Welcome back to Tales from the Turntable! This week is the second installment of the Woodstock trilogy. Last week, we looked at the original Woodstock festival in 1969, which largely remained peaceful despite the large crowd. 25 years later, festival organizer Michael Lang wanted to throw another Woodstock to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original. Though its messaging was mostly the same, advertising itself as a weekend of peace and love, there had been a notable shift in attitudes of the youth between the 1960s and 1990s.
Like last week, we’ll start off with a quick look at American culture in the 1990s. Much like the 60s, the 90s were a time of great advancements but large setbacks. Millions of Americans were grappling with national tragedies like the Waco siege, the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the year-long Gulf War. Coupled with seemingly endless political scandals, it’s no surprise why many teenagers and young adults were full of anger and resentment.
Nowhere was this deep-seated anger shown greater than in popular music of the time. Metal was becoming heavier and massively more popular due to bands like Pantera rocketing onto airwaves with 1992’s “Vulgar Display of Power.” Grunge was massively successful in the former half of the decade, led by the generation-defining music of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. Punk and hip-hop were thriving in the underground, as politically charged as ever, and on the cusp of exploding into the mainstream during the latter half of the decade.
One thing was for sure: the music consumed by the 90s youth was a far cry from Creedence Clearwater Revival or Jimi Hendrix. Music fans were more fervent than ever, which made the idea of holding another Woodstock a no-brainer.
The festival was held on August 12-15, in Saugerties, New York. 164,000 tickets were sold, but the real attendance clocked in around 350,000. Much like its predecessor, the unprecedented size of the crowd caused many security policies and essential facilities to break down. Drugs and alcohol were strictly prohibited, except any alcohol purchased at a festival vendor. Due to the massive size of the crowd, however, this policy was essentially impossible to obtain.
The first day, Friday, was dry, sunny and hot, leaving many attendees out in the arid sun for over ten hours. Thousands of fans didn’t have proper access to water, shade or sunscreen, leading to many people overheating and passing out from dehydration, though none of these cases caused serious damage.
The following two days were filled with storm after storm, leading the once bone-dry campground to a sea of mud, which quickly became a problem for faculty and the bands themselves. Notably, Nine Inch Nails performed on Saturday after heavy rain and walked onto the North Stage covered in mud, having just been wrestling in the rain before getting up to perform. Their performance was heralded as one the greatest of the entire event —- even winning a Grammy for best metal performance in 1996.
On the South Stage, Primus started their set, but were quickly halted by fans hurling mud at the group during their performance of “My Name is Mud.” Lead singer and bassist Les Claypool sarcastically told the audience, “When you throw things on stage, it’s a sign of small and insignificant genitalia.”
Rain continued on into the final day of the show, with Green Day actively encouraging mud fights. Their performance on the South Stage quickly devolved into a mud-slinging battle between audience members and the band. Bassist Mike Dirnt was also tackled by a security guard, who mistook him as a fan who had climbed up on stage. The altercation led to one of Dirnt’s teeth being knocked out, requiring immediate surgery.
There were three deaths during the weekend. However, all were related to pre-existing conditions. An estimated 800 attendees were hospitalized for various reasons, mostly due to dehydration or overheating. Overall, Woodstock ‘94 was considered a massive success, which holds up when compared to its now infamous sister festival in 1999.
Next week, we’ll be closing out this trilogy by looking at Woodstock ‘99, what many consider to be the most infamous concert ever held.
Awesome.. nothing changes!
All about getting laid? 🤣🤣🤣