Netflix are developing a docuseries chronicling the infamous ‘Woodstock ’99‘ music festival. Deadline report that production on the series has begun with Raw (‘Don’t F**k with Cats‘, ‘Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia‘) and BBH Entertainment (Depeche Mode‘s ‘Spirits In The Forest‘) involved.
While the 1994 revival of the ‘Woodstock Festival‘ delivered some particularly memorable mud-filled performances (Nine Inch Nails‘s iconic set and Green Day‘s mud-slinging onslaught come to mind) the controversy and violence that erupted during the 1999 edition of festival cast a dark shadow over the event that has lingered ever since.
In part due to weather, poor accommodations, allegedly inflated prices for basic items and more, the crowd turned ugly as the fest, which was held in Rome, NY back in July of 1999, trudged on. Several sexual assaults were reported amid and shortly after Limp Bizkit‘s performance, which saw a rowdy crowd begin to tear apart the venue. Fires and rioting would follow during Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ set.
Sporting an abundance of heavier artists that also included Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Korn, Megadeth, Sevendust and more, much was said in the press after of how aggressive bands turned the mood sour with Limp Bizkit‘s set often being cited as the catalyst.
In 2015, Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland told Stereogum of that:
“I think that was a really bad idea, because Woodstock ’99 — I don’t feel responsible at all for that. I feel like the promoters of that festival were overcharging people for water, for instance, the cash machines were running out of money. The conditions were really poor, and I think that ‘Woodstock ’99‘ should have not invited bands like us on it unless they expected — no one said, ‘Tone it down, this audience is not going to react in a positive way to your show.’
I mean, who knew that the festival was gonna turn into that, that atrocious riot that it did? But it’s never happened again, which I think is a good idea. I think that if they were to do it now and have the music that’s popular now — Foxygen and Mumford & Sons and a bunch of bands that are more tepid, or just a little more ‘Coachella‘-friendly — I think it would probably work out great. There were a lot of really heavy bands on that festival.”
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