Trainwreck: Woodstock '99

So Michael Lang, the organizer of the original Woodstock, sells his soul, if he ever had one, to help put on what he hopes will be a money-making Woodstock II in Rome, NY. The lesson being that we are idealists when young, but realists when we grow up. Unfortunately he and his partners were out of touch with the young people who showed up in 1999, who felt robbed by expensive food and disrespected by "the man." Lang went from hippie to "the man." In the end, this documentary does not tell us if W2 made money, but to many of the attendees it was the event of a lifetime, despite the chaos. Based on this three episode docu, I'm glad I wasn't there.

It develops as an apocalypse anouncement. The conditions of this festival resemble a mix between Mad Max and Spring Breakers. The sexual agressiveness and the hate that you see in those images are overwhelming.

A good watch for those who want to organise a festival on what NOT to do and what is crucial to have onsite.

And just because Woodstock is in the title it does not mean the crowd are hippies... The organisers were so naive and Lang was so careless and uninterested.

The documentary is good - but the event itself - was just a massive failure on soooo many levels! Everyone from the artists, to the promoters, to the fans - all pitched in together to create a massive embarrassment, and a shameful event! There's nothing good that can be said about Woodstock 99 - it's just a terrible example of human greed and depravity!!!

Slightly longer than last year's "Woodstock: Peace Love and Rage" documentary, and the 3-episode chronological format (covering each day) works better and seems more focused. As another reviewer pointed out, this could've been several episodes longer, or at least longer than 45 mins an episode; for anyone who listened to music critic Steven Hyden's 10-episode podcast in 2019 ("Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock 99") both of these documentaries seem lightweight by comparison. But in the end, I guess there's only so much available footage to use and people to interview.

And to the reviewers who said they never mention Woodstock 94 or blame the organizers instead of the bands, what documentary were you watching? 94 is mentioned in the first episode, and the organizers are painted throughout as being ignorant to the many problems happening, and then spinning the truth for damage control and refusing to accept any blame in the aftermath.

I happened across this documentary by accident, and being a huge music fan, I was intrigued by the subject. What unfolded was more of a statement of the social status of the US at the time than the music scene. The thing I took away from this was the unbelievable naivety of the organisers, the lack of understanding of the current music scene and the rampant capitalism of the licenced vendors. Back in the '60s, the music scene was all peace and love and hippies. Hendrix, Lennon, Crosby Stills and Nash, Santana. All mellow stuff. Cut to post grunge USA, the music is angry, violent and aggressive. Korn, Limp Bizkit, Chilli Peppers, Rage Against The Machine. Add to that the appalling facilities, price gouging for food and drink and the 100c + weather. It is almost an A-Z of how not to organise a rock festival. The scenes of 300,000 people undulating to Limp Bizkit on stage is mesmerising, and must have been intoxicating for the artists. The organisers seem to ty and deflect blame on the artists for getting the crowd over excited, particularly Korn, Limp Biskitz and RHCP. That is literally their job FFS! Recommended viewing for any music fans, or anyone interested in the Mob Rules mentality.