It has recently been 33 years since the infamous Woodstock music festival in Rome, New York in 1999. Not long after that, Netflix released their heartbreaking documentary in August 2022, to audiences. found some bitter ingredients created a series of problems that caused attendees to compare what happened at William Gogh’s festival. old movies for comparison Lord in the air.
As it turns out, the original 1969 Woodstock Arts and Music Festival (known as “Woodstock”) didn’t have much in common with its younger sibling, except for the name. The combination of financial greed, bad weather, and decisions made by the anxious cultural context of the time created a “perfect storm” that was capable of causing people to behave in a different way. which they may never have done.
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Choose a festival venue
The original festival’s iconic record in ’69 depicts festival-goers lounging on rolling grassy hills with flowers in their hair; Closing Griffith Air Force Base.
It was seen as an odd and disappointing choice of venue — the venue’s aesthetics, runways, and political connections simply didn’t match the spirit of the original festival that people had hoped for. want to experience. The expanse of the gray asphalt floor not only dampens the mood, but attracts heat like a magnet, and the lack of any shade in the background is believed to be a big factor in the demise of the day. weekend.
crazy price
Buyers of $180 festival tickets wish they could get something for the weekend so at least their trip could pass. As it turns out, these services are barely available to festival goers. They cannot afford food and the price of water has increased over time. In the days that followed, it was reported that it sold for $12 a bottle, an absurd price and even high to this day.
There is no price limit on what vendors can charge for their products, as festival organizers and promoters decide to sell the rights to sell at the event. At the same time, the VIP area for musicians is also very luxurious,train wreck Suggestive insights are provided on how the budget can be spent in favor of the top performers rather than the well-being of the attendees.
“mud”
In an attempt to salvage at least some of the bohemian spirit of ’69, fervent festival goers destroyed the supply of free drinking water to create more mud to roll around, as seen in Woodstock’s iconic photo.
Damaged pipes mean that the ‘mud’ has become contaminated by sewage overflowing from nearby portable toilets, and people wallow and bathe in them completely without their knowledge, causing many attendees get ‘manholes’ – that’s probably the worst they’ve ever had. can happen. We look forward to returning home from this historic holiday.
Soft Bizkit
On a sweltering Saturday night, music on the main stage was played by raucous rap-rock band Limp Bizkit.
It all explodes in “Break Stuff” – the crowd leader Fred Durst surfs as he stands on a piece of broken plywood that is part of the carnival wall, and the already-excited crowd turns into a frenzy, some Climb up and into the Sound Tower, an experience described by one staff member as “being in a zombie invasion movie”.
carnival hangar truck
After Limp Bizkit anarchy, festivalgoers flocked to the infamous Rave Hangar on Saturday night to pick up Fatboy Slim, the lead. The members of the crowd were completely confused at this point, plunging into the hedonistic behavior in the first place.
It took it a step further when, shortly after entering Slim’s set, a van was stolen and started swerving through the crowd, and that’s not all. There were 20-30 people dancing on top of the moving vehicle, which shortened filming time and the evacuation from the hangar. One employee described the truck driver as “almost dozing off” and not knowing what he was doing.
nude
The 60s were synonymous with connecting with nature, hence the phrase “the power of flowers”. The movement seeks to restore society’s connection to the natural world, and it is clear that the numerous nudity at Woodstock ’99 is fulfilling that ideal.
The cameras continuously filmed people walking around naked or topless, paying $10 for “wherever you like” quill tattoos, not to mention Red’s topless performance Hot Chili Peppers Flea in the finale. A videographer who streamed aspects of the festival on TV claimed they were given no instructions on what could be filmed, meaning viewers at home would also have to participate remotely.
Garbage
The exact opposite of the idea of connecting with nature, one of the easiest to grasp train wreck The amount of trash – deflated tents, plastic bags, food wrappers, trash bags, drinking cups, and lots of trash, seems to take up 85% of the floor space. Like other essential hygiene elements at the festival, the waste disposal facilities were neglected, adding to the apocalyptic feel to the event.
The ticket seller was photographed queuing to get in the car to leave the scene, saying: “It stinks in there!” when questioned by the media. Things got so bad that Lisa Law, one of the festival’s photographers, and others had to hand out trash bags to encourage festival-goers to clean up.
fire
many times in time train wreckRespondents said “things got really crazy” after multiple incidents over the weekend, but they didn’t see anything until Sunday night, on the set of Red Hot Chili Peppers, the final night of the celebration. festival.
The organizers promise to keep the festival alive with some surprises at the end of the program. They distributed 100,000 candles to spectators, hoping to light them and keep them in the air as a peaceful protest against the recent increase in gun violence in the United States. Things didn’t go as planned – the drunken, overzealous crowd started bonfires near the main stage and around the venue, eventually descending into chaos. They tore down lighthouses, dumped garbage stalls, overturned cars, and burned anything in sight. Some believe it was the result of excessive stress caused by the filthy conditions at the festival.
Responsibility (or lack of responsibility)
One of the most bizarre aspects of the documentary is the constant contrast between the experiences and attitudes of attendees, the band, the crew, and festival organizers Michael Long and John Schell .
Attendees, staff, and performers shared their positive experiences, but the main focus of their narrative was the downfall of the organizers’ decision. However, Shell and Long continue to downplay the seriousness of the problem, and even now attempt to shirk any responsibility for the outcome. They accused the performers of not having a positive influence on the younger generation at the time in their performances, insisting that “most” had a good time. Woodstock ’69 organizer Michael Lang even said he felt Sunday night’s chaos was “a disappointing end to what should have been a fun weekend”.
overall experience
Despite a bad weekend, the finale train wreck Respondents who attended 32 years ago said they really had a good time.
Earlier in the documentary, MTV host Ananda Lewis described how she felt: People can break limbs and still cheer “Woodstock ’99!” And it seems she was right. The narrations of festivalgoers interviewed for the series matched the horror footage shown, but in the end, they said it was “the best time of my life” and that they certainly will. redo.