25 years ago this week, Woodstock '99 descended into chaos in Rome, N.Y.
25 years ago this week, Woodstock '99 descended into chaos in Rome, N.Y.
In 1969, Woodstock promised “three days of peace and music.” Decades later, Woodstock '99 brought different music and a very different vibe to central New York.
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RICHIE HAVENS: (Singing) Freedom. Freedom.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In 1969, the Woodstock festival promised three days of peace and music. Decades later, the tone changed.
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KORN: (Singing) Are you ready?
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Woodstock '99 brought different music and a very different vibe to central New York. Twenty-five years ago this week, it descended into chaos.
INSKEEP: That festival turned toxic, with extreme heat and vendors gouging concertgoers - anarchy. And when Limp Bizkit took the stage to perform their song "Break Stuff," people broke stuff.
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LIMP BIZKIT: Time to reach deep down inside and take all that negative energy. (Singing) Give me something to break.
MARTIN: By the end of the festival, scaffolding and security barriers were destroyed, arsonists torched vendors' tents and the campgrounds looked like a war zone. New York state police trooper Jim Simpson was one of some 500 officers called onto the festival site. Here's what he said in a story on NPR.
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JIM SIMPSON: It was a pretty ugly scene for most of the night. When you have a crowd, you know, of a - in excess of 100,000, 150,000 people, and a certain bunch of them start something like this, it gets a little contagious, and it's scary at times.
INSKEEP: Thousands of people suffered injuries or heatstroke. Women reported being sexually assaulted or raped, and three people died. There was one more Woodstock festival planned after that one, years later, for the 50th anniversary of the original, but those plans fell apart, which maybe was a good thing.
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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: Come with it now.
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