was the same drug-infused mess as the one from the 90s, but why is the 90s the only one that gets noticed? I feel like it boils down to the whole point of the festival: the music. The 60s festival was full of music about love and peace, leading to the drugged-up hippies to have a more mellow tone, where the drugs, sleepless hydration, and assaults still happened, but on a smaller scale. There were still many problems with Woodstock ‘69, even a few deaths, but there was less negative media coverage. The media showed the festival as the peace-filled event they advertised. With Woodstock ‘99, it was much harder to control the media coverage of all the negatives as new stations were the 24/7 to record the biggest rock acts for their channels. The reports themselves also received threats and had things thrown at them, which lead to a spike in views. The overuse of media also ramped up the festival goers, as they chased their 15 minutes of fame trying to expose the festival for what it was.
These themes of over-excitement and drug usage have carried on to festivals of the sort today. Still, extra security and medical standby are now present after the disaster of Woodstock ‘99. This event was an eye-opener to the danger of festivals, and lead to a real conversation about how the safety of thousands should be handled. This led to the beginning of a safer festival experience.