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Woodstock 1999

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Woodstock 1999, held July 23-25, 1999 was the second rock concert, after Woodstock '94, that attempted to emulate the success of the original Woodstock concert of 1969. Like the previous concerts with the same name, it was held in upstate New York, this time in Rome. The entire weekend was available on Pay Per View. The concert, with an estimated 220,000 attendees, was marred by eruptions of violence, sexual assault, and looting. Though many concertgoers reported enjoying the event, the consensus was that it failed to emulate the "peace and love" environment of 1969, and it was also economically unprofitable.


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[edit] Problems of Woodstock 1999

There were several reasons why Woodstock concertgoers were unhappy. Foremost were the prices: Tickets to the 3-day event were $150 (leading to graffiti along the lines of "$150 = Too Much") and food prices were high. Also, concertgoers learned that the field where the concert was held, a former U.S. Air Force installation (Griffiss Air Force Base), was a Superfund hazardous waste site.

Poor sanitation and security, the lack of available water, and 90-degree heat led to a dangerous concert environment. Recognizing the dangerous situation, many water and food vendors requested permission to sell their goods at lower costs, but the Woodstock organizers refused, as granting this permission would represent lost profits. This put the vendors rather than the concert organizers at risk in the event of violence.

Prior to the concert, the promoters of the event, determined to avoid the gate-crashing that had occurred at previous festivals, had described the site as "defensible" and proudly described the 12-foot plywood and steel fence intended to keep out those without tickets. About 500 New York State Police were hired for security. They also recruited volunteer security from New York City, many of whom walked off the job by disappearing into the crowd.

Allegedly, some of the violence and looting began during Limp Bizkit's performance of the song "Break Stuff," which many critics of the concert blamed for the violence. However, the violence truly escalated in the final hours of the concert as Red Hot Chili Peppers attempted to perform their hit "Under the Bridge". A group of peace promoters 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. Instead, the crowd used them to ignite bonfires. After Red Hot Chili Peppers was finished with their set, the audience was informed about "a bit of a problem". The delay power caught fire, and the fire department was called in to put the fire out. In response to this, the audience started to sing the lyrics to the Rockmaster Scott and The Dynamic Three song: "The Roof Is On Fire". The chant/chorus was later sampled by Bloodhound Gang for their song "Fire, Water, Burn". The lyrics go: We don´t need no water, let the motherfucker burn. Burn, motherfucker, burn. Then, the band came back on stage, and performed two more songs, which was "Sir Psycho Sexy", and a cover of the song "Fire", by Jimi Hendrix. Soon after they left the stage a riot broke out in which fences were torn down and burned, ATMs were tipped over and broken into, and vendor booths were looted, turned over, and set on fire. MTV, which had been providing live coverage, removed its entire crew. MTV host Kurt Loder described the scene in the July 27, 1999 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."

Police later reported that at least four rapes had occurred during the concert. 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. Five people were injured.<ref>[1]</ref>

[edit] List of performers and sets

Image:RATM - Burningamp.jpg

Al Green, Aerosmith and Sugar Ray were set to appear, but they were forced to cancel.

[edit] Album

The festival is resumed on a two-disc set, Woodstock 1999. The album features 32 performing artists, and was released on Epic Records on October 1999.

[edit] See also

[edit] Reference

<references/>

[edit] External links

ja:ウッドストック 1999

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