What happened at Woodstock '99? The story behind the ill-fated festival
25 July 2024, 19:00
Watch the trailer for Woodstock 99: Peace, Love and Rage
The ill-fated festival was the subject of a Netflix documentary in 2022 - but which acts appeared on the bill? And how did uit become one of the most notorious events in history?
One of Netflix's biggest hits of recent times was the documentary Trainwreck: Woodstock '99, which told the story of the ill-fated event that was intended to mark the 30th anniversary of the classic festival.
The 1999 edition was the second time that the Woodstock name had been attached to another live show; on the original festival's 25th anniversary in 1994, the likes of Aerosmith, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Peter Gabriel and Green Day lined up for a very muddy weekend.
But five years later, the original Woodstock promise of "three days of peace and music" was in short supply. The 1999 festival was meant to signal the end of the millennium - instead, the event was marred by relentless hot weather, violence and rioting.
Where and when was Woodstock '99 held?
Woodstock '99 was held on a former Air Force Base in Rome, New York state between 22nd and 25th July 1999. The Griffiss base was about 100 miles away from the original farmland of the 1969 event and the flat, featureless environs of the air strip meant that there was little natural shade from the scorching sun, which reached 38C over the weekend.
What went wrong at Woodstock '99?
Aside from the dangerously hot weather, the site was overcrowded with an estimated crowd of 400,000 people, forcing many festival-goers to pitch their tents on the tarmac. In the heat, this was pretty unbearable for many. Photographer Christy Borgman recalled another issue: "Reality set in on day two when I was jolted awake from my tent by a man yelling 'Hear ye, hear ye! Don’t drink the water!' He was walking through the tent area spreading the word that the water lines were contaminated, showing the town newspaper with the headline news. At $4 a bottle, that soon became a problem."
Inevitably, the weather and the resentment created a bad atmosphere. When Limp Bizkit played their song Break Stuff, people did just that and started tearing down the wooden fences around the stage. "Don't let anybody get hurt," Fred Durst told the crowd. "But I don't think you should mellow out. That's what Alanis Morissette had you motherf**kers do."
During Fatboy Slim's set on Saturday night, a stolen van was spotted driving through the dance area and into where the audience were stood. Norman Cook remembers in the documentary: "I became aware of something that I thought was a kind of floating dance platform, like a podium, with about 20-30 people on it, which turned out to be a van." Cook stopped performing for 10 minutes and bore the brunt of the crowd's anger as they pelted him with bottles and stones.
A young Muse, who were playing the Emerging Artists Stage at 3pm on Sunday afternoon recalled that the trouble started to kick off in earnest on the final day. "It was brewing while we were playing," Matt Bellamy explained in a 1999 interview. "People were chanting, banging drums and stuff. It looked like a protest of some kind. We thought, what's this? From a distance it looked just like some sort of party."
Red Hot Chili Peppers closed the festival and an anti-violence campaigners handed out candles to be lit during the epic Under The Bridge. However, some people took this as a cue to start bonfires. The band's set was stopped as an announcement was made from the stage: "As you can see if you look behind you, we have a bit of a problem. The delay tower as you can see is on fire - it's not part of the show, it really is a problem."
Interuption of RHCP set in Woodstock 1999
How many people died at Woodstock '99?
Three people died during the festival: a 44-year-old man with a pre-existing heart condition died in the camp ground on the Friday; 28-year-old Tara K. Weaver was killed while walking on one of the roads outside the festival site; and 24-year-old David DeRosia was taken to hospital after collapsing in the mosh pit for Metallica. He died the following day.
A month later, Billboard reported that "five rapes and numerous accounts of sexual harassment and assault have been reported".
Who played at Woodstock '99?
Foo Fighters were originally meant to play the festival, but pulled out as they were working on their third studio album There Is Nothing Left To Lose. Ironically, not one act that played the original Woodstock in 1969 appeared 30 years later, although The Who's bassist John Entwistle performed a solo spot, while there was also an appearance from The Grateful Dead's drummer Mickey Hart.
Some of the line-up included veterans from Woodstock '94, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sheryl Crow and Metallica.
Here is a breakdown of who played which day at Woodstock '99, taken from the official programme, plus contemporary reviews.
Woodstock '99: Thursday 22nd July 1999
West Stage
- George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars
- Bernie Worrell & The Woo Warriors
- The String Cheese Incident
- G. Love & Special Sauce
- Strangefolk
- Vertical Horizon
- 3rd Bass
- Flipp
- In Bloom
- Rattlebasket
- Red Herring
- Djoliba
- Gridley Paige
- Little Big Jam
- KJ James
- Frostbit Blue
AMP3 Emerging Artists Stage
- Johnny Rushmore
- Gary Durdin & The Clay Pinps
- Chris Glenn
- Simmi
- Immoral Fibres
Woodstock '99: Friday 23rd July 1999
East Stage
- Bush
- Korn
- The Offspring
- DMX
- Sheryl Crow
- Live
- Jamiroquai
- Sugar Ray (billed, but cancelled)
- G. Love & Special Sauce
- James Brown
West Stage
- George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic
- Insane Clown Posse
- The Roots
- Buckcherry
- Lit
- The Umbilical Brothers
- moe.
- Oleander
- Spitfire
AMP3 Emerging Artists Stage
- Moby
- Chris McDermott
- Sherri Jackson
- Chris Perez Band
- Liars Inc
- Beth Hart Band
- Ben Lee
- Mike Errico
- Bijou Phillips
- King Konga
- Sticky Pistil
- Sugar Daddy
- Linda Rutherford & Celtic Fire
- F.o.N.
Woodstock '99: Saturday 24th July 1999
East Stage
- Metallica
- Rage Against The Machine
- Limp Bizkit
- Alanis Morissette
- Dave Matthews Band
- Counting Crows
- Wyclef Jean
- Kid Rock
- The Tragically Hip
West Stage
- The Chemical Brothers
- Mickey Hart - Planet Drum
- Los Lobos
- Collective Soul
- Everclear
- Bruce Hornsby Group
- Guster
- Spitfire
AMP3 Emerging Artists Stage
- Fatboy Slim
- Gigolo Aunts
- 2 Skinnee J's
- DDT
- Strange Folk
- Old Pike
- Full Devil Jacket
- American Pearl
- Serial Joe
- Three
- Gangantua Soul
- Young & Fabulous
Woodstock '99: Sunday 25th July 1999
East Stage
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Creed with Robby Krieger of The Doors
- Jewel
- Elvis Costello
- Everlast
- Brian Setzer Orchestra
- Willie Nelson
- Al Green (billed, but cancelled)
West Stage
- Megadeth
- Godsmack
- Collective Soul
- Ice Cube ????
- Sevendust
- Rusted Root
- Our Lady Peace
- Mike Ness
- Spitfire
AMP3 Emerging Artists Stage
- Reveille
- John Entwistle
- Indigenous
- Cyclefly
- Pushmonkey
- Pound
- John Oszajca
- Muse
- Big Sugar
- Stormy Mondays
- The Supersuckers
- The Scoldees
- Moe Loughran
- Kristi Gholson
