Woodstock '99
[citation needed] The festival was marred by difficult environmental conditions, overpriced food and water, poor sanitation, sexual harassment and rapes, rioting, looting, vandalism, arson, violence, and several deaths, leading to media attention and controversy that vastly overshadowed coverage of the musical performances.
[3] It has been described as "a flashpoint in cultural nadir",[6] "like a concentration camp",[7][failed verification], like being "in another country during military conflict",[8] like "a scene where zombies are coming over the castle walls", [9] with the morning after on the fourth day, described as like "Bosnia".
[16] Many of the high-profile acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, DMX, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Alanis Morissette, Bush, Kid Rock, and Creed were popular or rising artists of the era.
Korn frontman Jonathan Davis recalled that management group the Firm, Inc. rented a Boeing 737 for his band, Limp Bizkit, and Ice Cube to fly all three artists from Southern California to Syracuse for the festival.
[22] Foo Fighters were initially set to perform, but they withdrew to finish work on the album There Is Nothing Left to Lose;[23] and, also not having a replacement for Franz Stahl as Chris Shifflett joined the following month.
[25] Several nu metal bands such as Slipknot, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Powerman 5000, Static-X, and Deftones were each offered slots, but all were obligated to perform the final two remaining dates of that year's Ozzfest tour in California that weekend.
Godsmack and Megadeth were the only two bands from that year’s Ozzfest lineup to accept the offer, as both were flown overnight from San Bernardino to Rome for their set on July 25.
Woodstock 1999 was conceived and executed as a commercial venture with dozens of corporate sponsors and included the presence of vendor "malls" and modern accoutrements such as ATMs and email stations.
[35] Scher hoped to avoid the large losses that Woodstock '94 had incurred, planning for the 1999 event to turn a profit; this resulted in numerous cost-cutting measures such as the extensive subcontracting of onsite amenities.
[41] Ticket sales may have been underreported to avoid extra payouts to the city of Rome and Oneida County:[42]Perhaps the discrepancy stems from the deal between Woodstock 1999 promoters and the Griffiss Local Development Corporation (GLDC).
MTV cites that the GLDC, the city of Rome, and Oneida County were expected to receive $1 million to host the festival and an additional $250,000 if ticket sales topped 200,000.
[47][48] The Associated Press deemed Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Insane Clown Posse and Rage Against the Machine the "breakout stars" of the festival.
The former Griffiss AFB included large areas of concrete and asphalt with little or no shade, placing the entire facility within its own heat island; this not only caused temperatures to rise during the day, but also kept them elevated at night.
To further cut costs — and avoid "the influences of the government or of the police state," according to Lang — organizers did not hire conventional security officers, instead sourcing adolescents and young adults from a nearby job agency to serve as the "Peace Patrol.
[73] A large number of attendees had also smuggled drugs or other illicit substances into the festival, which the Peace Patrol often ignored or allowed onto the grounds in exchange for a bribe.
Prior to announcing DMX's performance on the East stage, numerous male concertgoers began chanting "show your tits" at actress Rosie Perez as she walked up to introduce him with Stephen Baldwin.
[12][90][75] To protest the exorbitant price of onsite concessions, Insane Clown Posse taped $100 bills to several beach balls and kicked them into the crowd during their performance.
Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale had reportedly expressed anxiety about performing immediately after Korn due to fears that the crowd's energy could turn violent.
[92][93] This sentiment was shared by Korn's Jonathan Davis, who later admitted that his band's scheduling was mismatched with Bush's and felt he had inadvertently placed Rossdale in a dangerous position.
[96] Appalled by the prices of concessions, Kid Rock and Wyclef Jean asked the audience to throw their empty water bottles onstage in between songs.
A large number of attendees also began ripping plywood off of the perimeter fence as they attempted to surf on the broken panels; this resulted in several pieces collapsing, dropping crowd surfers onto other fans and possibly crushing them.
[102] Terrified of the hostile crowd, several stage technicians assigned to cover the central sound tower placed a sign reading "The Alamo" below the cameras.
Security implored Durst to not crowd-surf, but he was undeterred as he asked the crowd to pass him a panel of plywood, on which he later sang "Faith", closing the band's set.
Following the set, he was approached by Limp Bizkit manager Peter Katsis and several police officers who informed him the plywood was ripped off of buildings after fans had destroyed multiple structures during his band's performance.
Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose recalled his band being escorted by numerous security guards to the stage for their set as attendees grew increasingly violent following Jewel's performance.
[114] A group of activists, led by the anti-gun violence organization PAX, had distributed candles to those stopping at their booth during the day, intending them to be lit for a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Columbine High School massacre during the Chili Peppers' performance of "Under the Bridge";[115] this had not been mentioned to or approved by local firefighting authorities.
ATMs were tipped over and broken into; trailers full of merchandise, food, and equipment were forced open and burglarized; and numerous abandoned vendor booths or tents were turned over and set afire.
Carson Daly recalls being pelted by bottles, rocks, and batteries frequently while he was covering the festival, noting that executives from MTV issued a statement to their staff on site that the network's parent firm Viacom could no longer guarantee their safety.
"[140] Less than a week after the conclusion of Woodstock '99, Los Angeles concert promotors Goldenvoice (later AEG) announced the inaugural Coachella festival in Indio, California with an emphasis to distance themselves from the unrest and damage that unfolded in Rome, including offering free water bottles and parking to those in attendance.
Stewart and his co-host Beth Littleford also poked fun at the demographics of the attendees and perceived racial bias in news reporting: "it wasn't a riot; because the audience was 99% white, the upstate New York authorities classified it as 'youthful exuberance'".
