This doc is very entertaining and really shows you a lot of factors about why 99' was so different than 69'. It was bigger, the music was a lot more aggressive, the culture was different as we were in a post Columbine era, and the event was heald on a sweltering hot decommissioned army base instead of an open field.
But that's the story the people behind the event want you to believe. And those did play a big part in what reved up the crowd. But there are huge festivals in bad weather with angry music in a more dangerous eras (the monsters of metal festival in Moscow was even bigger and heavier right at the end of the USSR and it didn't cause nearly as much chaos).
No what you learn most about what caused the events was the greed. The original Woodstock became what it did bc it unintentionally turned into a free festival. People came and brought their own supplies to share and felt connected and free to cohabit and enjoy the music.
But the producers of this event were so afraid to not make a profit like the original Woodstock, but still wanted to use the name, that they did everything they could to cut corners and force as much money out of the audience.
They took away all their water so they'd have to buy from the vendors, they outsourced all the amenities and food sources to the lowest bidder and turned a blind eye when every price was jacked up for food and water people needed while garbage littered the grounds, they hired young kids to be security, booked bands they knew nothing about just for the name recognition, and lied on camera about the horrifying things going on so they wouldn't have to cancel the show, etc.
And so much more. But even in the restrospective of the interviews today they still all shift blame or act like they didn't know about a lot of the really messed up things going on. Apparently everything was someone else's fault. Even the artists who could have tried to calm the crowd down riled them up when they knew it was dangerous and then claimed ignorance.
So much greed and ego. And this isn't getting to just how depressing it is to see what humans can be in a group and pushed to the extreme, it's like wild animals in a zoo (we live in a society after all). It's not the destruction of the property or sticking it to the producers, that was almost warrented in a way, it's the assault, battery, and more disgusting acts people engaged in on their fellow human beings in the thrall of everything.
Greed and uncontrolled rage building up in the kids there caused this. Woodstock '69 was an enigma and an accident. You can't make that happen. You try to control it and only focus on a profit and this is what happens.
Festivals can be profitable and also take good care of their patrons, I've been to some myself. But this was a case study on how it can all go horribly wrong.
But that's the story the people behind the event want you to believe. And those did play a big part in what reved up the crowd. But there are huge festivals in bad weather with angry music in a more dangerous eras (the monsters of metal festival in Moscow was even bigger and heavier right at the end of the USSR and it didn't cause nearly as much chaos).
No what you learn most about what caused the events was the greed. The original Woodstock became what it did bc it unintentionally turned into a free festival. People came and brought their own supplies to share and felt connected and free to cohabit and enjoy the music.
But the producers of this event were so afraid to not make a profit like the original Woodstock, but still wanted to use the name, that they did everything they could to cut corners and force as much money out of the audience.
They took away all their water so they'd have to buy from the vendors, they outsourced all the amenities and food sources to the lowest bidder and turned a blind eye when every price was jacked up for food and water people needed while garbage littered the grounds, they hired young kids to be security, booked bands they knew nothing about just for the name recognition, and lied on camera about the horrifying things going on so they wouldn't have to cancel the show, etc.
And so much more. But even in the restrospective of the interviews today they still all shift blame or act like they didn't know about a lot of the really messed up things going on. Apparently everything was someone else's fault. Even the artists who could have tried to calm the crowd down riled them up when they knew it was dangerous and then claimed ignorance.
So much greed and ego. And this isn't getting to just how depressing it is to see what humans can be in a group and pushed to the extreme, it's like wild animals in a zoo (we live in a society after all). It's not the destruction of the property or sticking it to the producers, that was almost warrented in a way, it's the assault, battery, and more disgusting acts people engaged in on their fellow human beings in the thrall of everything.
Greed and uncontrolled rage building up in the kids there caused this. Woodstock '69 was an enigma and an accident. You can't make that happen. You try to control it and only focus on a profit and this is what happens.
Festivals can be profitable and also take good care of their patrons, I've been to some myself. But this was a case study on how it can all go horribly wrong.