Joe and I went to Woodstock '99 when it was in Rome NY. We had to! We were living there at the time in a little apartment. Our friends Cory and Laura came up from CT to go with us. We did it all. We even camped out for one night in the sea of tents. We handled the first night ok, but didn't sleep. Too much hooting going on all around us. So we slept in our apartment on the second night. But we got to see a coupla cool bands, Live, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bush, Alanis Morrissette.... and a few others. We experienced the $4.00 bottled water, and $9 bottled beer .... mud pits created not from rain, but from other disgusting liquids.... we avoided the port-a-potties like the plague...and even took the public transportation to get there. It was an experience I will never forget. And the last night we watched in horror on tv as the guests of our little city, started bonfires everywhere, set fire to the media tower, and anything else they could get their hands on. Crazy.
Wow, time really flies. I was working at the Post-Star in Glens Falls and remember being grateful that they didn't send me to photograph it! I was pretty disgusted by the behavior of the attendees and even the police officers.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a once (only) in a lifetime experience!
i never understood why they had '99, the expectations would be sky high for this second event and how do you artifically recreate something that was so spontaneously generated as the original..perhaps i missed the point of the '99 concert..but why have it at woodstock at all...that place holds heart and soul for a massive generation.
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ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about the mayhem that occurred. In '99 I was 21 and my daughter would have been turning 1.. I have been to one concert in my life. And it was to see Cynthia and Johnny O. I agree that I don't understand why they did a '99 concert. Maybe it was to bridge the generation gap? It does sound like a experience best left in the past. And better viewed through your eyes. Love the panoramic photo.
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ReplyDeleteWhat, they set stuff on fire?!
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame that that happened in 99. I was really looking forward to having something so incredible come back in a time when I could be apart of it. Unfortunately that was ruined :(
ReplyDeleteAh, Woodstock and its reiterations... I was too young to attend the original (1969), and too old for '99 (four boys aged 11, 8, 7 and 5 at the time). I never felt like I missed out. Now I have one teenager left, and I'm hoping he can get by without attending any "event" like this! They seem much scarier viewed through the lens of parenthood...
ReplyDeleteWhat a memory. And you know, those bands are still among my favorites and that would have been why I would have attended if I could have afforded it back then.
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