48 emileigh woodstock 99

Two best friends host a podcast called Ill-Equipped History where they discuss historical events. One of the hosts shares about her week and plans to visit Realtors with thumbprint cookies. They talk about drinking vodka and their love for the flavor. They discuss the topic of Woodstock 99 and its impact on culture. They also mention the original Woodstock in 1969 and its significance as a music festival promoting peace and unity. They express their desire to attend music festivals and reminisce about past experiences. They provide some information about the original Woodstock and its organizers. Overall, they express their admiration for the event and the bands that performed. Recording! And spewing vodka everywhere. Making a mess. Ah, okay. Shit. Whew, that was a big one. Alright. Welcome to Ill-Equipped History, where two best friends tell you about something that happened in history, even though we're not equipped to. I am joined by my wonderful best friend, Morgan. How are you? I'm well. Work has been nuts, but I'm well. Um, good. I get to go visit Realtors for the first time tomorrow, as a marketing lady. And, um, yeah, we're going to go pick up some, like, thumbprint cookies and go give them to Realtors and be like, hey, let us inspect your houses. Okay, thanks. I am not baking the cookies. I am not, unfortunately, Superwoman. Yeah, I need to bake the cookies and then package them and then take them and then still be a mom. That's something I had to give. We're buying the cookies, at least from a local bakery, so that's nice. Um, we're still supporting local. And, um, it's a Monday and it's already been a week. So, guys, if this podcast goes downhill, we're blaming the vodka that I'm drinking right now. I did go for wine, but the wine went bad, because I don't drink during the week. So, I took a drink and I was like, this tastes terrible and I really want a little bit of alcohol. And then I accidentally, maybe on definite accident, made it 50-50. So, that was my bad, truly. So, how's your week going? It's Monday. Yeah. Look at you. Nice. Oh, I'm drinking peach vodka. Why are we the same person? Oh, it's all about the flavor. Yeah. That is, is that like a Kraken and a Pterodactyl? Is that like a Bigfoot down there? Oh, my God, I love it so much. It's the Bigfoot. It's all the cryptids in one cup. I love that. I love that. It's very good. Oh, so, I participated in the Galentines for one of my book clubs, and I was gifted a book all about the Donner Party. So, I know. So, shout out, Beth. Thank you. Love you. So, I'm thinking like October, we might do like a Donner Party episode because that's scary as shit. Or maybe like a bonus episode in October. Well, maybe not in October. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Eventually, it's their turn to go through the security line. They hand over their bags that contain their sleeping gear, clothes, food, and drinks. Chillax, dude. It's just water. You're being such a buzzkill. Yeah, dude. Talk to the hand. The girls go past the security guards and enter into one of the biggest and most chaotic music festivals in history, Woodstock 99. Oh, this. Oh. I can't. I don't even have words. So, okay, so you remember the Fall Out Boys version of We Didn't Start the Fire? Woodstock 99 is one of the lyrics. And one night, I was at Nancy, shout out Nancy, who is my mother-in-law. I was at her house, and we were listening to that song because it had just come out. So I've been thinking about this topic for a long time, and I heard – I was, like, wine drunk and listening to the lyrics. And I heard Woodstock 99, and I remembered I had watched a documentary on it and was, like, this will be the perfect topic for the podcast. And, like, drunkenly put it in my phone and forgot about it for, like, a couple months. But I remembered it came back around. Thanks. So let's get into this because there's, like, nothing I can say about it that will do it justice until I just tell you. So let me minimize you just a little more. Oh, you're so tiny. There you are. Okay, cool. Get a drink of vodka. Vodka. Okay, so I just think about the, like, video I saw where this girl, she was, like, playing a drunk girl at a bar ordering vodka. And every time she said vodka, she took the D out of vodka. So she said vodka, vodka. And that is how drunk white girls order vodka at bars. So anyhoo. So one of my sources said this really – it's kind of long, but it's a very well-written kind of, like, opinion about what Woodstock, the original Woodstock, was to the world, basically. And I'm going to read that to kind of get us started because I am going to talk about the other Woodstocks, which there is multiple, not just the two. I was not very familiar with the others. Quote, still the actual social impact of Woodstock has been unfairly minimized. No matter what else can be said for or against the event, the festival represented an ideal. It was a demonstration, however brief, of unity and cooperation that suggested that – or suggested there was another better way to make – to take care of business out there. And at a time when the principal energies of youth and rock seemed to be concentrated along the London, New York, San Francisco axis, it provided many of the gathering delegates from other isolated freak communities, not to mention the hopeful, confused, unaligned teens who came to get their first taste of the groove, with a sense of purpose, focus, and familial warmth for at least 72 hours, rather – under rather trying conditions. So, basically, Woodstock made, like, a big impact in our culture, and it's not really stated enough. And I completely agree with that. I think that it proved that – I mean, it was very brief, but if enough people come together with the same kind of ideals of, like, peace and unity, it can happen. It can be a thing. But what happened in 69 was, like, so specific, and we're going to get into the other Woodstocks as well, but I don't think that anything like that could be replicated again because of the cultural changes that were happening, the political climate that it was. And back in 1969 was, like, the Vietnam War, and all these other things that were going on. And then there was also the, like, peace, love kind of movement happening that was very different than anything we've seen since. It was iconic. It was, like, the grandfather of all music festivals. It is, like, what all music festivals wish that they could be, honestly. I have not either. I always wanted to, but then I had kids, and kind of it's been hard to ever since, so. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No. No. I would need a shower. Okay. Because I don't know where I would do it, but I would need to get clean, or I would be hateful. I could not. Yeah. Many a times I've held your hand through a crowd. Many a time. Yes. I will shoulder check a bitch if you start panicking, so. Yeah. Yeah. So, everyone know, don't take Morgan into crowd. Oh, God, it was the bridal. Do you remember the bridal fair we went to, and people were just, like, crowding around us? It was the worst. Yeah. Yeah. It's like knocking people out of the way. No one was going to say anything to me because I was very pregnant. Get some carbs and a little bit of sugar, and I'll get you out of here. Bitch, drink water. I did. I got you. Anyway. Okay. So, if y'all don't know what Woodstock 69 is, it was held August 15th through 18th in Bethel, New York, on a 600-acre farm. I did not know that the farm was that big. I mean, I feel like it needed to be. Dear God, there were like 300,000 people there. So, the organizers of the original Woodstock were Michael Lang, remember that name, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, and Artie Kornfield, spelled with a K, like Korn, the band, which is interesting. Nice. And it is, like we said, the most iconic festival in history, and it mirrored the changing culture at the time. So, it was peace, love, unity, people walking around just butt naked, no one doing a thing about it. It was cool. Everything was cool. We had bands like the Grateful Dead, Credence Clearwater Revival, or CCR, however you like to say it, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, I Want a Time Machine, motherfucker, take me back. I want to listen to all them. So, I counted like 24 sets, and the original has yet to be beat. And one of the reasons that this was put on was it was kind of like anti-Vietnam, which a lot of festivals, a lot of bands were anti-Vietnam. They had free food kitchens. Everyone was taking care of each other. And though it was intended as a money-making venture, and I say that in a loose term, they charged people. I don't think they were out to get rich. I think they just wanted to cover the cost, basically, and maybe make a little bit, but it didn't seem like that's what they were trying to do. Exactly. There was no way for them to keep the people out who didn't pay, so they just decided to let everyone come. I think probably 50% of the people actually paid to get in, and it didn't look like anybody was, like, holding any resentment towards it as well. It's like, hey, you can't afford it? Just come on in anyway. I mean, how are you going to, like, keep people off of $600? You can't. Jimi Hendrix was the last to perform. Remember that as well. So Woodstock, okay, everything went great. We all know that. It was beautiful, peace, love. If anything bad happened, I couldn't find anything on it. I mean, I didn't look too, too deep into actual Woodstock. I figured, shoot, it might make a good episode in the future. Yeah. But it wasn't anything out of malice that you could see. I never heard anything like that either. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See, I couldn't really, I didn't see anything. Everything I saw, it was like, it's just great. Just chill. Just chill. So fast forward a little bit, 1979. And also 1989, we'll talk about these. These are referred to as the lost Woodstocks. So in 1979, they tried to have, like, a resurgence, tried to have, like, an anniversary of Woodstock. And John Morris, who was one of the managers, the manager of the 69 Woodstock, thought that the 10-year anniversary would see, again, upwards of 300,000 people. But the town board turned down the offer because they wanted to have it at the same place because, quote, it took them 10 years to recover from the original Woodstock. I don't know what exactly happened that would make them feel like that. Again, I didn't look too far into it, but that's what was said. So many of the upstate counties were starting to focus on putting laws in place that would prevent these rock festivals from happening. And I don't, again, I don't exactly know why. I think maybe it might have to do with, like, infrastructure or I don't know. I have no idea. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could absolutely see that. So they were really focusing on keeping those out. So Morris is, again, he was the manager of 1969. His initial plan kind of fractured into two separate shows. They would have a Woodstock 79 kind of concert at the Madison Square Garden on the 24th and 25th, and a Woodstock reunion organized by one of the original promoters, Richard Nadler, at the then recently shut down Parr Meadows racetrack near Brookhaven on September 8th. So a little two separate things. The Brookhaven event would become the bigger of the two. So the Associated Press ran a story that part of the agreement with the Brookhaven stipulated that ticket sales be capped at $25,000 and that no liquor or walk-up tickets, no liquor license, no walk-up tickets. Trying to keep things in control. But it was kind of like numbers of people actually showing up, and you'll see that this is like a theme for Woodstock, I guess. They only sold like 15,000 tickets. But estimates were upwards of 40,000 for like some. It's not the same. It's upwards of 40,000. So some outlets say 40, some say less. But if you only sold 15,000 tickets, again, you're still not making any money. So one of the headlines afterwards was like, Woodstock reunion not on par with the original. So another problem with this is that the organizers wanted to pull from only the original band from the original Woodstock. But Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were dead. CCR and Jefferson Airplane, who also played, were broken up. And The Who, The Grateful Dead, Santana, and tons more just were not interested. So they were left with like the shittiest amount of people. And just so like very few. And the failures of Woodstock's first big anniversary were also blamed on like cultural shifts in interest. The mindset just wasn't 1969 anymore. And, yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. So a reporter, Ken Franklin, he did a multi-part interview. Ken Franklin, he did a multi-part series on the festival's anniversary. And he was quoted to say that festival veterans said efforts by two different promoters to hold a Woodstock 2 this summer failed for more than local opposition. They said times have changed and the magic ingredients, a war, psychedelic drug popularity, and turbulent times can't be duplicated. And he also said, like you had just mentioned, the growing strain of money-minded, me-first conservatism, and is quoted to say, quote, the outspoken activists who brought about Woodstock were replaced by a new generation of job seekers. So it's just the mindset's changing. 1989, the second of the lost Woodstocks. They tried it again 10 years later. Oh, my God. Wow. I feel like 2010 and 2020 were not that different in comparison to 79 and 89, 69 and 79. Like, yeah. I don't know how else to describe that. So on August 8th, 1969, David Hinckley of the New York Daily Times was the bearer of bad news. Quote, to the disappointment of the media, original Woodstock financers Joel Rosenman and John Roberts and nostalgic rock and roll fans everywhere. No simple major event this month will mark the 20th anniversary of the 400,000 people gathering at Yasker's Farm in Bethel, New York. So no plans so far. Now, Rosenman and Roberts did have designs to do a 20th anniversary show, but they couldn't work out the particulars with Warner Brothers, who owned the rights to the festival's name since 1969. I did not know that. So they had all sorts of, well, let's do it here. Let's do it there. Let's do it here. Let's do it there. And just everything either didn't work or it got shot down and things just didn't work out. But then the most random thing happened. Someone decided to have, like, a last-minute Woodstock revival at the Imperial Resort Hotel in nearby Swan Lake. And it was titled Remember Woodstock. But then, so a three-day pass of this festival would cost $75 and no camping was permitted. So, like, it was at a hotel. And it just wasn't the right vibe. So on the 20th anniversary of Woodstock, people just showed up to the original farm. They had, like, an organic that just happened. They just had, like, an organic Woodstock. And by the end of the weekend, anywhere from 150 to 250 visitors stopped by, reminisce, reunite, soak in the vibes, the aura, you know, just kind of feel, yeah. A couple thousand, 150,000, sorry, sorry, thousand, 150 to 250,000 just stopped by. Yeah. And it was really funny because this was before the Remember Woodstock event. The organizers just resorted to handing out free tickets. They're like, whatever, just take the tickets. You're not going to come to my Remember Woodstock thing. Like, and the organizer was fine with it. He was like, I understand, and quote, the concert belonged in Bethel at that farm. And because of the bureaucracy, it didn't happen. Many government officials didn't see the big picture. If the city fathers at Mount Rushmore felt the same way, some feel in Sullivan County, they would have chiseled Mount Rushmore to dust. Woodstock is a national monument. So, but Woodstock 89 proved that Woodstock, proved what Woodstock 79 did, is that there was still life left in the Woodstock name and potentially money. So, fast forward to Woodstock 94. We have another one. Another one. And this one honestly had a hell of a lineup. It had a lot of people attending, but we had another problem. So, the lineup, just to name a few, Blues Traveler, Collective Soul, Cheryl Crow, Aerosmith, Blind Melon, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Salt and Pepper, The Cranberries, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana, Spin Doctors, and the Allman Brothers. And that's just some of them. I deleted a ton of them because I did not want to go through all of them. But, again, the biggest problem was that it rained so hard that the fences were compromised and people were just, like, breaking on in. About 50% of their audience was there for free. Yes. It's like, pay your money so they can do it again. I don't know. I think the Woodstock has turned sentient and it's like, no, everyone should come for free. So, again, like I said, that was 1994. Why try it again? Why? So, for a long time, they didn't want to revive it. But Columbine, Columbine. Columbine, Columbine. And one of the main people that put on the 99 was a man named or is a man named Michael Lang, and he was one of the original organizers as well. And he wanted to bring back Woodstock and give it that original peace, love vibe, but instead of, like, against Vietnam, it's against gun violence. He had kids that were in their 20s. I'm sure they got in for free. That's fun. But, like, he just wanted everyone to have peace and love and be there for a cause, but he could not bear the financial responsibility of another Woodstock that doesn't make money again. Because, as he says, it takes three things to put on something of this size, and that's tens of millions of dollars, a large enough venue, and a powerful partner, and I can understand that. So, here we are, Woodstock 99. Let's get the full picture here. So, Michael found, let me get adjusted. I'm sure I'm making a fuck ton of noise. Michael found an abandoned Air Force base, a shut down Air Force base, and it hadn't been shut down that long. It's not like it was decrepit or anything. And it was about 150 miles north of the original site, so it was probably as close as they were going to get. And they had planned for about a quarter million people coming, about on par. This place was huge. And, I mean, there were literally still planes chilling. Planes just there. I think it was like a, come get your plane, we're trying to have a concert. So, there were two main stages. And let's just get an Air Force base in your brain. How much grass is on an Air Force base? None. Almost none. Yeah. And here they are trying to create peace and love and hippie dippiness of an Air Force base. Yeah. Yes. So, Michael was like, I'm going to need a very powerful partner, like he had said. So, he met up with a guy named John Scher, and it's spelled S-C-H-E-R, John Scher. We're going to hear a lot of what John has to say, and you're not going to like it. Just fair warning, people. By the time I finished the documentary, I hated this man. So, he was from Metropolitan Entertainment, and he was a promoter for the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, and the Who, others. So, I mean, for all accounts, he is the person for the job. So, John talked to his team about it. And during this part of the documentary, I watched a documentary on Netflix. Guys, I forgot to mention it. It's called Trainwreck. It's just on Netflix. Jesus Christ, go watch it. He was quoted to say, quote, we absolutely had to make a profit. And from the standpoint of, like, what we know as of right now, I can see someone saying that. It's like, we need to make a profit, not an astronomical amount. We just need to break even plus some, go into debt. Yeah, fair. Yes, fair. So, the main organizers were the two guys, Michael Lang and John Sher. And then they had their respective teams that they all worked together. It looked like they never said exactly how many organizers there were, how many were on the team, but it kind of looked to be maybe 20-ish because one lady was like, I knew this was going to be a momentous occasion. I brought my camcorder with me to work, and I recorded us planning this thing. That's how we have so much, like, video evidence of them, like, literally in meetings talking about planning this thing. It is so cool. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which is so weird that that popped up right after. Oh, my God. Seriously. Seriously. My mom has a basket of, like, actual film and I think some, like, recordings that need to be developed and, like, done up. I am, Lord knows what's on those. A bunch of awkward-ass Emilies running around. So, like I said, he found the – it's called the Griffis Air Force Base, and it was about 350 acres total. It had housing for 15,000 people, security, all the roads necessary, a hospital. I mean, and granted, in this situation, I would say it would be a good fit because it's got all the amenities that would take them millions of dollars to build. Right? It's already there. So cool. And Joe Griffo was the mayor of Rome, New York, at the time. He thought it would be good for the community after the closure of the base. So, you know, if he can establish a yearly, you know, event like this, how much income would that bring into the community every year? I think – again, I think that's a great idea. It was the execution that was lacking. That's the bitch. So John Sher's team pretty much unanimously was like, bruh, we should not try this again. Like we – it's been tried three times, three times, and not – it ain't working. She ain't working. But can't tell John, though. So let's get into some problems because I feel like the documentary did it a little different where they kind of went through the problems as they went through the days, and I feel like to get a good picture in audio, you need to know what the problems are first, and then we'll talk about what happens every – throughout the days. So it's a three- to four-day event. So good God. So like we said, the venue was very industrial, so they're having to make this look very peace-love-y, and I did put some pictures down there, Morgan. They're kind of not in very good order, but there is one of the main stages. There were two main stages about a mile apart. Could you imagine walking a mile to one stage to another? But that little white rectangle is the sound tower. And yeah, yeah, it is – don't scroll down anymore. Just stay where you're at. So it's on this black tarmac, and it's – also, it's August. Like, my God, it's hot. Yeah, yeah. So they painted, like, the hangers. They even have, like, a rave hanger and, like, a movie hanger. On the first day, they had, like, Tibetan monks show up and, like, bless it. And they knew that, like, the exterior wall – because they built some damn good walls this time. Keep out people. So they thought, like, just plywood was going to be very ugly, so they painted murals on the outside wall, which I think is really cool. They decorated it the best that they could with what they had. I mean, I understand that. Okay, so problem number two, the price. Again, this is 1999. The ticket price is $150 in 1999, which is $227.69, which is kind of funny, 69, in today's money, plus service fees. If you purchased a ticket at the gate, it was more expensive. And, I mean, I understand that. But there was one source that said – and I cannot confirm nor deny if this is true, but it was worth stating. There was a source that said there were a lot of people who still somehow snuck in, and it's estimated that over 400,000 people attended. But it was also said that just over 187,000 tickets were sold. So, again, like 50%. But it was also said that it's speculated that they underreported the amount of tickets sold so they could pocket the profit. And, again, I cannot confirm nor deny. I just found it in a source and thought it was worth stating. But the documentary did state that there were – I think they said 300,000 multiple times. So we're going to go off of, you know, that estimation. Yeah, we're going to go off that estimation. And also there was pay-per-view that you could buy if you couldn't attend. It was $59.99, so $60 in 1999. Expensive. $150. Yeah. And it is for all three days. So they showed the craziest shit on that pay-per-view. I mean, this guy held back nothing. Titties everywhere. I saw so, so many dicks watching this documentary. So many. And so, okay, the boobs, actually, that's fine. I have those. So, like, I don't care to look at them. But, like, so many. No, but they were just – the guy was, like, filming people having sex out in the open kind of pay-per-view. So, yeah, maybe it was worth the $60 if that's what you're into. Okay, another problem. The food and the drink. So initially all the organizers were on the same page as far as, like, the vibe, the ideas of how they were going. But then John happened, of course. And I say John happened. They had John in this documentary because they actually interviewed him and Michael. He was in the documentary. And you're going to hear a lot of quotes from him because they had him on more. And I don't know if it's just because what he said was just shocking or what. But this quote is from the recordings of the actual meetings that they had. So this is in his interview later on nowadays because this documentary, I think, came out in 2022-ish. So he, quote, said, quote, there is nothing like this in the world. That being said, this is a money-making venture. And just the way he said it, it was like that's what it was for. That's what it was for. And another one of the organizers was like that was the moment that I knew that we were headed in the wrong direction is when he said that. So they started to cut corners. And by cut corners, I mean they sold the food rights to vendors. And unfortunately, when they wrote those deals, they wrote it in as the vendors had entire control of the pricing. And they could not change it. Food and drink, like in our skit, were taken away. Water bottles were taken away. Any food, any drink of any kind were not allowed in. And at the beginning of the, when you go in, the beginning of the festival, a single bottle of water in 1999 was $4. Four dollars. The beer and the water cost the same amount. They also had a beer garden, by the way, which was really cool, good for them. But I'm sorry, if you are a 16 to like early 20s child, I am calling all kids, respectfully, which one are you going for if beer and water costs the same? The beer. Oh, and they weren't. So of course not. So some people actually went to town and got supplies. And I don't know how they got them in or if they like kept them off site somehow. But like apparently the stores were running out of stock. Because it's like 300,000 people. And now I'll give them this. Free water was provided. But you had to wait 30 minutes in line just to get it. And few and far between, I'm sure you had to walk a mile to get to it. So another problem. Lack of amenities. So, and this kind of accompanies a couple different things. It was very hot that weekend. Like upwards of 100 degrees. On tarmac. In the middle of nowhere. No shade. Hundreds of people over the weekend would be treated for heat exhaustion and dehydration. And there weren't really enough toilets for the crowd. And they were not maintained correctly. So we're talking porta potties. And they kind of began to overflow. I mean, day one of the nasty. And we'll get into a couple other things that happen later. But it's just. Yeah, and we're not even like talking about. We're not even in the day to day yet. I am not doing okay. Oh, my God. Okay, so then there's security. We're changing the subject. Do you want to know what they were called? The Peace Patrol. They were cute. Do you want to know what it took to be in the Peace Patrol? A pulse. Yeah, you're right. They were like, hey, I'll give you 500 bucks for the weekend, which is a shit ton of money. And sign this paperwork. Congrats. And they didn't want the police. They didn't want guns there. So all the Peace Patrol were unarmed. And they didn't really do what they were supposed to. One guy that was interviewed, he was like, yeah, I used to spend my weekends like graffitiing walls and selling weed or whatever. And then the next thing I know, I'm part of the Peace Patrol in Woodstock. I just wanted the 500 bucks. So one guy said that someone walked up to him and was like, hey, what does that shirt get you? Could it get me backstage? Could it get me here? Could it get me there? And the dude was like, it didn't, but I told him it did. And the dude was like, I'll give you $300 for that shirt right now. He sold him the security shirt. And he's like, it was fine. I had another one in my bag. Yep. So now let's talk about probably one of the biggest issues, but also like I understand why they got these people, but it was another one of the issues. The music lineup. Let's recap. At the original Woodstock, we're peace and love music. We're hanging out. We're having a good time. In 1999, hard rock took over. It just, and like alpha male bro culture was in full swing. So technically they had some bands on Thursday. I didn't recognize any of them. Some of them were funny names, like the String Cheese Incident. George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars. And Rattle Basket, that was the third one. So I didn't recognize any of those bands. But on Friday, the ones that I recognized were Buck Cherry, Bush, DMX, Insane Clown Posse, James Brown, Korn, Lit, Sheryl Crow, The Offspring, and The Roots, just to name a few. There were like probably two-thirds more. And then on Saturday, we had Alanis Morissette, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Everclear, Fatboy Slim, Ice Cube, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Los Lobos, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, and Jimmy Fallon, the Jimmy, that Jimmy Fallon. And I do have a video of his performance in the show notes. He does like comedy songs, and they're hilarious. They're great. Yeah, they seriously did. Two seconds. I found the screwdriver. I'm actually going to screw these back in real fast. Okay, go ahead. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, yeah, they did have a really good lineup. And on Sunday, they had Collective Soul, Creed, Jewel, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Rusted Root. So, like, again, time machine. If I could go back and maybe not. Yeah, watch it on pay-per-view. See all those titties everywhere while I'm trying to watch my music? Oh, wait. Yeah. That'd be nice. Yeah. Oh, they also had Willie Nelson. He was on the next page. I didn't see him. Freaking Willie Nelson. So, one, and listen, these poor organizers, it wasn't from lack of trying. One of the people in the organizing crew who was 22 at the time, he brought it up. He's like, hey, you should look at this lineup of bands because I don't think you know who these people are. They were basically just going off of ratings. And huge bands, yeah, but if you don't listen to their music, you don't know what their vibe is. And not all of them, but the major, no, there's literally, fuck you, I won't do what you tell me. Like, come on. So, Michael, it was really interesting in the documentary because Michael was like, honestly, I let John pick the bands. I didn't know who they were. And I let John, and then John pretty much booked him off of popularity, but he also said, well, there wasn't a band that Michael didn't approve of on that list. So, it's almost like John was, like, putting the blame on someone else. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, this poor kid was trying to bring up, like, hey, you probably shouldn't do that. And he just got stared at like maybe he shouldn't open his mouth kind of thing. And he was like, fine, you know what, you do you. So, before we get into the day-to-day happenings, they wanted to christen the stage. And in, like, a ceremonious way. So, they took a tie-dye shirt and a bottle of champagne. They wrapped the bottle of champagne in the shirt, and they were going to break it boat-style on the stage. Seems nice, seems normal, right? It wouldn't break. They were beating the shit out of that champagne bottle. And I think it finally broke, like, a couple minutes in. But they were, like, hitting it. Oh, no, thank God. It was just, like, the crew that was there. But they weren't even hitting it on the stage itself. They were hitting it on the metal fucking pipes that hold the stage up. So, like, it should have broke, like, first swing. And I can't help but think that's a tad bit foreshadowing. Yeah. So, day-to-day. By noon, I'm going to try to go in time frames. It's kind of hard to see. I don't have, like, an exact set list or anything. So, we're going on vibes, which seems very Woodstock. But anyway, so, around noon, James Brown was set to play. He was the only one that they didn't have a signed contract for. But James said he wouldn't go on the stage until he was paid in full beforehand. So, there was, like, some back and forth going on. John called his bluff. And James, two James, I guess, agent, manager, and James ended up getting on stage. I guess he saw that, like, there's 300,000 people out there. It would look bad on me if I didn't go out there. And John was like, go fuck yourself, basically. Literally said that. Like, you were so rude. But already at this point, everyone's high as a kite. People are just holding, like, weed and mushrooms and ecstasy, just holding it in the air like anybody want to buy some. People are naked. Someone buy my drugs. I need to afford water. So, people were literally just airbrushed titties everywhere. There was, like, a booth you could go and get your boobs airbrushed. And honestly, let's think about this right now. It's 100 fucking degrees out there. If I wasn't concerned about being sunburned, I wouldn't want to wear a shirt or a bra either. It's too hot. Too hot. Oh, God, could you imagine? These people, I might be jumping the gun a little bit here, but they're not in their right minds when they go to sleep. They're just strewn about like laundry in a teenager's bedroom. They're just wherever they landed, that's where they be in the morning when they wake up. I saw a picture of one kid literally sleeping on a pile of trash. What the fuck? So, 245. Sheryl Crow plays. I love Sheryl Crow. She was booked for kind of the softer rock people, and she was amazing because, of course, she was. But people were catcalling her the entire show, being like, show me your tits. And her response, classic, said, quote, you have to pay way more money than what you paid to get in here to see my tits. Go, Sheryl. And John said, from about that time it started to become clear that there were some people in the crowd that were there for more than just great music. So I want you to remember that quote because he saw what was out there, who was out there. Then the offspring played, and the environment here was very male ego. But from what I could tell in the documentary and from other sources, at this point about Midday Friday, it's still just kind of bro culture kind of vibe, nothing too aggressive, nothing. It just, I don't, if you, it just being dudes. And if you weren't, like, in a toxic way, like, it was the height of, I guess, toxic masculinity. If you weren't there in the 90s, you don't know what I'm talking about. But, yeah. Or as, I forgot this term, but when I was looking up all the slang for the skit, I came across the word netrosexual again. And I was like, I forgot that that word existed. Like, why would, why? Anyway. Anyway. So on the first day, they had monks there. And they were, it was so funny the way the documentary did it because outside you've got men going, and they got, like, the spiked hair and, like, banded, like, flexing. They have no shirt on. And, oh, yeah, the puka necklaces, junco jeans, you know. And then you've got, like, a handful of people sitting in front of these Tibetan monks, and they're all going, like, inside. Such a contradiction. Such a contradiction. Yeah. And so by closer to 4 p.m., it was already upwards of 90 degrees. And to put it into perspective, I know we said that water was $4. That seems normal now. You go to Dollywood, you're going to pay $4 for a bottle of water. Typically water in 1999 was, like, 65 cents a bottle. So Friday night around 9 o'clock is when Korn got on stage. And it's Korn. So, like, yeah, the audience really embodied the aggressiveness of Korn. Just, you know. So one guy that was there said that he was trying to push his way to the front, and he heard, like, the opening, like, da-da-da, da-da-da. And it was, like, building. People were, like, already crowd surfing. And you could just feel it. I mean, if y'all have never been to a concert, you can feel the energy in the room wherever you are. And I'm sure that this kind of situation, it was amplified to, like, the nth degree. Oh, my God. Could you imagine? Yeah. And these people are hot, and they're high, and they're drunk. Half of them are naked. And Korn is playing, and it sounds awesome. And they did have some, like, stage security guards that were taking their jobs more seriously, thank God. But they were standing there, you know, doing their job, and one of them said that he could just feel, like, the pulsing energy coming through. And, you know, kind of spoiler alert, nothing too terribly crazy happened, you know, in this situation. But he yelled, are you ready? And the crowd just, like, erupted. They just erupted. The security guard said he had never seen anything like it in his life. He was looking at the mosh pit, because, of course, those were already going on. And I had nothing against mosh pits. If you want to get punched while you're dancing, have at it. But the mosh pits were already happening. He said he would just, in the blink of an eye, an entire section of crowd would just shift six feet to the right or six feet to the left. I mean, like, literally, the crowd was like a living thing. And in part of the documentary, they got that on camera. Like, literally, you're watching it. Within a second, the crowd has shifted six feet one direction. It was the weirdest thing. And people were coming over the barricade left and right, just trying to, like, get out of that because they were hurt or they were being crushed. And one guy that had attended said, just don't fall down. You will get lost. You will get forgotten about. People were literally breaking their bones. They would have to go to, like, the hospital paramedic area, and they have, like, a broken leg. And they're like, this is the best day of my life. Like, what kind of vibe is that? Okay. Do you know who Bush is? Like, the band Bush? Okay. So you know their vibe. Much chiller. Tell me why they put Bush after Korn. Chill out. Bush got up there, and thank God. And he was interviewed as well. He seemed to know what was going on. He had the wherewithal to look at the crowd and be like, I know what this is. This energy needs to go somewhere. So he was able to play his songs in the right kind of order to get them kind of calmed down. But then after Bush played, okay, they literally booed him when they got on stage, because they had, like, so much energy. And they're like, we don't want Korn to leave. So later that night, Morgan, this is your worst nightmare, and I'm so sorry. They went to the rave hangar. Everyone went to the rave hangar. Imagine 60,000 people in a hangar, high as balls. On, like, ecstasy and shit. In a rave. No. I know, I saw it. You did some weird twitches there. Do you want some vodka? Here you go. Yes. You were the mosh pit. Not in a good way, no. And this was the calmest night of the three. Saturday morning. So like I said earlier, the port-a-potty situation was a shit show. Pun intended. And the water was already a situation, and I don't know at what point in the weekend, but they eventually broke the pipes just to get water. And you can see, like, one of the first two. Like, these people were drinking water. They're, like, showering, like, trying to get themselves clean in this water. And so the also the trash and sewer services, Saturday morning. They've been here one day. Trash and sewer services were part of that budget cut. So they were relying on these subcontractors, and they were not doing their jobs. Already day one, there was trash everywhere. Literally everywhere. The bathrooms were disgusting. There was, like, mud all up the side. I hope it's mud. And it was nasty. So it just started. People were, like I said, laundry in a teenager's bedroom everywhere. Just laying on stuff. Like, sleeping just on the grass with a hat on their face kind of vibe. And so they broke the pipes. The porta potties are disgusting and overrun. Do you know what that turns into? Mud. Shit mud that they didn't know was shit mud. So guess where you cool down? Pigs do it. I don't know if they started Saturday or Sunday, but look at the ‑‑ scroll down, my friend. It is your worst nightmare. You would never go to this. So, yes, there's, like, an eighth layer of hell, and it's this for Morgan. Just for Morgan. Yeah. So Saturday was supposed to be, like, the biggest day of the weekend with some of the best headliners and such. That's not what happened. This is where the infrastructure of this event started just falling the fuck apart. And, like I said, the trash was everywhere. And there was a guy named Wycliffe Jean. I don't really know how to say his name. He played on Saturday, and he announced, once he started this song, I forgot what song it was, that everyone should just throw their plastic bottles. So they did, and there's a picture of that, too. It's the first picture. You see the bottles flying? So 300,000 people just throwing empty bottles everywhere, and that's just one incident, to put into perspective how much trash was everywhere. And it's not from lack of trying. All the trash cans were full. All of them, after one night. And one of the organizers, who was at the original, was one of the people in charge of, like, the food, the free food kitchens at the original Woodstock, she was there and was part of it, too. And she said she looked at all the trash the next morning, and she was like, that is going to be the downfall of this. She said, quote, we're not taking good care of them. They wanted the Woodstock spirit. And she tried handing – yeah. And she started handing out trash bags to these kids, and they didn't want to do it. They're like, we paid $150 for this. We shouldn't have to clean this up. Granted, I mean, you shouldn't be shit-wrecking the venue that bad anyway, but it shouldn't have been allowed to get to that point. Yeah. And I hate to say it, but the kids are right. They paid that much money. They shouldn't have to do it. No. And then she said, quote, if it doesn't look like the venue cares, why should they care? And it's true. It's true. Now let's move on to our friend John for a second. John said in an interview during Woodstock, and this is part of, like, the documentation, John said, quote, issues existed, but they were isolated. And the organizers were saying things like John and Michael were both – they were having a great time. They were doing MTV interviews because they had a very big MTV presence. They had a very big just news presence in general. And then they had the pay-per-view thing. So it was very well documented. And they're doing interviews left and right, and they look like they're having a good time. And they're like, oh, everything's going great. Yeah, there might be an issue or two, but, you know, 300,000 people, which is understandable if it wasn't already turning into a shit show. Literally. Literally. And it just seemed like they had their blinders on really bad, at least the two of them. Now the other organizers who were interviewed, they saw what was happening, but they couldn't get through to John and Michael to be like, you are not listening to us. Look at what's happening. And literally after John said that, it cut to a clip. So the organizers were like, everything's going great, and it cut to this clip where these kids are like disgusting looking. They look exhausted and dehydrated and tired, and they're like, this is fucked up, like really bad. So the organizers had like really bad blinders on. So about 115 in the afternoon, day two was even hotter, so upwards of 100 degrees that day. And Kid Rock being Kid Rock played in the middle of the day, and he came out in a fucking fur coat. Like what? Why? Yeah, Kid Rock do be Kid Rockin'. And the crowd went crazy, and could you imagine how hot that pit is? Hell no. And paramedics were in the tents. People were being brought in unconscious from the heat exhaustion. Over 1,000 had been treated that day, on top of just people being injured in the mosh pit, because that's what happens when you've got that many people in a pit. So everyone really underestimated, I guess, the heat. Also, we're going to talk about the heat a lot. Michael said in one of the interviews that the weather really did them some favors this year in an interview. Like, dude, you've got people almost dying out there. Yeah, it didn't rain. They would have rathered it rain. Yeah, seriously. So these, like we said before, there is no shade. These kids were desperate for shade and water. They were literally sitting under the 18-wheeler trailers just trying to get some shade. They were, like, taking cardboard and sitting under cardboard to cool off. Yes. So by 4 p.m. So, again, it's kind of like the timeline doesn't make sense, but it helps us keep parameters on what's happening. So they had an artist compound. And that is, like, on the other side of the fence. And this is where all the bands would stay. They had all the amenities. I mean, literally, they had like a booth where you could just go pick out some cong verses for free if you were a band or if you were part of the band. And they had free food, all the amenities. I mean, these – and they should be. They should be well taken care of. They're the artists. But Kirk Hammett from Metallica said, quote, peace and love equal capitalistic venture. Let's call a spade a spade. Yeah. And he said that in an interview during Woodstock 99. So he was calling it out in the middle of it. Oh, yeah. And it's really interesting that you have on one side the artists and they're being treated like kings and queens. And then on the other side, literally on the other side of this fence, you have these kids who paid a shit ton of money and are being treated like shit. And so I said 4 p.m. Around this time is when they started throwing shit at the camera people and specifically really MTV because it kind of embodied everything that they hated about what was happening because it's MTV. And they knew they were live on air. So, like, they were just fucking with them because the MTV reporter has to be looking at the camera and can't see a fucking beer bottle being thrown at their head. So, yeah. And on top of that, the shit security. Like, who's going to stop it? Yeah? No. And around 5.30 is when it said that the crowd kind of figured out that they could do whatever the fuck they wanted. Unfortunately, that translated into sexual assault. Yeah. I mean, the women who were trying to crowd surf were literally just getting held up the whole time, whether or not you were wearing a shirt. And I want to make this clear. Because John said, fucking John, and this is in the recent version of the interview, not like the documented camcorder, but, like, he said this 20 years after the fact. 30 years, I guess. Anyway. John said, quote, by Saturday I heard there were a few reports that the women were pushed around, but there were a lot of women who voluntarily had their tops off. You know? Then you get into a mosh pit and you get crowd surfed. Could somebody have touched their breasts? Yes, I'm sure they did. What could I have done about it? I'm not sure I could have done anything. End quote. Listen, yeah, okay, you got your tits out, you're in a mosh pit. Could someone accidentally bump into one? Sure. I saw pictures of literally people just reaching their hands up and grabbing nipples. And it looked awfully painful. Full handfuls ripping shirts off. Like, not excusable. This is, no. It's like one thing, like I said, you're in a mosh pit, arms are flying, you get accidentally tapped in one. It happens. Okay? We understand that. We'll try to call them together. But, like, it is inexcusable for someone to just reach over and grab one or grab a butt or grab any part of your being without your consent. Unacceptable. Oh, I was heated when he said that. I was like, I cannot believe that just came out of your mouth. What could I have done about it? A shit ton. Taking better care of your people, of your, yes, yeah. And this is, oh, I was so mad. And this is, like, where it turned, started turning less into, like, just bro culture because that, I mean, of course, that stayed. Everybody started to get mad at this point. They're being treated like shit. They're hot as hell. It's only 530 on Saturday. We're only halfway through this bitch. And now people are just being assaulted. Like, they can't be their, they can't do what they want to do. So, 7 p.m., the security guards were already nervous because guess who's playing? Limp Bizkit. Now, listen, I love me some Limp Bizkit. One of my kids' favorite songs is Break Stuff. I don't know what that says about my parenting, but they love it. I do make them change the cuss words, okay? So, yeah, this is their favorite kind of jam. The mosh was insane. And it's really funny, one of the young, new, scrappy reporters from ABC News fucking got in the mosh pit with, like, his microphone. He was interviewed, and he's like, I was getting punched while trying to be like, I'm in the mosh pit at the Limp Bizkit concert. Let's be honest, he didn't want to do his job. He wanted to be in that pit at that moment. He just found an excuse to get in there. And he did say, he's like, nobody else is going to do it. No, they like to live. So, during the performance of Break Stuff is when the, quote, unquote, hand grenade went off. I mean, Fred Durst knows how to work a crowd, really, and he knows what his songs were about. And he saw the palpable energy of this crowd, and he was like, and you could tell he was looking around, he's like, could I do this right now? And he was like, he said, quote, take all that negative energy and let that shit out of your system. Now, when this song kicks in, I want you to fucking kick in. Quote, that's a quote. He said that on stage. And when that song kicked in, that crowd fucking kicked in, because they started that poor sound tower, which, one, they had put a little sign up on the sound tower that said the Alamo. Because they were, like, surrounded. But the crowd started climbing onto the sound tower, ripping off the plywood. The poor people in the sound tower were like, get me out of here. The whole thing's shaking. And they eventually had to get, like, security people to help them escape. It's going to sound how it's going to sound. We've got to get out of here. And this is when the first bits of, like, that big crowd violence started happening. And John said Fred was riling up the crowd, which, sure, I mean, yeah, he was. But I feel that John is still not taking any accountability of what's happening. Yeah. They would have just moshed harder. And he said, quote, I didn't take into account what a jerk Fred Durst is. Obviously. Yeah, I think there was. But then there was also, for the couple that were blaming Fred Durst, there were overwhelmingly more people that weren't. And one was quoted to say that, like, blaming Limp Bizkit for being Limp Bizkit is like blaming a bear for being a bear. Like, you can't. What the fuck did you expect? And in this situation, people were all caps injured, like, broken legs, needed staples in the head, stitches, blood everywhere. It looked like a damn war zone. And the paramedics were starting to run out of supplies because it was underestimated, of course. Sorry, I accidentally. Stand by. I, like, was copying and pasting and moving stuff around. Okay. Yes. I just, like, had double written a few things. And, like, I had taken stuff from one and then I ended up taking it from another, so then, like, things got out of order a little bit. I just had to move something around. No big deal. So. Oh, I can't wait till we get to that part. That's where that needs to go. Okie dokie. Now we're good. Saturday, Sunday. Okay. So, Limp Bizkit plays. The bear is the bear. He's riling people up. They do be breaking shit. People are hurt. But it's still just Saturday night, so let's all go to the fucking Rave Hangar again. And Morgan's Anxiety Chamber. So. So 1 a.m., we're at the Rave Hangar, and Fat Boy Slim's fucking coming. He is ready. And I don't know why. I don't know what I thought Fat Boy Slim looked like, but it wasn't what he actually looks like. He just looks like a skinny nerd, and I love him more for it. I just love it. And so he had been in his, like, trailer all day long, did not really know about the violence or the damage that was happening, and he said he likes some chaos. He thinks it's really fun. I mean, it's a rave, for God's sake. But everyone was like, oh, don't worry about it. It's not that big a deal, right? So he gets on stage, and he starts doing his thing and having a good time. He's being Fat Boy Slim. And in the documentary, there's one guy that's just dancing. In his eyes, I've never seen human eyeballs so big. They're as big as saucers. He's just like, I wish y'all could see me right now. It was the funniest thing. You could tell that man, he was on, yeah, he was not on planet Earth. He was on Zion Zorgon 57. There was no way this man was on this planet. And I don't even know if he knew if he was having a good time. He was just, he was a vibe. That was all he was. He was just vibes. Yes, his soul had left his body momentarily. It was just the funniest shit. And apparently there were just people having sex everywhere, up against walls, in like a line, like too friendly. I know, Morgan's Hellscape. So ecstasy, people were just walking around being like, here's some ecstasy. Here you go. There you are. And, okay, this is where it starts to take a dark turn. And we have mentioned a little bit of sexual assault earlier, but this is a trigger warning. It's going to get worse than just a little bit of sexual assault. So if that's something that triggers you, skip about a minute, I think. I will go through this very quickly so we don't have to suffer through this. Someone who was high as a fucking kite stole a van, like a box van, and just drove it into the rave hangar, just drove it in there. Slowly, I mean, people were able to get out of the way, but, like, drove it in there. They had to stop the music, and then some of the security guards went up to the van. Somebody started, like, people were mad at Fatboy Slim because they had to stop the music. They were, like, throwing shit at Fatboy Slim. So that's kind of the mentality we were having is, like, if they don't get their way, you're getting shit thrown at you. The guy was high as shit, and apparently there were rumors that he had, like, a machete somehow. So the security guy, God, I will never forget his face when he did this interview, but he said he went to the passenger side to kind of keep some distance between him and the driver. And he opened the door, and you can see into the back of the van, and there was, like, a 15-, 16-year-old girl back there. Let's just say she was unclothed, not conscious, with the dude putting his pants back on. And that was happening literally in a crowd of 60,000 people. So they were able to get her out, ambulance took her to the hospital. I don't know what happened to the guy. I don't think he even knew what happened to the guy. Probably just disappeared into the crowd and, like, got away with it, which is disgusting and horrible. It wasn't. It wasn't. I think there were about four total of, like, full-blown rapes that happened that were documented, yes, and multiple, multiple other, like, sexual assault cases. But we'll get into that later. But, okay, we're done with that one. It just felt important enough to say. And if you're out there, ma'am, I am so sorry that happened to you. So they literally had to evacuate Fatboy Slim out of there. He didn't even get to finish his set. And they, like, I know. He, like, they had to, like, basically throw him into a car, and they said, you get out of here, we'll go back and get your, like, records and stuff. You just need to get the hell out of here. And they ended up going straight to the airport and sleeping in the airport until the next morning before they can get a flight. They had to, they couldn't even go back to, they escaped. Yep. And you ready for this bullshit? John said that there were, in, like, a press conference the next morning, that there were only about 50 people causing trouble. Seriously. In my opinion, I think enough has happened. They should have partially refunded, shut her down, stopped it there. Like, this is too much. It's just one day that these people are missing. Shut her down, I would rather y'all get mad at me instead of things happening like this. So Sunday morning, Willie Nelson opens up for Sunday morning, which I feel like, I love Willie. I love Willie so much. He played Amazing Grace, which does not fit the vibe that's going on. But, listen, if I'm hearing Willie Nelson play Amazing Grace, I'm going to stand there and listen. And they wanted it to be almost like a religious experience. They're like, oh, it's the last day, let's open it up to something beautiful. So by this time, everyone's basically rolling around in the shit mud. And the drinking water was even running brown and tinted. I know. Samples had been taken on Saturday from the health department of the water, and all, all the free water that was available was contaminated by feces. And the tests weren't completed until, like, Sunday morning. They had to, like, sit overnight. So these people had been drinking this for two days. And people were waking up on Sunday morning with, like, ulcers and mouth sores and, like, because it was called Trench Mouth from drinking unsanitary water. And they, people started leaving in droves by, like, noon or 1. And I think there were about half the people there. So still, like, 150,000 people. By this time, the vendors were almost out of food and water. And the prowse gouging, because they had full control of it, got worse. You want to know how much water was? Twelve for a bottle of water. And the people that were left were still very negative about everything. But they had a reason to hang on. There had been a rumor going about that there was going to be a surprise closing act. So the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the last in line, which, hell, that's a hell of a closer right there. But in an interview during 1999 to, like, MTV, John said, quote, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the last official act that are going to close on Sunday night. We are still cooking up a little something for the end. It's going to stay a surprise for the time being. What does that say to you? We either have no plan, but we're promising you something afterwards. So we just don't know what it is yet, right? But there's going to be something. And at a music festival, that should be somebody, right, typically. So people were saying it could be Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses. I mean, countless others were rumored. So at 4 p.m., Jewel played. I also love Jewel. I wanted to be – I want to – God, I want to be there. Not with all the bullshit happening, though. No. I just want to be there for the music, guys. So she said – and, again, she's a very accomplished musician. She knows a crowd. She said the crowd's attitude had, like, shifted again. And she described it as, quote, a crowd that could turn at any time. It was like a weird kind of an energy. And things were still – I mean, still going south. It's like she literally got – she quit her set. She stopped her set. When she was done, of course, she finished. She got on her bus and immediately left. I agree. So she immediately got on her bus and was like, bye, gone, peace. I don't either. She was like – it was the weirdest energy. And, again, it wasn't just the stupid bro dudes. It was everyone. Everyone was angry. And they were just stankin'. Yeah, getting sick. One of those would have pissed me off. The moment I don't have a – look, I will clean myself in a creek if I have to. I'm getting clean for the fucking day. I cannot, cannot. I don't mind one bit. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So one of the festival goers made a really good point that said, if this festival would have happened today, we've got these beautiful things called cell phones. It would just be roasted like the fire festival. We did. And it got roasted and it didn't get, like, destroyed. Well, I mean, it kind of was never up enough to be destroyed. But, like, you know, it just got called out on the Internet. Everyone was able to get their rage out over social media. And then that was it. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. No. Yeah. Yeah. That's still just blowing my mind. But since it was in 1999, if you had a cell phone, there wasn't social. It wasn't a thing. All that rage and, like, pent-up energy had to go somewhere, and it was starting to go towards the venue and the staff and MTV even more and stuff like that. They just started tearing down the perimeter wall, just tore it down, because fuck it. So by 630 on Sunday, they had a scheduled press conference, and John said this is the funniest fucking back and forth. John said, quote, we haven't had any major incidents. And the reporter said, yes, are you aware that parts of the wall have been torn down? And Michael came in and he saved it because he's not a dick like John and said, I think the exterior wall makes an amazing souvenir and people just couldn't resist it. And that's probably true. I'm sure a lot of people took a chunk of that home. But, oh, it absolutely was. So, like I said, recap, there's still 150,000 people on the site, and everyone at this press conference at 630, before the final performance, declares this a success. They looked at this pile of literal shit and declared it a success. The mayor is saying, you guys can come back any time. This was great. And then it cut to a piece of footage of, like, a guy, a festival goer, dirty as hell, again, looking rough as shit. And the footage, he just looks at the camera and he goes, Woodstock 99, there's a storm coming. Oh, no, man. Okay, so I want you to go back to the pictures. Also, I didn't point out, but beside the stage, this is just so funny to me that this face was caught on camera. The girl is topless, right, titties out. Look at the guy on the right. Look at his face. He is like, man, look at those boobs. Boobs? This is first time, bless him. And you know what? If you got your boobs out and people look at it, I mean, okay, cool. He's not touching them. He's a good guy right there, I guess. I don't know. He might have been a dude bro. But I need you to scroll down and I just want you to look at the guitarist, the bassist, Flea. Yeah, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Did you see anything he's lacking? Yeah, he was butt-ass naked during this performance. I saw so much of Flea's dick, I did not ask for it. But I was watching and I was like, oh, my God, dick. Because for most of his performance, he's holding his bass in front of his crotch. And then he moved it. And I was like, I wasn't prepared for you. So much of Flea's dick. But you know what? Good for him if he's comfortable with that. Okay, so in the middle of the Red Hot Chili Peppers performance, it's the last night. So what does Michael, whom I'm assuming has some hippie spirit in him, bless him, want to do? As a vigil for the Columbine vigil, I'm sorry, it's not. Yes, of course. It's anti, yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He has no idea. He's on whatever planet I said earlier. He handed out 100,000 candles to an angry crowd of dude bros. And granted, okay, also, before I get too into this, the other planners had no idea. John said, oh, well, that was all Michael's idea. I didn't really. That was his thing. Okay. Again, not taking accountability. But the younger planners were like, you can't. Sorry, go ahead. You're right. It does seem like something he would say. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah. Yes, for sure. And I just think that at this point, Michael was just very removed from what was actually happening. That there is blame on him, but I don't think, I think it almost felt to me like the vibe was John was almost taking advantage of everyone. Mm-hmm. At this point, I feel like he was in denial, because how could you not see the problems? But one of the younger planners was like, got on the intercom, was like, you cannot do that. It's not approved by the fire marshal. And he was told to shut up and get off the channel. So they hand out flammables, and they also said it was really interesting that they had spent all weekend taking flammables from these kids just to hand them a candle at the end. But it looked really cool. They played Under the Bridge, which is one of their more famous songs. It looked super cool. They did do the thing. They held it up. They did the vigil. And I'm sure that in that moment, they could set aside their anger for those Columbine victims. I completely understand that. They're like, yeah, we're so sorry. But then we're going to go back to fucking shit up after this. And they played this song. Yeah. And then immediately started a bonfire, a bonfire doobie happening. And then one of the, I think it was one of the planners. It was either one of the planners or one of the reporters said, quote, to give flames to an audience that is three days into being treated like animals. It was not a very smart decision, end quote. No. Beautiful. Thank you for that. So John said, he looked at this bonfire and he said, quote, I was afraid someone was going to get hurt, and I knew this was going to be a newsworthy issue. Buddy, you weren't scared about those people getting hurt. You were scared about them getting hurt and it being on the news. Yeah. So they did have a fire department on hand, which I'm sure they, it was a necessity. So Michael went to the firehouse and John got on stage and was telling everybody they needed to put the fire out, like people were going to fucking listen to him. And the fire department wouldn't go out there because they were scared of the crowd. And Michael was like, yeah, Michael was like, I'll go with you. We have to go put out that fire. And they're like, nope, nope. So then they were like, hey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, can you like quell this crowd? Can you help us out? So they go on stage for like the first encore. And you know what song they play? A tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix named fire. So then more fire started. I feel like they knew what they were doing. Yeah, like let's just, we're at the end. Oh, this is where I also put a little asterisk. Also, I saw so much of flea stick. Please help. So no surprise. When the show was over, we're ready for that surprise. The surprise artist, right? Morgan, there wasn't one. They just played a video of Jimi Hendrix playing. And I think it was like an ode to like him and the fact that he was the closing performance of the original Woodstock. It just, it wasn't what the crowd needed. Had they had someone like Guns N' Roses or like fucking literally anybody, if they had just had one more act on there, I don't think what happened after that would have happened, at least as severely. So after they realized that all they're doing is showing fucking Jimi Hendrix on the big screen, that was it. The crowd fucking had it. They were like, I am done. And the crowd took it as a signal to burn it down. We're burning down Rome, quite literally, because they are in Rome. And that is what they did. People literally were chanting, the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. We don't need no water. Let the motherfucker burn. Yeah. Feral. I memorized that for y'all, by the way. You're welcome. And they were like, the sky turned orange. There was so much fire. And it like the vibe, like, you know, pictures of Burning Man. I know neither of us have gone, but like pictures of Burning Man. But imagine. Imagine it's the stage burning and not controlled. And it's chaos. 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And the press conference literally just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Michael still maintained that the crowd wasn't he said like the crowd wasn't ready to stop partying and not that it was like the issues that were with the planning and stuff. Now most people blame greed. And I tend to agree with them. It's like one lady said that they had been treated like dogs once they got their money. And I tend to agree with them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean people still maintain that like they had the most fun that they ever had even though it was crazy. And I think that had to do a lot with like the bands and the culture of, you know, no responsibility, complete freedom. But also that turned into like a dangerous situation. And in words the entire planet knew it was a shit show. It was aired all over the world. This was big news. And then also the employees had to sign a nondisclosure agreement. No one was allowed to talk to the media. And I bet that's why that we're just now getting a documentary on it because I bet those kind of ran their course. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Or try to blame someone else. No. Yeah. You ready to get pissed off again? Because things got even worse when all those rape allegations came in. And there were at least four of them on top of, again, all that sexual assault allegations. Organizers said that they didn't hear about the allegations until after the festival. And I tend to agree with at least the rape cases, probably not. Because, again, there were no police officers there. Who were you going to report it to? And then John said in the recent interview in, like, the 2020s, quote, it was like a small city. All things considered, there would be as many or more rapes in a city that size. And then he went on to say that he doesn't condone it and he wishes that all those had caught, you know, all that stuff. I didn't want to go into that full detail. And then he said, quote, it wasn't something that gained enough momentum to cause any on-site issues other than the women that it happened to. Guys, I wish you could see Morgan's face because it was literally exactly mine when I heard him. Those fucking words came out of his mouth. And I have never. Like, it made me nauseous. By numbers. I mean, statistically it's going to. It shouldn't. I mean, freaking Korn said that there was no excuse for it. That girls should be able to just have fun just like a guy. And he said that recently as well. I mean, just like there's no excuse for it at all. It doesn't matter if you have a million people or four people. There's no excuse for it. And you shouldn't be so flippant about it. You can't just be like, oh, it happens. I mean, I wish I didn't. Seriously, I told you you were going to hate him by the end of this. So Michael said that in his mind Woodstock 99 is like a lost opportunity. That quote, there were assholes in the crowd. And you can't vet the people that buy your tickets. I agree with that. Yep. Yep. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's fine. Yeah. Yeah. The lack of accountability. If they had at the end and they said, we did this wrong, we did this wrong, we did this wrong, we're very sorry. If we do this again, it will not happen again. Had they said that, I think they could have saved the image, the idea of Woodstock. But they kept blaming. John Shearer even said, quote, that the crowd had, quote, lots and lots of angst. They're the lunatic fringe. That segment of the population was both entitled and fearful of growing up. Literally just blaming everyone but himself. And this situation not only affected the Woodstock brand, but it also put a reputation on an entire generation's music and attitude. So now there are people who remember this kind of tend to look at, you know, music like Korn and Limp Bizkit and stuff and just see, like, anarchy, basically, which, well, I mean, Rage Against the Machine is kind of like, that is their thing. But whatever. But that's not necessarily the people that listen to it is not necessarily like, I love those bands. Am I trying to, like, be an anarchist? No. No. Yeah, seriously. Still good, though. Yeah. No. No. I just. So I don't know if you know this or not. But they tried to bring it back again. I didn't either in 2019. And this, I think, Woodstock is cursed. I think it has become sentient and it's like, stop trying to be the 1969 Woodstock. So they tried to do a 50th anniversary, which I guess I can understand. It was back in 2019. But it ended up being canceled for various reasons. So, yeah, it just didn't work out. They were going to have, like, the Killers and Jay-Z and Miley Cyrus. Santana has been around for freaking ever. Yeah. They're just doing whatever. And it says that Michael Lang died on January 8th of 2022. Right? Yeah. I guess so. I don't know. Let me see what year. What was it called? Train wreck. Yeah, it came out in 2022. So July of 2022. So he must have just. Well, I mean, it probably takes about a year to record and then produce it. Yeah. Yeah. So there we are. What a wild weekend we just went on. Yeah, seriously. I'm just going to have nightmares of that mud. Yeah. I think the worst part is that, like, come on, guys, you had to have known. You're jumping into a mud pile that's between a row of porta potties, like two rows of porta potties. They were like, it was just disgusting. I would rather burn. But you can't get away from it because it's in the freaking water. Me too. I didn't know what's funny is that that 14-year-old girl that was there, they actually had, they interviewed her after the fact. So she stayed for the whole time. And she was one that they interviewed in 2022. And she just looks like your typical suburban, like, mom. She's got, like, cute glasses and she's just, like, chill. And I got to thinking, I'm like, people who were there could be fucking anyone. I mean, yeah. I feel like my mamaw would have gone. Had she been in that area and not in Kentucky, I feel like she would have gone. Yeah. I would have been. Totally would have been. Well, you know, you might have been okay because it was a lot more chill and it was also just, like, open fields and stuff. No places to go. No. No mosh pits. Not a single one. Okay. So it's been over two hours and I don't have a lot to cut. So we should probably let these people go home. Yeah. So you can find us on. If you liked this, if it traumatized you, please come back next week. We promise we'll be less traumatizing. Thank God. I need that. Okay. So if you liked this, you can find us on Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook group and page. Instagram. Gmail. You can email us. Yeah. TikTok. We are funny. And Patreon. Yes, we cried. Shelby cried. Shelby definitely cried. I confirmed. Good. She deserved that. And, you know, don't forget in the show notes is Jimmy Fallon's performance at Woodstock 99. Very funny. He's a very funny man. And don't roll in shit mud at a concert. Yeah. And if you take ecstasy, please make sure it's not the amount that's going to send you to Quion 37. At a rave. Probably not. It's been 30 years, 20 years, however long. Yeah. The old lady from the Titanic. It's been 89 years. Okay. Let's let these people go home. Okay. Bye.