From July 22 to July 26 of 1999 I, along with my friend Nick from Target, went to Woodstock 99 in Rome, New York. It was quite an experience. We left Target around 10:00 AM after buying some last minute goods, stopping at the bank, WaWa, and filling up on gas. It was nice to drive up through the mountains, there are some nice scenes up there, I highly recommend it. We got to the Rome/Utica area around 3, after getting lost and finally getting directions from some state trooper with a telephone pole up his ass. After waiting awhile for parking, we walked about a mile from our car to the gate, where insane searches of everything took place. You name it, they searched it. After the funny scene of us pitching our tent was finished, we walked around the village to see the sights. It was nice, and above all, it was clean. Thursday night there was a surprise concert given by George Clinton at the emerging artist stage, which kicked huge portions of ass. After that, we attended a viewing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the independent film hangar.
The next day was begun by the big opening festivities, then the Godfather of Soul, James Brown came out. Later we got to see Jamiroquai and Live do great shows and perform some of their new songs. Since we were close up, I got pretty cramped and some crowd surfers kept on fallin on me and I was constantly movin them along, which caused my shoulder to tear a bit. I wrapped my shoulder up and chilled in the theater, which at this point wasn't too crowded and still clean. After meeting up with Nick, who attended DMX, we went to see Insane Clown Posse and George Clinton. After those shows, I got changed and went to the rave, where Moby was spinnin.
On Saturday, the first visible effects of sunburn came out, but we went to see Kid Rock, Dave Matthews Band, and Limp Bizkit. All great shows. During Dave we met some cool ass Brazillian folk. After gettin somethin to eat we went back to the stage to see Rage Against the Machine and Metallica. I was quite pissed to be under a malfunctioning speaker during the shows. After Metallica walked off stage, I walked away, but then they came back. I figured they would only play two more songs, but it turns out they played for awhile. GODDAMMIT $#!^
Sunday I was lookin burnt, so we chilled and went shopping while stopping to watch Our Lady Peace, Elvis Costello, and Jewel. We finally packed up everything, and made our way back to the car, as Creed was taking the stage. We got out about an hour before all the riots occurred. I could feel the tension building in the crowd, the animosity growing. Pretty much everyone binged on whatever they had left of their choice substance. But we got away, and checked into the hotel, and enjoyed a good shower, meal, and warm bed.
People asked me if I had fun, hell yes I had fun, it was a blast. There were some things that came to mind after it was all over. For instance, we saw the flyer for the nude photographer and we were psyched to do it. Just another crazy thing to do that weekend. But soon as I saw what time it was going to be at (5AM), I knew we weren't gonna do it. We were ready for it by the time we went back to our tent Saturday night, but by the time 5AM rolled around, we preferred sleep. Another weird thing was us having to resort to paper, rock, scissors to see who got the first shower at the hotel room. But it was a blast.
But it had its drawbacks. Getting sun fried, the expensive food, and getting my ass whipped by some drunk guys kept the weekend from being a ten. But I'd do it again. Oh yeah.
One thing I'm extra pissed off about after the event months later is the whole anti-woodstock attitude taken by many members of the media, and I'm referring to MTV's Kurt Loder. Ever since woodstock ended he talks about how he "lived through a horrible ordeal". His ass bailed at the first spark. I think the main reason he takes his position is that the Woodstock producers gave the majority of TV rights to Fox instead of MTV. Everybody whines about how this was all about commercialism and making money. That's what it was about for some people, but for the majority of the people who went it was about having fun and giving fun away. Kurt Loder wrapped up his story with saying, "Woodstock 99, goodbye and good riddence" What the fuck? If you didn't enjoy it Loder, then don't go the next time. If they have another one, even if they don't call it Woodstock, I'll support it. Loder's colleague, Chris Connelly, stressed a lot of the good stuff that went down at Woodstock. He even said they should have another one. A lot of people blame the riots on the generation it was targeted to. What a crock of shit! Who didn't see the Trade riots in Seattle? Who didn't see the NBA Championship riots in Chicago and Detroit? I guess I should apologize for my generation for those riots, since we will be blamed for those too, even though I have no idea what the WTO is all about and most of the people at Woodstock hadn't even hit puberty the last time the Pistons won a championship. Anyway, if and when there is another Woodstock, here are some tips.
ONE: Know what could happen, plan for the worst. That way, you can't say, "Oh, I never thought this would happen." Anything can happen, we could all get turned into bran muffins by Steven Tyler on stage, anything is possible.
TWO:If you're in the media, and are looking for something bad to happen, don't come. And don't bring up the riots at 99. Noone wants to hear it.
THREE: Use your best judgment. If you're going to a hard core show, you're gonna get the piss knocked out of you. I didn't go to Korn cause I value my ribs, but that doesn't mean I don't like 'em.
Follow these tips, and we could have a nice Woodstock 2004

Top Ten Best Things About Woodstock 99

10. Internet Access.
9. The Rave.
8. The Drumming.
7. Lacy & Cindy.
6. Kid Rock.
5. Being off work.
4. Eileena & Anna.
3. The free spirited people.
2. Laura & Deb.
1. Metallica

The Top Ten Worst Things About Woodstock 99.

10. Walking everywhere.
9. Being funky.
8. No sleep.
7. Gettin lost
6. State Pigs...everywhere.
5. The garbage... everywhere.
4. Missing seeing stuff I coulda seen had I been at other places.
3. Expensive everything.
2. Getting punched by the "Four Horsemen of Heiniken".
1. Being fried by the sun.

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