Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99

What can we learn from Woodstock ’99? Two decades later, the festival is like a social experiment about how gathering in a large group can bring out the worst in people. Have contemporary music festivals learned the right lessons from this disaster?

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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At the end of Woodstock ’99, the festival had descended into full-blown riots and hooliganism. Memorably, the Red Hot Chili Peppers concluded the festival by playing Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” inspiring scores of actual fires to be set all over the grounds. For those who were there, this nightmarish scene remains unforgettable.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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In the aftermath of Woodstock ’99, there were reports in the media about widespread sexual harassment and assaults. A combination of factors—including lax security and an environment that encouraged unbridled machismo—made the festival a dangerous place for women

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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A group of friends from Connecticut took a road trip to Woodstock ’99 in search of music, adventure, and a great party. The most excited person in the group, a 24-year-old man named David DeRosia, wanted to be in the mosh pit for Metallica. But on Saturday night, his Woodstock ’99 experience took a tragic turn.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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The first official day of Woodstock ’99 included performances by bands such as Korn, the Offspring, and Insane Clown Posse, who remember the festival as a harmless but crazy experience. But that didn’t always translate to the people in the audience, some of whom were already succumbing to the festival’s dark undercurrents.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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The planning of Woodstock ’99 was rife with tensions between the promoters and local officials in the small town of Rome, New York. But potential red flags portending trouble were overlooked in favor of the hope for what Woodstock could do for a community that was down on its luck.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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No one person embodies the Woodstock brand more than Michael Lang, the cherubic-faced concert promoter who came to fame as one of the stars of Michael Wadleigh’s 1970 documentary ‘Woodstock.’ He’s also a symbol of how the counterculture has been commodified as a reliable cash cow selling hippie nostalgia. It’s time to separate fact from mythology, and explore how the original Woodstock was in many ways as troubled as Woodstock ’99.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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It’s the one thing people think they know about Woodstock ’99—Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit encouraged shirtless hooligans to “break stuff.” But is it possible that Limp Bizkit shoulders too much of the blame for the riots, violence, and mayhem at this misbegotten festival? It’s time to break down the band’s notorious performance as if it were a nu-metal Zapruder film.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

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In 1999, a music festival took place in upstate New York that became a social experiment. There were riots, looting, and numerous assaults. And it was set to a soundtrack of the era’s most aggressive rock bands. Incredibly, it was the third iteration of Woodstock, a festival known for peace, love, and hippie idealism. But Woodstock ’99 revealed some hard truths behind the myths of the 1960s, and the danger that nostalgia can engender.

Host: Steven Hyden

Producers: Noah Malale, Isaac Lee, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Hirsch, Catherine St. Louis, Kara Kornhaber, Karan Nevatia, Betty Márquez Rosales, and Vikram Patel

Composition and Sound Design: Steve LaRosa and Joseph Fridman

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices