In an effort to recreate the “peace and love” atmosphere of the iconic 1969 Woodstock music festival, concert organizers chose to celebrate the event’s 30th anniversary with Woodstock ’99. The four-day festival, which took place 25 years ago from July 22-25, 1999, at the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY, featured a lineup of artists including Limp Bizkit, Red Hot Chili Peppers, George Clinton, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and more. However, over the course of the four days, the event degenerated into overcrowding, fires, sexual assaults, violent mayhem and destruction.
More than 200,000 people reportedly bought tickets for the event, which was played out mostly on asphalt and concrete in the summer heat, with two stages within a two-mile walk of each other. Add to that the overpriced water and food, and all the decorum and goodwill that had existed in the beginning took a nosedive into the proverbial mosh pit of the festival.
The final day of the festival, dubbed “the day the music died” by the San Francisco Examiner and “Apocalypse Woodstock” by MTV News, appeared to suffer from similar problems to the chaotic 1994 edition, reportedly due to several factors, including the bands taking the spectacle up a few notches: Kid Rock asked the crowd to throw plastic water bottles onto the stage, Insane Clown Posse threw $100 bills at the audience, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers covered Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” apparently inspiring the crowd to commit arson and set the venue on fire.
Two documentaries released in recent years: Woodstock ’99: Peace, Love and Anger And Train Wreck: Woodstock ’99 — highlighted the chaos and violence of the festival.
Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith told Yahoo Entertainment in 2019 that his band’s role in the chaos was unintentional.
“[Hendrix’s] “My sister came up to us, and we had met her before; we had done some other stuff with the Hendrix Experience,” Smith said. “And she said, ‘Hey, I know you guys do Jimi Hendrix songs. How about I get a Hendrix song, like your last song for the tribute, you know? That would be a nice segue.’ And we said, ‘Okay, that sounds cool.’”
During the band’s performance on the festival’s final night, anti-violence group PAX handed out 100,000 candles to fans. Instead of a peaceful lighting ceremony, the occasion led to bonfires and flames, which eventually led to rioting and looting.
Police were called in to quell the chaos. The band kept playing, however, with Smith telling Yahoo Entertainment that they misjudged the scale of the arson. And instead of leaving the stage, the Red Hot Chili Peppers continued with their Hendrix cover, inadvertently adding musical fuel to the fire.
“The next morning I wake up, I’m at the airport, and I’m watching CNN or whatever news is on the airport TV,” Smith said. “They’re like, ‘Yesterday was Woodstock, they had Dave Matthews Band and Jewel, and it was all really fun. And Than…the Red Hot Chili Peppers played, and all hell broke loose! And then I think:What?’ And they show the fires, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Oh s***.’ We really looked like we were instigating — that we were the bad guys.”
Promoters reportedly faced multiple lawsuits after the festival, and while the concert’s organizer, the late Michael Lang, entertained the idea of rescheduling the event for 2019, the festival was ultimately canceled altogether, according to Esquire .
Here are more photos from Woodstock ’99 as the event descended into chaos and destruction.
