A Festival That Changed the World
MOVIE REVIEW
Clusterf**k: Woodstock '99
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Genre: Documentary
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 3 – 45+ min episodes
Where To Watch: releasing on Netflix on August 3rd
If you’re not a millennial, you may be forgiven for not knowing the impact of Woodstock ‘99. As a millennial myself, I can speak to the fact I had no clue there was a Woodstock ‘79 (the 10th anniversary of the original,) Woodstock ‘89 (the unplanned 20th anniversary,) and Woodstock ‘94 (the precursor to the ‘99 clusterf**k.) There was also a tour of some original artists in ‘09 for the 40th but didn’t have nearly the impact of ‘94 or ’99 (for better or worse.) While I’m sure many older and younger generations knew the festival, this was the Woodstock for this generation. Woodstock 50 never actually got off the ground but was intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the festival.
So yeah, you could say that Woodstock has impacted the world and music culture. However, none had quite a lasting impact on music after the original until Woodstock ‘99. While there were two confirmed deaths at Woodstock ‘94, both were from relatively innocent issues and ones for which the promoters wouldn’t be held liable. However, ‘99 saw an entirely different outcome; while there were three confirmed deaths, the five rapes reported changed the tone completely. While over 400,000 people were approximate to have attended, this was a black eye that should never be forgotten.
This three-episode documentary did a fantastic job diving into the build-up, the event itself, and the aftermath that happened during and after. The pieces were all there, a tremendous lineup including James Brown, Sheryl Crow, The Offspring, Bush, Korn, DMX, Insane Clown Posse, Moby, Kid Rock, Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morissette, Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Ice Cube, and so many more. On the surface level, this seemed like the event to end all events. However, the Achilles heel was that the promoters were more concerned about their pockets than the user experience. This is unfortunate because this should’ve genuinely been the second coming of Woodstock.
Sadly, the event went downward into uncontrolled chaos as bands performed, and little to nothing was done to reel in the insanity that broke loose. Journalist Jane Hanahl cast doubt on the ability to duplicate this level of a concert again (which so far has been held). She coined the event “the day the music died,” paying homage to Don McLean’s American Pie.
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I am 35 and I remember in 1998 when I was just 11 being at the gas station in my town listening to the high schoolers talk about going to woodstock. And I thought they had lost their minds because it no longer was going on… Boy I was wrong.
Shout out to all my Limp Bizkit fans. I was 10 when three dolla bill yall dropped.. Way to young to have had that CD but I wore it out. 🙂