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Post by BigPapaJoe on Mar 4, 2019 8:55:58 GMT -5
The 50th anniversary of Woodstock is coming up, and there will be two events celebrating it this year. One in Watkins Glenn, New York, and the other at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York where the original 1969 Woodstock was held. This will be first Woodstock celebration since 1999, which if you remember at the time ended in disaster.
I was only 12 at the time, but I remember watching the coverage on MTV who were there exclusively, and soon had to depart because of the ensuing violence that put people in danger. It didn't take long for the festivities to get out of control due to what seemed to be a perfect storm of circumstances. From the start there was blistering heat, high prices on water and food, allegations of sexual assault/rape, unsuitable waste facilities, lack of hired security, fires, riots, and just people that went nutty. I'll never forget seeing a few people deciding to form like a "mud tribe", and throwing mud and/or feces at other people at the festival. Absolute lunacy. Also, a few of the associated acts at that time that in my opinion branded a "screw authority" vibe didn't help matters. Bands like Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine, and Kid Rock. Obviously I wasn't there, and maybe the media had a part in sensationalizing the entire affair afterward, but some of the things I did see was pretty crazy. From what I hear, a lot of people did have a great time though, and most of the acts put on great performances.
So, did any of you attend? Also, will you be going this year? I definitely don't think what happened back then would happen now. Like I stated previously it was just a perfect storm of circumstances with not only the event, but where American society was at the time.
I will say, that the reason why I made this post anyway, was because I recently watched that Fyre documentary on Netflix. The chaos that unfolded, Woodstock 1999 just popped back into my head.
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 4, 2019 12:35:27 GMT -5
Nineteen Ninety-nine? Thought that was a typo.  Yikes, laddie, I tried to get there in 19 69, but couldn't quite make it. Had to make do with the album version. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2019 13:33:07 GMT -5
My oldest brother attended Woodstock on the last day (July 25th) and stayed for 90 minutes and left the scene and this experience left him a bad feelings seeing women degrading themselves, overcrowding, and the language was so bad ... he left spending a hour looking for his friend and a week later ... he got a phone call from him that he left two hours earlier because of the water problem. It was the worst experience that he ever seen and after visiting Woodstock he went to Springfield to visit another friend for three days before heading back home.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,545 
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Post by Confessor on Mar 6, 2019 2:59:50 GMT -5
Funny how nobody ever wants to do an Altamont anniversary celebration.  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 6, 2019 11:51:21 GMT -5
Funny how nobody ever wants to do an Altamont anniversary celebration. Except maybe the Hells Angels. When I worked for Barnes & Noble, we hosted a book signing for Sonny Barger, the former leader of the gang, during that period. Let's just say he had a rather clouded view of what happened. It was a surreal affair, as it was on a Sunday, and our regulars came in to see a pack of motorcycles all parked on our sidewalk (and a Hearse, with a skull on top, driven by some "journalist") and inside the crowd looked like extras from a Peter Fonda movie. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 6, 2019 11:52:18 GMT -5
I wanted to go, in '69; but my parents thought I was a little too young.
I still sat 2 1/4 was plenty old enough!
'99 I was old enough; but didn't give a (expletive) about most of the bands or the manufactured event. Corporate sponsorship and merchandise may have just been part of modern concerts; but, it sure didn't fit into the Woodstock image.
A bought a Woodstock, around that time; Snoopy, too.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,545
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Post by Confessor on Mar 6, 2019 11:59:12 GMT -5
Corporate sponsorship and merchandise may have just been part of modern concerts; but, it sure didn't fit into the Woodstock image. Amen to that! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 6, 2019 12:12:42 GMT -5
The revolution WILL be televised; sponsored by McDonald's and Miller Beer!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2019 14:25:57 GMT -5
I didn't go to '99, but a friend of mine from my D&D group was there as a correspondent for the local radio morning show that Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister) was the host of at the time (he had a couple year stint as the morning dj on the alternative rock station in the Hartford, CT market in the late 90s-early 2000s). We got to hear his reports on the air, and saw pics/heard his accounts of the event. Like some others here I had no interest in most of the bands playing at the show, so turned down the invite to drive up with him (getting time off to do it was an issue for me too), and considering the mess it became, I don't regret deciding not to go with him.
-M
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Post by Rob Allen on Mar 6, 2019 15:34:12 GMT -5
In 1969 I was 12 years old and didn't go.
In 1999 I was on the other side of the continent and didn't go.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 6, 2019 18:30:29 GMT -5
I had just graduated law-school and had either just taken or was studying for the bar exam.
Looking at the list of performers...I guess there were maybe five I would have liked to have seen at the time (Clinton & P-Funk, James Brown, Willie Nelson, Los Lobos, Brian Setzer). But when all is said and done...they'd have had to pay me (and not an insignificant amount) to have attended.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 6, 2019 19:39:01 GMT -5
Taken out of context, the Apple joke seems odd; but, Apple's sales had been down, around this time, prior to the release of the iMac.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2019 19:47:40 GMT -5
To go to an event like Woodstock at my age: 1. It would have to be music acts I would like (mostly classic rock) 2. I would have to be able to use an RV to stay in.   |
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 7, 2019 19:21:50 GMT -5
Closest I ever was to anything like this was the original Farm Aid concert, while I was at the Univ. of illinois. The concert was held in Memorial Stadium and my NROTC unit had a long-standing relationship with the school, selling concessions in part of the stadium, at football games (and providing part of the honor guard for the flag, as well as escorting the ship's bell, from the USS Illinois, which was rung when Illinois scored). As such, we sold concessions during the concert (to a lot of very stoned people, in many cases). My stint was during the afternoon, during mostly country acts (more of the rockers played in the evening, for the live broadcast).. My shift included performances by David Allan Coe, Loretta Lynn, and Charlie Daniels, with Foreigner having finished just before I got there. John Mellencamp and the other bigger rock names played that evening. This was also an early appearance of Sammy Hagar, with Eddie Van Halen, after Hagar joined Van Halen.
I'm not a big country music fan; but, at least this stuff was way better than the stuff put out ever since. At least when I was a kid, there was a bit more crossover between Country and Pop and Rock, and you got some Country songs on the radio, on Rock stations, especially people like Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, Charlie Pride, Don Williams, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Waylon jennings and others. The 80s were kind of a dividing line for Country, for me. I like a lot from the 70s, love some from the 50s and 60s, and enjoy the heck out of rockabilly, pure hillbilly, Western, and Blue Grass.
I was at sea (Midshipman Training Cruise) for half of Live Aid. We pulled into San Diego in the late afternoon and I was flying home the next morning and had to let my folks know about when my flight would arrive, in St Louis. By the time I was done with all my stuff, I was only able to catch a bit in the evening (I completely missed Queen, the one act I would have liked to have seen); but, had to get to bed, as my flight out was early in the morning (before revelee).
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Post by Rob Allen on Mar 7, 2019 20:12:12 GMT -5
This bus goes past my office:  It goes across the river to Woodstock Blvd. in the Woodstock neighborhood. |
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