1
00:00:14,472 --> 00:00:15,472
[man] Good God.
2
00:00:18,643 --> 00:00:20,061
[woman] Oh, my Lord.
3
00:00:23,231 --> 00:00:24,691
[man] Is this fucking Bosnia?
4
00:00:25,483 --> 00:00:28,403
[somber music playing]
5
00:00:31,823 --> 00:00:32,823
[woman] Look at this.
6
00:00:33,950 --> 00:00:35,150
[Blaustein] Slow down, please.
7
00:00:40,206 --> 00:00:41,624
Oh, boy.
8
00:00:43,626 --> 00:00:46,087
[Blaustein]
At that time, I was 26 years old.
9
00:00:46,171 --> 00:00:50,550
I was a rookie journalist
covering this high-profile festival.
10
00:00:50,633 --> 00:00:53,845
I was spending a lot of time
in the press compound,
11
00:00:54,387 --> 00:00:56,306
reporting back to New York City.
12
00:00:56,890 --> 00:00:58,725
And it was a lot of fun...
13
00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:01,770
until this happened.
14
00:01:02,979 --> 00:01:06,107
And I'm looking around
at all of this damage.
15
00:01:06,191 --> 00:01:07,609
Carnage, if you will.
16
00:01:08,151 --> 00:01:11,529
And I'm thinking,
how the fuck did this happen?
17
00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,866
[stage announcer] Woodstock '99!
18
00:01:14,949 --> 00:01:16,743
[crowd cheering]
19
00:01:16,826 --> 00:01:19,287
Woodstock '99, baby! Yeah!
20
00:01:20,789 --> 00:01:21,956
[Scott] It was amazing.
21
00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,000
I'd never seen anything like it.
22
00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:26,086
[crowd cheering]
23
00:01:27,378 --> 00:01:32,217
It was a history-making moment.
Like, I can't believe I'm part of this.
24
00:01:32,300 --> 00:01:33,718
Whoo! Hi, guys.
25
00:01:33,802 --> 00:01:36,137
[Sara]
It really felt like it was flower power
26
00:01:36,221 --> 00:01:38,348
and love and music
and coming together in harmony.
27
00:01:40,141 --> 00:01:42,268
[Heather]
There was not a doubt in my mind.
28
00:01:42,352 --> 00:01:44,604
This was gonna be
an experience of a lifetime.
29
00:01:46,022 --> 00:01:47,782
[Scott]
In the beginning, everyone was happy.
30
00:01:47,816 --> 00:01:48,858
The music was good.
31
00:01:48,942 --> 00:01:50,735
Put your hands up in the air.
32
00:01:50,819 --> 00:01:54,697
And of course,
everyone just high as balls.
33
00:01:54,781 --> 00:01:56,241
[girl] Yeah, baby!
34
00:01:56,324 --> 00:01:57,992
[girl laughs]
35
00:01:58,076 --> 00:02:01,162
[man] Woodstock. Woodstock.
36
00:02:01,246 --> 00:02:02,080
Yeah!
37
00:02:02,163 --> 00:02:05,667
There was this ominous feeling.
There was no control.
38
00:02:05,750 --> 00:02:07,752
[boos and jeers]
39
00:02:08,545 --> 00:02:12,507
This was not a walk in the park.
We'd completely underestimated this.
40
00:02:12,590 --> 00:02:15,635
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Whoo!
41
00:02:15,718 --> 00:02:19,013
It was like this perfect storm
had started to form.
42
00:02:19,097 --> 00:02:20,849
[man cackling]
43
00:02:22,058 --> 00:02:24,769
These kids were getting pissed off.
44
00:02:24,853 --> 00:02:26,020
Yeah!
45
00:02:26,604 --> 00:02:28,564
[reporter]
Things are just getting out of control.
46
00:02:28,606 --> 00:02:29,858
[crowd shouting]
47
00:02:32,193 --> 00:02:33,486
[Kyle] Holy shit.
48
00:02:33,570 --> 00:02:36,406
Some very, very bad things could happen.
49
00:02:36,489 --> 00:02:40,702
[man] It's not part of the show.
It really is a problem.
50
00:02:40,785 --> 00:02:42,425
- [Blaustein] And that's it.
- [man] Shit!
51
00:02:42,453 --> 00:02:44,747
Kerosene, match.
52
00:02:44,831 --> 00:02:45,831
Boom.
53
00:02:47,500 --> 00:02:49,252
Holy shit. What the fuck?
54
00:02:51,796 --> 00:02:55,300
It's like a scene with zombies
coming over the castle walls.
55
00:02:55,383 --> 00:02:57,677
[emergency sirens wailing]
56
00:02:58,887 --> 00:03:03,099
It spiraled deeper and deeper
into the worst demons of human nature.
57
00:03:04,058 --> 00:03:07,395
This is fucking... I don't know,
Lord of The Flies, man, I guess.
58
00:03:08,438 --> 00:03:10,982
[Blaustein]
There is no other way to describe it.
59
00:03:11,065 --> 00:03:11,900
[man] Yeah!
60
00:03:11,983 --> 00:03:15,820
It became a total and complete trainwreck.
61
00:03:16,321 --> 00:03:18,198
[woman] Oh, my God.
62
00:03:30,126 --> 00:03:32,128
[birds tweeting]
63
00:03:33,296 --> 00:03:35,298
[rooster caws]
64
00:03:35,381 --> 00:03:36,591
[cows low]
65
00:03:37,717 --> 00:03:39,437
[reporter]
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair,
66
00:03:39,469 --> 00:03:42,013
the three-day exposition
at White Lake and Bethel, New York,
67
00:03:42,096 --> 00:03:46,059
will give you uncomplicated,
unhurried, calm days of peace and music.
68
00:03:47,518 --> 00:03:49,354
There are over 600 acres to roam,
69
00:03:49,437 --> 00:03:51,773
bazaars to browse.
Heavy traffic is anticipated.
70
00:03:51,856 --> 00:03:53,983
So leave early to arrive on time.
71
00:03:54,067 --> 00:03:57,612
♪ I came upon a child of God ♪
72
00:03:57,695 --> 00:04:00,990
♪ He was walking along the road ♪
73
00:04:01,741 --> 00:04:03,409
♪ When I asked him where... ♪
74
00:04:03,493 --> 00:04:06,746
[Lewis] Woodstock is the original
counterculture music festival, right?
75
00:04:06,829 --> 00:04:09,999
I mean, it's basically that,
and maybe the moon landing
76
00:04:10,083 --> 00:04:12,502
is what you think of first
when you think of the '60s.
77
00:04:13,002 --> 00:04:14,337
[crowd cheering]
78
00:04:16,005 --> 00:04:17,966
[inaudible]
79
00:04:19,175 --> 00:04:22,845
It was the ultimate gathering
of the best musicians
80
00:04:23,513 --> 00:04:25,473
during the best era of music.
81
00:04:25,556 --> 00:04:28,935
♪ We are stardust ♪
82
00:04:29,018 --> 00:04:32,355
♪ We are golden ♪
83
00:04:33,022 --> 00:04:35,191
[Rossdale] Woodstock's one of those events
84
00:04:35,275 --> 00:04:37,485
that's just part of culture
and part of your DNA.
85
00:04:39,237 --> 00:04:40,280
[reporter] Oh, boy.
86
00:04:40,989 --> 00:04:43,449
I've never seen anything like this, man.
87
00:04:45,493 --> 00:04:49,455
So, this whole Woodstock story
really begins with one man.
88
00:04:52,208 --> 00:04:53,208
Michael Lang.
89
00:04:54,961 --> 00:04:57,171
Are you in charge of the whole thing?
90
00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:58,880
Yeah.
91
00:05:02,844 --> 00:05:04,304
[Lang] Woodstock was amazing.
92
00:05:05,596 --> 00:05:08,933
Hate to use "vibes," but there was
amazing vibes in The Valley. [chuckles]
93
00:05:10,226 --> 00:05:12,186
Obviously, the Vietnam War
was a big thing.
94
00:05:12,895 --> 00:05:14,063
We were so against it.
95
00:05:16,691 --> 00:05:19,235
- You think you're gonna do another one?
- If it works.
96
00:05:21,237 --> 00:05:23,117
You know, for years,
I didn't want to revive it.
97
00:05:23,656 --> 00:05:25,867
I mean, I never thought
we could have the same impact
98
00:05:25,950 --> 00:05:28,119
of peace and love and flower power.
99
00:05:30,496 --> 00:05:34,459
But in the '90s, I started thinking
about Woodstock for my kids' generation.
100
00:05:34,542 --> 00:05:36,252
They were teenagers at the time.
101
00:05:36,336 --> 00:05:39,922
When gun violence
became an issue for all of us.
102
00:05:40,673 --> 00:05:43,384
[reporter]
Two teenagers went on a five-hour rampage
103
00:05:43,468 --> 00:05:44,802
inside Columbine High School,
104
00:05:44,886 --> 00:05:48,973
killing 12 fellow students and a teacher,
and wounding some 30 other people.
105
00:05:49,807 --> 00:05:52,727
[Lang]
The idea was to engage people in the issue
106
00:05:52,810 --> 00:05:56,522
and to give that generation an idea
of what Woodstock was about.
107
00:05:57,190 --> 00:05:58,900
Which is counterculture.
108
00:05:59,817 --> 00:06:00,817
No violence.
109
00:06:01,611 --> 00:06:03,154
Just peace and love and music.
110
00:06:03,696 --> 00:06:04,696
That was it.
111
00:06:05,698 --> 00:06:06,824
You know, let's do it.
112
00:06:07,492 --> 00:06:09,172
["All the Small Things"
by Blink-182 plays]
113
00:06:09,202 --> 00:06:11,829
[radio announcer]
Experience Woodstock '99 for three days.
114
00:06:11,913 --> 00:06:15,833
Over 40 of today's top bands
and 250,000 people.
115
00:06:15,917 --> 00:06:17,293
[man] Let's go!
116
00:06:17,377 --> 00:06:20,922
Woodstock '99, the trip of your life.
117
00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,008
[laughing]
118
00:06:26,636 --> 00:06:29,764
[Tom] At the time,
Keith and I, we were only 16.
119
00:06:29,847 --> 00:06:31,349
- Love you, Mom.
- [laughs]
120
00:06:31,432 --> 00:06:33,559
[Tom] Never been to a concert before.
121
00:06:33,643 --> 00:06:37,563
Whoa, I was like, "Korn's gonna be there,
Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine."
122
00:06:37,647 --> 00:06:40,108
I was like, "Oh, my gosh. We gotta go."
123
00:06:40,191 --> 00:06:44,737
Tom said, "You wanna go to Woodstock?"
"Hell yeah, I wanna go to Woodstock."
124
00:06:44,821 --> 00:06:46,114
Whoo-hoo! Tickets!
125
00:06:46,781 --> 00:06:49,826
When I got my Woodstock ticket finally,
I felt on top of the world.
126
00:06:49,909 --> 00:06:53,329
Like, wow, this is gonna be
probably the best time of my life.
127
00:06:53,413 --> 00:06:57,917
We're going to see girls our own age
and talk to them and possibly have sex.
128
00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,919
[both laugh]
129
00:07:00,002 --> 00:07:01,921
[car horn blares]
130
00:07:02,755 --> 00:07:05,516
[Sara] I was very lucky that my parents
didn't know anything about it.
131
00:07:06,467 --> 00:07:09,095
I grew up in a very conservative,
Christian home,
132
00:07:09,178 --> 00:07:11,222
so I was not allowed to watch MTV.
133
00:07:11,973 --> 00:07:15,476
So, it was kind of a rebellious move
to actually have a ticket to Woodstock.
134
00:07:15,977 --> 00:07:17,395
[man 1] Whoo!
135
00:07:17,478 --> 00:07:18,855
[man 2] Whoo! We made it!
136
00:07:19,439 --> 00:07:22,150
[Sara]
My parents knew about 1969 peace and love,
137
00:07:22,233 --> 00:07:25,445
and they're like,
"That's a great opportunity for our kid,"
138
00:07:25,528 --> 00:07:29,031
you know, just finding music and harmony.
139
00:07:30,158 --> 00:07:34,245
My hope was to get
as fucked up as possible.
140
00:07:35,288 --> 00:07:37,206
[car horn blaring]
141
00:07:39,542 --> 00:07:42,628
Orillia, Ontario! Fucking Ontario!
142
00:07:42,712 --> 00:07:44,088
Whoo!
143
00:07:44,172 --> 00:07:45,256
What's up?
144
00:07:45,339 --> 00:07:47,216
[man whooping]
145
00:07:47,300 --> 00:07:49,594
Woodstock '99!
146
00:07:54,015 --> 00:07:57,977
So, that summer of '99,
we were doing Isle of MTV,
147
00:07:58,060 --> 00:08:00,646
and that was in Nassau, Bahamas,
Paradise Island.
148
00:08:00,730 --> 00:08:02,773
You're gonna get to see
some of the famous faces
149
00:08:02,857 --> 00:08:04,775
I got to hang out with,
here on the Isle of MTV.
150
00:08:04,859 --> 00:08:06,235
Lots of cool people...
151
00:08:06,319 --> 00:08:10,698
But MTV said, "We're gonna send you
back to New York for Woodstock '99."
152
00:08:10,781 --> 00:08:13,367
And I was like, "Back to New York?"
[laughs]
153
00:08:13,451 --> 00:08:15,995
"I'm in the Bahamas.
I don't wanna go back to New York."
154
00:08:16,078 --> 00:08:18,581
[crowd cheers]
155
00:08:22,335 --> 00:08:25,004
[Lewis] But it was gonna be
the biggest party on the planet.
156
00:08:25,838 --> 00:08:28,049
A quarter of a million young people,
157
00:08:28,132 --> 00:08:33,054
for three days of incredible music
and nonstop partying.
158
00:08:34,847 --> 00:08:36,724
This was massive.
159
00:08:36,807 --> 00:08:38,851
- [man 1] Right here?
- [man 2] Yeah, just drop it.
160
00:08:38,935 --> 00:08:40,811
[man 3] Have your tickets ready.
161
00:08:40,895 --> 00:08:43,856
[guard] Once you get through,
your bags will be checked, okay?
162
00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:48,110
[Heather] I was 14.
It was my freshman year of high school.
163
00:08:48,194 --> 00:08:51,656
Um, and, you know, I was kind of a tomboy.
I had like a bandanna on my head.
164
00:08:51,739 --> 00:08:53,491
I had a full mouth of braces, right?
165
00:08:53,574 --> 00:08:57,370
Like, I was young.
I was a virgin, and then some.
166
00:09:00,581 --> 00:09:02,124
I'd been to concerts before,
167
00:09:02,208 --> 00:09:06,128
but never like an overnight...
Never like, a festival of this scale.
168
00:09:06,212 --> 00:09:07,713
It was huge.
169
00:09:08,422 --> 00:09:11,217
[guard] Ladies and gentlemen,
open your bags to speed up the process.
170
00:09:12,218 --> 00:09:13,928
[Sara]
Security went through my entire bag.
171
00:09:14,637 --> 00:09:18,724
Any food was taken from us.
Any drinks, actually, were taken from us.
172
00:09:19,850 --> 00:09:21,410
[Heather] Most of the people that came,
173
00:09:21,435 --> 00:09:22,812
they took their water,
174
00:09:22,895 --> 00:09:26,607
which is so ridiculous,
because it's freaking water.
175
00:09:26,691 --> 00:09:29,193
[whooping and indistinct shouting]
176
00:09:31,696 --> 00:09:33,656
[Scott]
Obviously seeing footage from like, '69,
177
00:09:33,739 --> 00:09:37,702
and peace and love,
I was picturing like, a big open field.
178
00:09:38,369 --> 00:09:40,529
Kind of undulating hills
almost like Lord of the Rings,
179
00:09:40,580 --> 00:09:43,499
hobbit-type stuff,
and we get there, and I'm like,
180
00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:45,500
"Oh shit."
181
00:09:48,129 --> 00:09:49,297
This is a base.
182
00:09:50,798 --> 00:09:52,508
[man] Ooh.
183
00:09:53,593 --> 00:09:54,844
This is some shit.
184
00:09:56,887 --> 00:09:59,658
[Scott] Like, now I'm wondering, like,
are men in black gonna come out?
185
00:09:59,682 --> 00:10:03,311
Is there a UFO in the hangar?
I mean, what am I walking into here?
186
00:10:03,811 --> 00:10:07,315
I mean, it literally couldn't be any
further away from the original Woodstock.
187
00:10:09,567 --> 00:10:11,110
What the hell happened?
188
00:10:14,113 --> 00:10:16,157
[dramatic music plays]
189
00:10:22,788 --> 00:10:25,249
So the elements that you need
if you want to put on a festival
190
00:10:25,333 --> 00:10:30,087
of this kind of scope and size
are money, tens of millions of dollars,
191
00:10:30,671 --> 00:10:33,716
a facility that can house
that kind of event,
192
00:10:34,675 --> 00:10:36,093
and a powerful partner.
193
00:10:38,179 --> 00:10:40,514
And at that time,
one of the biggest players
194
00:10:40,598 --> 00:10:43,142
was John Scher
from Metropolitan Entertainment.
195
00:10:43,225 --> 00:10:45,519
You know, I was a pretty
successful promoter.
196
00:10:45,603 --> 00:10:47,563
Promoted a lot of big shows.
197
00:10:48,189 --> 00:10:51,859
The Rolling Stones,
the Grateful Dead, and The Who.
198
00:10:52,485 --> 00:10:55,446
There's never been an event, ever,
199
00:10:55,988 --> 00:10:59,200
in the history of the music business
that's cost anything like this.
200
00:11:01,827 --> 00:11:04,038
[Lang]
John Scher is a very feisty guy.
201
00:11:04,121 --> 00:11:08,417
Very tough, and to me,
the right kind of partner.
202
00:11:10,002 --> 00:11:12,672
So, I started discussing it with my team.
203
00:11:13,881 --> 00:11:15,007
[phone ringing]
204
00:11:15,841 --> 00:11:19,637
When I first learned of 1999,
I burst out laughing.
205
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,139
"Come on. What is it, April Fool's Day?"
206
00:11:22,223 --> 00:11:24,433
Surely we're not gonna do that again.
207
00:11:30,898 --> 00:11:35,027
We had tried to revive Woodstock in 1994.
208
00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,074
'94 Woodstock had its problems.
209
00:11:40,157 --> 00:11:41,242
[man] How are things going?
210
00:11:41,325 --> 00:11:43,885
Things are going well,
except it's starting to rain a little bit.
211
00:11:45,204 --> 00:11:48,457
It poured rain. The fence came down.
212
00:11:48,541 --> 00:11:51,502
[announcer]
Push down the fences and join the party.
213
00:11:51,585 --> 00:11:55,089
At least half
of the total audience got in for free.
214
00:11:55,172 --> 00:11:56,932
It's not a free concert.
It's a paid concert.
215
00:11:57,007 --> 00:11:58,050
[cheering]
216
00:11:58,134 --> 00:12:02,096
The music was absolutely amazing,
but it didn't make any money.
217
00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,810
[laughing]
And then along comes Woodstock '99.
218
00:12:09,478 --> 00:12:11,856
I mean,
we absolutely had to make a profit.
219
00:12:14,692 --> 00:12:18,571
[Rowland] Michael had found
a decommissioned 350-acre Air Force base.
220
00:12:20,114 --> 00:12:21,991
And he thought that meant
we could make money.
221
00:12:23,242 --> 00:12:26,996
They had housing for 15,000 people.
They had all the roads.
222
00:12:27,079 --> 00:12:29,081
They had security, they had a hospital.
223
00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:32,710
They had all the stuff that we'd spent
millions of dollars to build in '94.
224
00:12:33,919 --> 00:12:37,673
John got totally enthused
and energized about doing it again.
225
00:12:37,757 --> 00:12:41,719
Quite honestly, I thought that,
you know, it would make a lot of profit.
226
00:12:41,802 --> 00:12:43,512
[laughing]
227
00:12:44,096 --> 00:12:47,641
And I think everybody was excited.
228
00:12:47,725 --> 00:12:50,603
Everyone said, "No fucking way."
229
00:12:50,686 --> 00:12:52,313
"That's a bad idea."
230
00:12:53,355 --> 00:12:56,150
But John stepped in
to overrule the entire board
231
00:12:56,233 --> 00:12:58,778
and saying,
"Well, I'm the CEO. We're doing this."
232
00:12:59,987 --> 00:13:02,323
So, we were left doing Woodstock again.
233
00:13:04,950 --> 00:13:06,994
[reporter]
History is going to repeat itself,
234
00:13:07,077 --> 00:13:09,872
this time
at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome.
235
00:13:11,373 --> 00:13:13,709
[Lang] I know what we're going
to bring to this area
236
00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:17,588
is going to be the greatest show
that anybody has ever experienced.
237
00:13:17,671 --> 00:13:19,924
This wasn't as tough
a decision for me.
238
00:13:20,007 --> 00:13:21,383
Like, a lot of people think,
239
00:13:21,467 --> 00:13:25,137
"Well, why would you put
everything at risk politically?"
240
00:13:25,971 --> 00:13:28,766
I thought it was a good thing
for the community at the time,
241
00:13:28,849 --> 00:13:32,686
particularly after what had happened
with the closure of the base.
242
00:13:33,187 --> 00:13:37,942
So I said, "If we could pull this off,
this is gonna be remarkable."
243
00:13:40,903 --> 00:13:43,447
This will be something
that is long remembered in the area.
244
00:13:43,531 --> 00:13:45,991
I know for sure that Rome, New York,
245
00:13:46,075 --> 00:13:48,244
will be known around the world
after this summer.
246
00:13:52,289 --> 00:13:54,291
[Scher]
To make sure we could sell the tickets,
247
00:13:54,375 --> 00:13:57,336
we booked some of the biggest acts
in the world.
248
00:13:57,419 --> 00:13:58,963
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
249
00:13:59,046 --> 00:14:00,840
Sheryl Crow, Korn,
250
00:14:00,923 --> 00:14:02,341
Limp Bizkit.
251
00:14:03,217 --> 00:14:06,262
So everybody felt,
I don't want to exaggerate too much,
252
00:14:06,345 --> 00:14:08,681
but that it was maybe gonna be historical.
253
00:14:08,764 --> 00:14:11,475
- Come on, let's go.
- You've been working out for a reason.
254
00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,311
[Griffo] I remember we decided
we were gonna christen the stage
255
00:14:14,395 --> 00:14:15,395
in a traditional way.
256
00:14:15,437 --> 00:14:18,524
So, we got a tie-dye shirt
and a champagne bottle.
257
00:14:18,607 --> 00:14:21,277
One, two, three.
258
00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,070
- [loud clang]
- [woman laughs]
259
00:14:24,655 --> 00:14:26,115
The bottle would just not break.
260
00:14:26,699 --> 00:14:27,992
[man 1] You can do it.
261
00:14:28,075 --> 00:14:29,535
- Harder!
- [man 2] That's it.
262
00:14:30,286 --> 00:14:31,537
[man 3] Smash it!
263
00:14:33,831 --> 00:14:35,833
- [man 4] It's gonna go!
- [man 5] Here it goes!
264
00:14:36,876 --> 00:14:39,336
Why don't you just pop the damn thing?
265
00:14:39,420 --> 00:14:41,171
- [glass shatters]
- [crowd cheers]
266
00:14:42,548 --> 00:14:44,508
[Griffo]
Looking back on that champagne bottle,
267
00:14:45,134 --> 00:14:46,927
I now realize, uh,
268
00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:49,221
maybe in a lot of ways,
it was foreshadowing.
269
00:14:50,848 --> 00:14:52,933
[stage announcer] Woodstock '99!
270
00:14:53,017 --> 00:14:54,894
[crowd cheers]
271
00:14:57,146 --> 00:14:59,231
[stage announcer] There you go! Ha-ha!
272
00:14:59,315 --> 00:15:00,566
Holy shit!
273
00:15:01,066 --> 00:15:02,776
Let's get ready to have a good time.
274
00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:07,865
Have fun, party, and go fucking wild!
275
00:15:07,948 --> 00:15:09,742
[crowd cheers]
276
00:15:14,496 --> 00:15:16,749
I was like, "Wow, we're at Woodstock."
277
00:15:16,832 --> 00:15:19,084
"This is happening, don't pinch me."
278
00:15:19,168 --> 00:15:21,378
"I don't want to wake up.
This is awesome."
279
00:15:23,297 --> 00:15:26,592
[stage announcer]
Woodstock '99 proudly presents
280
00:15:27,092 --> 00:15:31,430
James Brown.
281
00:15:31,513 --> 00:15:33,432
[crowd cheers]
282
00:15:34,642 --> 00:15:36,894
[Scher] So James Brown
was supposed to open the festival,
283
00:15:37,436 --> 00:15:39,396
but I didn't have a signed contract.
284
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,815
It's the only act that I didn't have.
285
00:15:44,068 --> 00:15:45,945
His agent kept calling me.
286
00:15:46,028 --> 00:15:48,030
James was very insistent
287
00:15:48,113 --> 00:15:51,617
on getting paid full
before he went on for most shows.
288
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,121
"Mr. Brown's not going on stage
unless you pay the rest of the money."
289
00:15:56,205 --> 00:15:58,415
"Mr. Brown's not going on stage.
Believe me."
290
00:16:00,125 --> 00:16:02,169
You know,
"You're gonna have big trouble here."
291
00:16:08,550 --> 00:16:12,012
So I said to him,
"There's 200,000 people here."
292
00:16:12,096 --> 00:16:14,473
"They're not gonna go home
if James doesn't play."
293
00:16:14,556 --> 00:16:15,766
"I'd love him to play."
294
00:16:16,976 --> 00:16:18,644
"I'm not giving you any more money."
295
00:16:25,442 --> 00:16:27,236
So this guy's screaming at me, saying,
296
00:16:27,319 --> 00:16:31,115
"This is your last chance.
Either pay him, or he's not going on."
297
00:16:31,198 --> 00:16:34,910
[man 1]
James Brown! James Brown! James Brown!
298
00:16:37,246 --> 00:16:38,330
[man 2] Boo!
299
00:16:40,249 --> 00:16:41,249
And I said,
300
00:16:42,126 --> 00:16:43,126
"Do me a favor."
301
00:16:43,877 --> 00:16:46,797
"Just hold on just a minute.
I want you to hear something."
302
00:16:48,215 --> 00:16:50,009
"One, two, three."
303
00:16:50,092 --> 00:16:51,844
[band plays]
304
00:16:51,927 --> 00:16:53,804
- ♪ Get up ♪
- ♪ Get-get-get-get ♪
305
00:16:53,887 --> 00:16:55,047
- ♪ Get up ♪
- ♪ Get on up ♪
306
00:16:55,848 --> 00:16:57,683
I said, "Go fuck yourself."
307
00:16:57,766 --> 00:16:59,059
[laughs]
308
00:16:59,601 --> 00:17:01,395
- ♪ Get up ♪
- ♪ Get-get-get-get ♪
309
00:17:01,478 --> 00:17:03,188
- ♪ Ge up ♪
- ♪ Get on up ♪
310
00:17:03,272 --> 00:17:04,857
♪ Stay on the scene
Get on up ♪
311
00:17:04,940 --> 00:17:06,150
♪ Get-get-get-get
Get on up ♪
312
00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:08,527
♪ Get up ♪
313
00:17:08,610 --> 00:17:10,487
[Scher]
James realized the moment.
314
00:17:12,114 --> 00:17:13,991
He knew this wasn't most shows.
315
00:17:16,368 --> 00:17:18,662
This was Woodstock.
316
00:17:19,872 --> 00:17:21,290
- [song ends]
- [crowd cheers]
317
00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:24,209
Yeah!
318
00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:25,961
Yeah!
319
00:17:26,045 --> 00:17:27,504
[band playing]
320
00:17:29,006 --> 00:17:30,006
♪ Make it ♪
321
00:17:31,008 --> 00:17:35,012
It's the biggest party ever.
Like, I've never seen this many people.
322
00:17:35,095 --> 00:17:36,722
[all] Whoo!
323
00:17:37,222 --> 00:17:39,850
[Heather] I was super excited.
Bouncing off the walls.
324
00:17:39,933 --> 00:17:41,935
Just head-banging, getting pumped.
325
00:17:43,145 --> 00:17:44,855
Day one, man. Day one.
326
00:17:47,024 --> 00:17:48,692
[man] It's time to find some beer.
327
00:17:50,819 --> 00:17:54,114
They had this big beer garden.
328
00:17:54,198 --> 00:17:56,241
[all cheering]
329
00:17:56,325 --> 00:17:59,703
[Lewis] People had, like,
three or four beers by like, 11:00.
330
00:17:59,787 --> 00:18:02,456
I was like, "You're probably
not even old enough to drink."
331
00:18:02,539 --> 00:18:06,043
[man] Woodstock Beer Garden.
Everyone's wasted.
332
00:18:08,128 --> 00:18:09,546
Whoo!
333
00:18:10,339 --> 00:18:12,132
[man] What's up, Woodstock?
334
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,762
It was pretty free spirit for the drugs.
335
00:18:16,845 --> 00:18:19,598
People are just selling them
out in the open.
336
00:18:19,681 --> 00:18:21,767
They're just holding up bags of whatever
337
00:18:21,850 --> 00:18:23,393
and shouting out what they have.
338
00:18:24,144 --> 00:18:26,980
[Keith]
I noticed this dude, like, hunched over,
339
00:18:27,064 --> 00:18:29,274
he got a backpack on, and he's like,
340
00:18:29,358 --> 00:18:33,487
"I got these mushrooms."
I'm like, "Well, I'll try them."
341
00:18:33,570 --> 00:18:35,239
I don't know,
I've never done them before.
342
00:18:35,322 --> 00:18:39,076
And so, I'm laying on my back,
tripping balls on these mushrooms,
343
00:18:39,159 --> 00:18:42,871
and I look up to the sky, I'm like,
"Is that a fucking UFO up there?"
344
00:18:42,955 --> 00:18:44,456
[laughs]
345
00:18:45,249 --> 00:18:48,210
I called my mom because she says,
"Call me when everything's settled
346
00:18:48,293 --> 00:18:51,755
and let me know that you're okay."
But I had just dropped acid.
347
00:18:51,839 --> 00:18:54,675
I'm like, "Hey, Mom,
this is such a great time."
348
00:18:54,758 --> 00:18:57,278
"I am having the best time."
And she goes, "Yeah? What's there?"
349
00:18:57,302 --> 00:18:59,596
I go, "Naked people,
everywhere. It's so great."
350
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,683
And she goes, "What'd you say?"
And I said, "Oh, I gotta go."
351
00:19:02,766 --> 00:19:03,809
[busy line]
352
00:19:03,892 --> 00:19:04,726
And I clicked.
353
00:19:04,810 --> 00:19:06,353
[busy line fades]
354
00:19:08,564 --> 00:19:11,650
The nudity. Yeah, it was everywhere.
355
00:19:12,818 --> 00:19:14,736
- Boobs.
- Pretty cheerleader.
356
00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:18,991
There were women
with notes on their breasts.
357
00:19:19,074 --> 00:19:21,076
Looks good, right? Feels good.
358
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,246
Big, fat, naked dudes.
Don't wanna see that.
359
00:19:24,746 --> 00:19:27,249
Nudity is definitely unity.
360
00:19:27,332 --> 00:19:28,917
[all cheer]
361
00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:34,923
[stage announcer] Ten dollars, you can get
the Woodstock '99 airbrush tattoo
362
00:19:35,007 --> 00:19:36,842
anywhere you like on your body.
363
00:19:36,925 --> 00:19:39,365
[Sara] I think that everybody
wants to feel part of something,
364
00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:41,597
and seeing so many women get naked
365
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,932
and having such a good time
was liberating.
366
00:19:44,016 --> 00:19:46,310
It was just kind of this free moment
367
00:19:46,393 --> 00:19:50,147
for everybody to just be
who they wanted to be.
368
00:19:55,235 --> 00:19:59,990
At that point,
it reeked of possibility and optimism.
369
00:20:00,657 --> 00:20:03,827
And we, as the production crew,
were just super excited.
370
00:20:04,369 --> 00:20:06,455
I mean, we were young kids in our 20s
371
00:20:06,538 --> 00:20:08,999
trying to pull together
something extraordinary.
372
00:20:12,502 --> 00:20:14,463
It was the end of the millennium,
373
00:20:14,546 --> 00:20:16,586
so it felt like
it was gonna be this enormous event,
374
00:20:16,632 --> 00:20:19,051
and I didn't really care, really,
what I was doing
375
00:20:19,134 --> 00:20:21,428
as long as it wasn't
cleaning the porta-potties.
376
00:20:21,511 --> 00:20:23,347
Can you see everybody in the back row?
377
00:20:24,473 --> 00:20:26,473
[Rosenblatt]
For me, it was like a dream come true.
378
00:20:27,351 --> 00:20:31,188
I was working with
what seemed to be an unlimited budget
379
00:20:31,271 --> 00:20:34,524
and many of the top people in their field.
380
00:20:35,651 --> 00:20:38,070
[Speir] It was amazing to be able
to work with Michael Lang,
381
00:20:38,153 --> 00:20:41,865
the OG organizer
of the original Woodstock.
382
00:20:42,866 --> 00:20:44,701
[Law]
I was Michael Lang's assistant.
383
00:20:45,827 --> 00:20:49,957
I just was fascinated
about how his mind worked, you know?
384
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,459
He's always super calm.
385
00:20:52,542 --> 00:20:58,423
There's always this feeling
that Michael has it all under control.
386
00:20:58,507 --> 00:20:59,633
Back row, hands up.
387
00:20:59,716 --> 00:21:01,510
[crowd cheers]
388
00:21:01,593 --> 00:21:03,178
[camera shutters click]
389
00:21:08,642 --> 00:21:11,270
[Law] I wanted to capture my experience.
390
00:21:11,353 --> 00:21:16,316
So, I brought a video camera,
and, um, I documented as much as I could.
391
00:21:17,609 --> 00:21:19,111
[woman] What are you doing there?
392
00:21:19,194 --> 00:21:23,365
I was just displaying the site
à la the shopping channel.
393
00:21:24,950 --> 00:21:27,160
[man]
This is a picnic area here in front of us.
394
00:21:27,828 --> 00:21:32,291
The first impression I had was,
"Oh my God, there is a lot of asphalt."
395
00:21:32,374 --> 00:21:34,209
[Speir]
It definitely was not what I expected.
396
00:21:34,293 --> 00:21:37,504
Here was this military, industrial complex
397
00:21:37,587 --> 00:21:40,299
that was being converted
into a Woodstock site.
398
00:21:40,799 --> 00:21:42,676
It was these massive airplane hangars
399
00:21:42,759 --> 00:21:46,847
and this incredibly long
tarmac landing strip.
400
00:21:48,265 --> 00:21:49,891
It didn't really feel like...
401
00:21:51,643 --> 00:21:52,561
This is Woodstock.
402
00:21:52,644 --> 00:21:55,480
We've developed
the master plan of the site here.
403
00:21:56,273 --> 00:21:58,525
We've got about 5,000 acres on the map.
404
00:21:58,608 --> 00:22:01,611
[Rosenblat] Looking down on the site,
kind of looks like a big triangle.
405
00:22:02,946 --> 00:22:05,657
On this side of the tarmac
is the second stage.
406
00:22:05,741 --> 00:22:07,868
Over here was the main stage.
407
00:22:07,951 --> 00:22:12,831
Um, up here was the camping area,
and down here was the rave hangar
408
00:22:12,914 --> 00:22:14,791
and where our offices were,
409
00:22:14,875 --> 00:22:18,003
and it was pretty much
just all tarmac in between,
410
00:22:18,503 --> 00:22:22,215
with this impenetrable eight-mile wall
around the entire site
411
00:22:22,716 --> 00:22:24,634
so that no one could get in for free.
412
00:22:26,803 --> 00:22:31,058
And the whole plan was to, like,
turn it into a Woodstock dreamland.
413
00:22:31,141 --> 00:22:33,268
["What I Got" by Sublime plays]
414
00:22:37,189 --> 00:22:38,189
Ready?
415
00:22:39,232 --> 00:22:43,111
This is the drum.
It's called a lollipop drum.
416
00:22:43,195 --> 00:22:46,365
There were a lot of people coming in
with a lot of great ideas.
417
00:22:46,448 --> 00:22:49,993
And it's a communal, interactive event,
418
00:22:50,077 --> 00:22:53,330
it's the kind of thing
we need around here, I think.
419
00:22:54,373 --> 00:22:56,375
[Rosenblatt]
The plans were just amazing.
420
00:22:57,084 --> 00:23:00,462
They had this just beautiful drawings
of what they'd do throughout the site.
421
00:23:01,046 --> 00:23:02,839
Man, it was like a dream come true.
422
00:23:04,341 --> 00:23:07,677
Because the perimeter wall
was gonna be profoundly ugly,
423
00:23:07,761 --> 00:23:12,933
we decided to create a peace wall
so that it could be beautiful.
424
00:23:14,726 --> 00:23:16,311
I photographed every inch of it.
425
00:23:18,397 --> 00:23:19,689
Yeah, it was gorgeous.
426
00:23:19,773 --> 00:23:21,024
[laughing]
427
00:23:21,108 --> 00:23:25,278
Despite the challenges, uh,
we crammed a bunch of amazing things
428
00:23:25,362 --> 00:23:29,449
into that festival,
from having the Tibetan monks,
429
00:23:29,533 --> 00:23:33,370
to having the action park,
to the movie hangar,
430
00:23:33,453 --> 00:23:35,330
to the giant rave hangar.
431
00:23:36,415 --> 00:23:38,415
[Law] We had high hopes
for being able to integrate
432
00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:42,129
some of the original values
of '69 into '99.
433
00:23:43,338 --> 00:23:44,798
I think that was kind of naive.
434
00:23:44,881 --> 00:23:47,968
[laughs]
435
00:23:53,056 --> 00:23:54,099
[crowd cheering]
436
00:23:54,182 --> 00:23:55,702
[stage announcer]
Ladies and gentlemen,
437
00:23:55,767 --> 00:23:58,645
this year's candidate
for the heart and soul of Woodstock,
438
00:23:58,728 --> 00:24:00,647
please welcome Miss Sheryl Crow!
439
00:24:00,730 --> 00:24:01,731
[crowd cheering]
440
00:24:01,815 --> 00:24:04,443
How you doing,
all you beautiful naked people?
441
00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:10,115
So, Sheryl Crow, she was booked
for the softer rock people.
442
00:24:10,198 --> 00:24:12,117
[band playing]
443
00:24:16,705 --> 00:24:19,833
♪ I think a change ♪
444
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:21,209
♪ Would do you good ♪
445
00:24:21,877 --> 00:24:23,211
♪ Change ♪
446
00:24:23,295 --> 00:24:25,630
♪ Oh, I think a change ♪
447
00:24:25,714 --> 00:24:27,007
♪ Change ♪
448
00:24:27,090 --> 00:24:30,135
♪ Would do me good
Would do me good ♪
449
00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:31,803
♪ Hey ♪
450
00:24:34,806 --> 00:24:36,349
[crowd cheering]
451
00:24:37,142 --> 00:24:38,894
[Scher] Sheryl's set was fabulous.
452
00:24:38,977 --> 00:24:42,898
But, you know,
there were more than a few catcalls.
453
00:24:45,025 --> 00:24:46,234
"Show us your tits!"
454
00:24:47,819 --> 00:24:48,862
Show my tits?
455
00:24:54,242 --> 00:24:57,746
You'd have to pay way more
than you paid to get in to see my tits.
456
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,376
She's a beautiful woman,
and these guys thought they'd get lucky.
457
00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:05,462
[crowd cheering]
458
00:25:06,630 --> 00:25:08,590
But it was completely inappropriate.
459
00:25:08,673 --> 00:25:11,676
- And it's a pretty cool...
- [man] Nice rack, Sheryl!
460
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,053
[both laugh]
461
00:25:13,136 --> 00:25:15,347
- What?
- Have you made your peace with the mud?
462
00:25:15,430 --> 00:25:18,493
As soon as I leave, I'm gonna haul my ass
out there to the middle of that crowd
463
00:25:18,517 --> 00:25:21,019
and introduce myself
to a couple of those f****.
464
00:25:21,102 --> 00:25:23,522
[drunken shouting]
465
00:25:23,605 --> 00:25:25,982
[Scher] And it was sort of
the very beginning of us saying,
466
00:25:26,066 --> 00:25:28,735
"Hmm, there's an element in this crowd
467
00:25:28,818 --> 00:25:31,363
that is here for more
than just great music."
468
00:25:31,863 --> 00:25:35,283
♪ And all the girlies say I'm pretty fly
For a white guy ♪
469
00:25:35,867 --> 00:25:38,267
[Holland] Noodles, would you look
at all the people out here.
470
00:25:38,870 --> 00:25:42,207
All these goddamn kids
being drunk and unruly.
471
00:25:42,832 --> 00:25:44,834
Are you guys proud of yourselves?
472
00:25:44,918 --> 00:25:46,336
[all cheer]
473
00:25:48,588 --> 00:25:51,591
What's up '99, man! Whoo!
474
00:25:51,675 --> 00:25:57,180
The environment was just very male ego,
like, beat on your chest.
475
00:25:57,264 --> 00:26:02,060
White college dudes with their shirts off,
screaming, "Show me your tits!"
476
00:26:02,143 --> 00:26:04,145
[yelling]
477
00:26:05,689 --> 00:26:07,774
[drunken shouting]
478
00:26:07,857 --> 00:26:09,859
- [chimes dinging]
- [spiritual chanting]
479
00:26:12,112 --> 00:26:14,781
[Speir] On that first day,
we had the Tibetan monks
480
00:26:14,864 --> 00:26:19,160
blessing the event, just providing
a sense of peace and calm.
481
00:26:19,244 --> 00:26:21,162
[indistinct shouting]
482
00:26:21,246 --> 00:26:25,875
But there were these frat boy types
destroying the peacefulness of it,
483
00:26:25,959 --> 00:26:28,962
who are just there to be dicks.
484
00:26:29,045 --> 00:26:30,130
Peace, brother!
485
00:26:30,213 --> 00:26:31,673
[all] Whoo!
486
00:26:33,717 --> 00:26:35,635
♪ Let's get some more wannabes ♪
487
00:26:35,719 --> 00:26:38,638
♪ Oh, hey, hey
Do that brand-new thing ♪
488
00:26:38,722 --> 00:26:40,724
[all shouting]
489
00:26:46,980 --> 00:26:49,232
You know, the '90s,
especially the late '90s,
490
00:26:49,316 --> 00:26:51,318
were a very different time.
491
00:26:51,901 --> 00:26:53,987
We're talking about
the Bill Clinton scandal.
492
00:26:54,070 --> 00:26:55,071
We're talking about...
493
00:26:55,155 --> 00:27:00,243
American Pie was the most successful
R-rated comedy that we had ever had.
494
00:27:01,328 --> 00:27:05,457
It is brimming with sexuality
495
00:27:05,540 --> 00:27:07,834
from a male perspective.
496
00:27:08,752 --> 00:27:10,587
Then you have Fight Club
497
00:27:10,670 --> 00:27:14,758
with a very interesting take
on masculinity, consumerism.
498
00:27:14,841 --> 00:27:16,986
We've all been raised
on television to believe one day,
499
00:27:17,010 --> 00:27:20,263
we'd all be movie gods
and rock stars, but we won't.
500
00:27:20,347 --> 00:27:23,266
But most importantly, violence.
501
00:27:25,352 --> 00:27:30,148
It's a good snapshot
of where the psychology may have been
502
00:27:30,231 --> 00:27:33,109
of a lot of the kids
who attended Woodstock '99.
503
00:27:39,449 --> 00:27:42,285
[Scher] We want everybody
to try to remember it's gonna be hot.
504
00:27:42,369 --> 00:27:43,953
It's gonna be near 90 today.
505
00:27:44,663 --> 00:27:47,957
Very important to keep drinking
and try to keep cool.
506
00:27:51,461 --> 00:27:55,382
It was so insanely hot.
It was like, 100 degrees.
507
00:27:56,341 --> 00:27:58,885
So obviously, you're dying of thirst
508
00:27:59,594 --> 00:28:01,179
and feeling kind of crazy.
509
00:28:01,262 --> 00:28:02,806
- Whoo!
- Yeah!
510
00:28:03,890 --> 00:28:07,602
[Sara] It was so hot that you literally
needed to drink a gallon of water an hour
511
00:28:07,686 --> 00:28:09,688
yourself to stay hydrated.
512
00:28:11,272 --> 00:28:12,941
There were definitely fountains there.
513
00:28:13,692 --> 00:28:15,652
But there was at least a 25-minute wait,
514
00:28:15,735 --> 00:28:17,654
because they didn't let us
bring anything in.
515
00:28:19,030 --> 00:28:22,200
So, we went to get
just a simple bottle of water.
516
00:28:23,201 --> 00:28:24,869
Nobody could afford that water.
517
00:28:26,788 --> 00:28:30,500
Back then, a bottle of water
was probably 65 cents.
518
00:28:31,126 --> 00:28:34,838
But at Woodstock, a bottle of water
was a stupid four dollars,
519
00:28:34,921 --> 00:28:36,923
and it pissed people off.
520
00:28:37,006 --> 00:28:40,093
- Is it more expensive than you thought?
- Big, fat rip-off.
521
00:28:40,677 --> 00:28:42,595
Between this and this was nine bucks.
522
00:28:43,263 --> 00:28:45,849
And I was like,
"Why the hell is everything,
523
00:28:45,932 --> 00:28:48,601
everything so ridiculously expensive?"
524
00:28:50,770 --> 00:28:51,770
[man] Hey, lady.
525
00:28:54,607 --> 00:28:57,694
[Speir] Initially, we all felt
we were pulling the same direction,
526
00:28:57,777 --> 00:29:00,488
putting together
this amazing festival no matter the cost.
527
00:29:00,572 --> 00:29:03,867
Why don't you just give me a list
of the things you need?
528
00:29:03,950 --> 00:29:08,621
[man, over phone]
What I need is at least $250,000.
529
00:29:10,248 --> 00:29:12,792
But then,
we all started to get the feeling
530
00:29:12,876 --> 00:29:14,377
that corners were being cut.
531
00:29:15,545 --> 00:29:18,882
So, sincerely as I could possibly be,
I really want to thank everybody.
532
00:29:18,965 --> 00:29:21,009
I mean, you guys have been unbelievable.
533
00:29:21,092 --> 00:29:22,719
You've done a fantastic job.
534
00:29:23,303 --> 00:29:25,805
You know,
this is an extraordinary experience.
535
00:29:25,889 --> 00:29:30,351
There is nothing like this
that happens anywhere in the world.
536
00:29:30,977 --> 00:29:35,273
That being said, um,
this is a money-making venture, all right?
537
00:29:35,857 --> 00:29:40,111
And that was the moment for me
where it stopped becoming
538
00:29:40,195 --> 00:29:43,406
about the concert-goer
or the festival-goer experience.
539
00:29:43,490 --> 00:29:45,867
It was just cutting budgets,
cutting budgets.
540
00:29:45,950 --> 00:29:48,077
We need to make changes.
We're not making profits.
541
00:29:48,661 --> 00:29:50,371
Their goal was to make money.
542
00:29:51,164 --> 00:29:54,876
And what they ended up doing
was selling the food rights.
543
00:29:54,959 --> 00:29:57,796
Well, wonderful. Coca-Cola.
544
00:29:58,505 --> 00:30:01,049
[Rosenblatt] And unfortunately,
when they did that deal,
545
00:30:01,132 --> 00:30:05,804
the group that ran that for them
had complete control over the pricing,
546
00:30:06,679 --> 00:30:08,264
and we could do nothing about it.
547
00:30:10,642 --> 00:30:15,313
All hopes and dreams of Peace,
Love, and Understanding 1969
548
00:30:15,396 --> 00:30:16,689
went out the window.
549
00:30:18,274 --> 00:30:21,361
[Rowland] The underpinning reason
of why there was '99 was to make money.
550
00:30:21,444 --> 00:30:25,365
So, I think absolutely
some of the sensibilities fell away
551
00:30:25,448 --> 00:30:29,452
for the big, you know...
the big payday.
552
00:30:29,536 --> 00:30:32,539
- You're watching Woodstock '99!
- You're watching Woodstock '99!
553
00:30:32,622 --> 00:30:34,249
[crowd] Whoo!
554
00:30:34,916 --> 00:30:35,959
Rolling four.
555
00:30:36,835 --> 00:30:39,212
I mean, we also wanted to do pay-per-view.
556
00:30:39,295 --> 00:30:42,382
So people who weren't there
could still participate.
557
00:30:43,091 --> 00:30:46,344
[announcer] Stay home for the trip
of your life on pay-per-view.
558
00:30:46,928 --> 00:30:49,889
It was a package price
of $59.95 for all three days.
559
00:30:50,473 --> 00:30:52,433
And that yielded a lot of money.
560
00:30:52,934 --> 00:30:54,435
Whoo! What's up?
561
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:57,522
My name is Aaron Sadovsky,
the segment producer with pay-per-view.
562
00:30:58,273 --> 00:31:03,027
I was given, essentially, no rules
or limits or definitions.
563
00:31:04,237 --> 00:31:07,073
I'm shooting the people
who came here to screw,
564
00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:10,785
the people who came here to do drugs,
565
00:31:10,869 --> 00:31:14,789
and the people who came here
to live the life of Woodstock.
566
00:31:14,873 --> 00:31:16,457
[man]
Show him some nipple!
567
00:31:16,541 --> 00:31:18,221
[Sadovsky] So, crazy footage was the goal.
568
00:31:18,293 --> 00:31:19,294
[woman] Whoo! Yeah!
569
00:31:19,377 --> 00:31:20,670
I would just push the crew
570
00:31:20,753 --> 00:31:23,131
and keep coming back
with beta tapes full of stuff.
571
00:31:23,214 --> 00:31:25,216
[crowd cheering]
572
00:31:28,219 --> 00:31:32,348
Traditionally, the TV coverage
of a festival is all about the music,
573
00:31:32,432 --> 00:31:35,310
but the pay-per-view element
really turned that on its head.
574
00:31:35,393 --> 00:31:36,436
[man] There you go!
575
00:31:36,519 --> 00:31:38,559
[Blaustein]
The presence of the pay-per-view cameras
576
00:31:38,605 --> 00:31:40,690
encouraged festival-goers to show off
577
00:31:40,773 --> 00:31:43,568
with increasingly wild behavior.
578
00:31:44,277 --> 00:31:45,278
[laughs]
579
00:31:45,361 --> 00:31:49,240
It just became like this crazy human zoo.
580
00:31:49,324 --> 00:31:51,826
Pay-per-view! Whoo!
581
00:31:51,910 --> 00:31:54,746
I told you I'd get on TV, motherfuckers!
582
00:31:54,829 --> 00:31:57,832
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
You want some of this?
583
00:31:57,916 --> 00:31:59,417
- Yeah!
- [all cheer]
584
00:32:00,460 --> 00:32:01,460
Yeah!
585
00:32:08,676 --> 00:32:11,137
[stage announcer]
Whoa baby, how about this fucking show,
586
00:32:11,220 --> 00:32:12,889
and it's only Friday!
587
00:32:12,972 --> 00:32:14,307
[crowd cheers]
588
00:32:17,185 --> 00:32:19,479
I remember the kids on the floor saying,
589
00:32:19,562 --> 00:32:23,358
"I'm here for..."
and the answer was usually...
590
00:32:23,441 --> 00:32:24,441
- Korn.
- Korn.
591
00:32:24,484 --> 00:32:25,818
- Korn.
- Korn.
592
00:32:25,902 --> 00:32:27,195
"I'm here for Korn."
593
00:32:29,113 --> 00:32:31,073
[stage announcer]
How many motherfucking Korn fans
594
00:32:31,115 --> 00:32:32,617
are in the house tonight?
595
00:32:32,700 --> 00:32:33,868
[all cheer]
596
00:32:34,994 --> 00:32:41,125
At the time, most of the biggest bands,
current biggest bands, were hard rock.
597
00:32:41,209 --> 00:32:44,045
Limp Bizkit, Korn,
Rage Against the Machine.
598
00:32:44,754 --> 00:32:49,175
I mean, this was not
the hippie-dippie Woodstock '69 lineup.
599
00:32:49,717 --> 00:32:51,636
This music has a lot of rage.
600
00:32:51,719 --> 00:32:53,638
[band playing]
601
00:32:56,557 --> 00:32:59,936
These acts were part
of the nü-metal scene.
602
00:33:00,019 --> 00:33:02,271
[heavy metal music playing]
603
00:33:02,355 --> 00:33:08,736
The aggressiveness of the audience
really embodied the rock-and-roll spirit.
604
00:33:12,115 --> 00:33:15,868
We'd seen mosh pits,
but now we were talking about mosh pits
605
00:33:15,952 --> 00:33:17,203
on a whole 'nother level.
606
00:33:18,955 --> 00:33:24,794
You had no idea how the crowd
was possibly gonna stay in control.
607
00:33:29,590 --> 00:33:32,301
So a couple of days
before the festival starts,
608
00:33:32,385 --> 00:33:37,890
we're in a meeting, you know,
with all the department heads,
609
00:33:37,974 --> 00:33:40,476
and the 22-year-old me raises my hand,
610
00:33:41,102 --> 00:33:44,355
and I try to bring
to everybody's attention
611
00:33:44,439 --> 00:33:47,775
that they need to really look
at this lineup of artists.
612
00:33:48,359 --> 00:33:52,989
The bands that John booked,
at least the more intense bands,
613
00:33:53,072 --> 00:33:54,532
were not bands I was familiar with.
614
00:33:55,199 --> 00:33:56,639
I had no idea who these people were.
615
00:33:57,243 --> 00:34:00,288
You know, for the most part,
although I ran everything by Michael,
616
00:34:00,371 --> 00:34:02,790
we never booked an act
that he didn't agree with.
617
00:34:03,374 --> 00:34:07,462
So, I was the, you know,
the young kid trying to bring some sense
618
00:34:07,545 --> 00:34:12,925
to a room full of adults
that had really no idea
619
00:34:13,009 --> 00:34:16,179
of, I think, the lineup
that they put together.
620
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:19,932
And Michael Lang
and everyone just looked at me
621
00:34:20,016 --> 00:34:21,476
like I should not open my mouth.
622
00:34:27,815 --> 00:34:29,859
[stage announcer] There you go! Ha-ha!
623
00:34:29,942 --> 00:34:31,110
Holy shit!
624
00:34:32,945 --> 00:34:36,783
In all the shows I have worked,
I don't think I have ever seen
625
00:34:36,866 --> 00:34:40,703
the intensity of the crowd
before a band came on
626
00:34:40,787 --> 00:34:42,038
like I did with Korn.
627
00:34:45,208 --> 00:34:47,210
We're all sort of looking
at each other, saying,
628
00:34:47,794 --> 00:34:51,005
"Holy shit, what is about to happen here?"
629
00:34:51,714 --> 00:34:53,966
[man]
Little more high-hat left in the ears.
630
00:34:55,635 --> 00:34:58,888
The atmosphere backstage
was just kind of electric. I was excited.
631
00:34:59,722 --> 00:35:01,766
I remember going right to my dressing room
632
00:35:01,849 --> 00:35:05,186
and looking in the mirror, going,
"Oh my God, holy fuck."
633
00:35:05,269 --> 00:35:07,230
[all cheering]
634
00:35:07,313 --> 00:35:08,606
This is massive.
635
00:35:17,490 --> 00:35:21,119
Me and Tom are like, "We gotta get
up to the front of this Korn show."
636
00:35:21,994 --> 00:35:24,163
We're getting up there,
and then we hear the guitar.
637
00:35:24,247 --> 00:35:26,415
[chords being played]
638
00:35:27,542 --> 00:35:30,378
There's that guitar riff,
that like, dun-nan-nan.
639
00:35:36,634 --> 00:35:40,555
The song starts to build up, build up,
and people are starting to go more crazy.
640
00:35:43,683 --> 00:35:46,060
I remembered the intro. We're walking out.
641
00:35:47,228 --> 00:35:49,397
I come walking out
and I see that fucking crowd.
642
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:51,023
I'm like, "What the flying fuck?"
643
00:35:51,107 --> 00:35:52,817
[firecrackers popping]
644
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:58,906
When you see it with your own eyes,
645
00:36:00,283 --> 00:36:02,702
it's just ten times more shocking.
646
00:36:09,792 --> 00:36:12,336
He came out and was like, "Are..."
647
00:36:12,420 --> 00:36:13,880
"...you ready?"
648
00:36:13,963 --> 00:36:15,965
[band playing]
649
00:36:21,387 --> 00:36:24,974
The crowd went ballistic.
650
00:36:29,228 --> 00:36:33,316
And I look over, and I see just waves
651
00:36:33,399 --> 00:36:35,484
as the sound traveled
all the way to the back.
652
00:36:42,909 --> 00:36:44,535
It was like this unleashing...
653
00:36:44,619 --> 00:36:46,829
[grunts] ...of all this energy.
654
00:36:46,913 --> 00:36:48,456
[grunting]
655
00:36:56,088 --> 00:36:58,716
There's no drug.
There's no nothing on this planet
656
00:36:58,799 --> 00:37:03,721
that can give you that fucking feeling
of having a crowd in your hand like that.
657
00:37:05,056 --> 00:37:07,183
[singing indistinctly]
658
00:37:11,187 --> 00:37:14,607
[Katsis]
Korn had them whipped up into a frenzy.
659
00:37:15,274 --> 00:37:16,901
You kept thinking to yourself,
660
00:37:17,860 --> 00:37:20,947
something's gonna go wrong.
What is it? When is it?
661
00:37:21,864 --> 00:37:23,491
They need to calm down.
662
00:37:25,117 --> 00:37:28,204
Come on, Woodstock!
663
00:37:32,124 --> 00:37:34,502
♪ I can see
I can see I've gone blind ♪
664
00:37:34,585 --> 00:37:36,837
♪ I can see
I can see I've gone blind ♪
665
00:37:36,921 --> 00:37:39,507
♪ I can see
I can see I've gone blind ♪
666
00:37:39,590 --> 00:37:41,217
♪ I can see, I can see... ♪
667
00:37:41,300 --> 00:37:44,178
I saw things happen
that are unexplainable.
668
00:37:45,054 --> 00:37:47,348
I mean, an entire section of the crowd
669
00:37:47,431 --> 00:37:50,393
just instantly moved
about six feet to the right.
670
00:37:51,811 --> 00:37:54,647
You can't fall down. Just don't fall down.
671
00:37:54,730 --> 00:37:56,607
Like, you're gonna be forgotten about.
672
00:37:56,691 --> 00:37:58,901
[crowd shouting]
673
00:38:05,658 --> 00:38:08,703
[Kyle] The number of people
just coming over the barricade.
674
00:38:09,203 --> 00:38:11,831
It was, you know, a waterfall of bodies.
675
00:38:12,331 --> 00:38:15,668
We needed way more security
than we actually had.
676
00:38:18,629 --> 00:38:21,215
It's like the scene from Jaws.
I think we need a bigger boat.
677
00:38:21,299 --> 00:38:23,426
Come on!
678
00:38:23,926 --> 00:38:25,928
[crowd cheering]
679
00:38:27,221 --> 00:38:29,700
Jeff, I understand you got knocked
in your head getting passed.
680
00:38:29,724 --> 00:38:31,524
- You're a big guy. Did they drop you?
- Yeah.
681
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:33,227
- And you lost your camera.
- Yeah.
682
00:38:33,311 --> 00:38:34,729
- Would you do it again?
- Yeah.
683
00:38:34,812 --> 00:38:37,857
People were breaking their arms,
like, "Woodstock '99 is the greatest."
684
00:38:37,940 --> 00:38:39,942
[singing indistinctly]
685
00:38:44,739 --> 00:38:47,533
I felt like
I did something really incredible.
686
00:38:49,452 --> 00:38:51,287
We kicked that ass.
687
00:38:51,829 --> 00:38:53,831
[wailing]
688
00:38:55,624 --> 00:39:00,004
[Lewis] Korn has just tore up the stage.
They were amazing. Bush is next.
689
00:39:01,005 --> 00:39:04,800
And that's only a problem,
because where's all this energy gonna go?
690
00:39:04,884 --> 00:39:06,719
[all cheering]
691
00:39:06,802 --> 00:39:09,597
I felt bad for Bush, going on after that,
because shit was crazy.
692
00:39:10,431 --> 00:39:13,142
[stage announcer]
Let's hear it for Korn one more time.
693
00:39:17,146 --> 00:39:20,358
I saw the Korn set from video monitors.
694
00:39:21,817 --> 00:39:23,819
And it was quite scary down there.
695
00:39:25,738 --> 00:39:27,740
I mean, it's a potential runaway train.
696
00:39:28,908 --> 00:39:30,618
[all shouting]
697
00:39:31,535 --> 00:39:36,040
Once the crowd gets that amped up,
winding them down is very difficult.
698
00:39:36,123 --> 00:39:38,000
[stage announcer]
It's Friday, one more band.
699
00:39:38,834 --> 00:39:39,877
Bush.
700
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:41,337
[crowd boos]
701
00:39:42,797 --> 00:39:45,237
[Rossdale] This is like,
"Now show us what you've got," and...
702
00:39:46,592 --> 00:39:49,637
and that, um, makes you nervous.
703
00:39:55,643 --> 00:39:57,853
I'm fully aware that half the people,
704
00:39:57,937 --> 00:40:01,440
maybe, were kind of more enamored
by watching Korn.
705
00:40:01,524 --> 00:40:03,044
You don't know what's going to happen.
706
00:40:04,318 --> 00:40:05,528
If you can imagine, like,
707
00:40:06,737 --> 00:40:09,365
just jumping off a ship
into the darkest ocean.
708
00:40:10,324 --> 00:40:11,325
You know, that's it.
709
00:40:16,414 --> 00:40:19,834
And when that happens,
you got to change people's emotion
710
00:40:22,253 --> 00:40:26,382
♪ Warm sun feed me up ♪
711
00:40:26,465 --> 00:40:28,759
♪ And I'm leery ♪
712
00:40:29,510 --> 00:40:31,804
♪ Loaded up ♪
713
00:40:31,887 --> 00:40:33,681
♪ Loathing... ♪
714
00:40:33,764 --> 00:40:37,059
[Rossdale] We were rather more arm-in-arm
than bashing the shit out of each other.
715
00:40:37,143 --> 00:40:40,312
That's what we promote.
It's what we like, you know.
716
00:40:42,606 --> 00:40:43,899
♪ Swallowed ♪
717
00:40:44,942 --> 00:40:46,485
♪ Sorrowed ♪
718
00:40:47,570 --> 00:40:51,323
♪ Heavy about everything but my love ♪
719
00:40:51,407 --> 00:40:56,912
He was, you know, like, peace and love
and, "I love you, and I love everybody."
720
00:40:58,205 --> 00:40:59,540
He was like the heartthrob.
721
00:41:03,836 --> 00:41:05,171
[Rossdale] Is everybody happy?
722
00:41:05,254 --> 00:41:07,256
[crowd cheers]
723
00:41:09,508 --> 00:41:12,470
[Scher] Gavin understood the folklore
724
00:41:13,012 --> 00:41:14,847
associated with Woodstock.
725
00:41:14,930 --> 00:41:18,809
They sort of brought it back to, you know,
726
00:41:18,893 --> 00:41:21,687
the hippies versus the hard rock fans.
727
00:41:22,730 --> 00:41:24,732
[Kyle] The crowd was still very lively,
728
00:41:25,232 --> 00:41:27,109
but compared to what had just happened,
729
00:41:27,193 --> 00:41:29,862
it was a little bit calmer.
730
00:41:30,404 --> 00:41:34,575
♪ You're the wave, you're the wave
You're the wave ♪
731
00:41:37,411 --> 00:41:40,372
[crowd cheers]
732
00:41:42,791 --> 00:41:45,753
[Rossdale] I'm proud of that fact
we were bringing the crowd back around
733
00:41:45,836 --> 00:41:49,048
to what maybe everyone hoped
the event to be,
734
00:41:49,632 --> 00:41:52,301
you know, as opposed
to what it deteriorated into.
735
00:41:53,177 --> 00:41:56,555
I think we need to see
a whole hell of a lot more!
736
00:41:57,389 --> 00:41:59,266
[crowd yelling]
737
00:42:01,894 --> 00:42:03,479
Woodstock! Whoo!
738
00:42:03,562 --> 00:42:05,314
Woodstock, baby!
739
00:42:08,150 --> 00:42:09,818
[sirens wailing]
740
00:42:12,112 --> 00:42:14,114
[drunken screaming]
741
00:42:14,782 --> 00:42:17,451
[stage announcer] Woodstock '99 day one!
742
00:42:17,535 --> 00:42:18,535
Pow!
743
00:42:22,706 --> 00:42:24,708
[closing theme music plays]