Three days of bedlam and chaos.
"And I'm looking around at all of this damage. Carnage, if you will. And I'm thinking, 'How the fuck did this happen?'"
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (or Clusterf**k: Woodstock '99) is a 2022 documentary miniseries, produced by Raw TV, distributed by Netflix, and directed by Jamie Crawford. All three episodes were simultaneously released on August 3rd.
Ahh, Woodstock '99
. What began as a revival of '69 would soon mutate into one of the most infamous disasters in the history of music. This three-part documentary series details the three days of the festival, what occurred on which day, and how the entire thing devolved into a trainwreck. A variety of musicians who partook in the festival were interviewed about their experiences, and even the key figures of '99 (including founder Michael Lang) were brought on board for interviewing as well, all questing for the answer to one question:
How did it go so horrendously wrong?
The entire series covers these tropes:
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: All of the bazaars had food and refreshments that were ridiculously overpriced. For instance, a bottle of water cost $4 USD ($7.19 USD in 2023) on Friday, and by Sunday, the pricing was even more absurd. Three months earlier, it turns out that they sold the food rights and the group who had those rights had total control of the prices.
- Anti-Climax: A special surprise was promised at the end of the festival. Was it an original Woodstock performer from 1969? Maybe even Bob Dylan? Another big name? No, silly, it's a projected video of Jimi Hendrix playing the national anthem from Woodstock '69. And that's it; show's over! All that buildup culminating in archival footage is the last straw for the already agitated audience, who proceed to riot and loot every vendor in sight.
- Blatant Lies: As '99 progressed, reporters began to see the cracks in the facade that the organizers wanted to portray. And come the press conference on Sunday, a lot of reporters see through John Scher's glossing over.
- Black Comedy: The attendee’s interviews are full of this, especially Sara’s call to her mother.
- Cassandra Truth: According to Jeff Rowland, the entire board was against the idea of reviving Woodstock in a decommissioned air force base, thinking of it as a bad idea. But John Scher overruled everyone, and went ahead with it anyway.Jeff Rowland: Everyone said, "No fucking way. That's a bad idea." But John stepped in to overrule the entire board and saying, "Well, I'm the CEO. We're doing this."
- Death by Materialism: Of the non-human variety. The Woodstock brand was forever tainted in those three days with the focus on profits being a key factor.
- Disaster Dominoes: The dominoes began to fall the second it was revealed that a decommissioned air force base would be the site of '99. And the problems became more apparent and extreme as the whole thing progressed.
- Dramatic Irony: The audience knows the festival will be a failure, but videos from 1999 show that a lot of people had a firm belief that it will be a success and will be 'long remembered.'
- Failsafe Failure: Woodstock '94 had a chain-link fence keeping people out. It came down, and about half of the total attendance came in for free. While the music was a success, it didn't make a profit.
- Foreshadowing: Discussed. Joe Griffo, former mayor of Rome, believed that the champagne bottle's failure of breaking the first few hits might have been foreshadowing the failure of '99.
- Franchise Killer: Discussed as the documentary's theme. The Woodstock '99 disaster ultimately killed the Woodstock brand, as other attempts to revive it have all gone nowhere. Part of the reason is how badly Woodstock '99 went, which has made the name so toxic among music festivals that no one wants to even suggest going through it again.
- From Bad to Worse: And how! The second that the one domino fell, all of the others did as well. Friday was somewhat normal, Saturday is when things got absurdly crazy, and Sunday is when shit hit the fan big time.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: This may as well be "Gone Horribly Wrong: The Festival" for how badly it ended up. The documentary shows how nobody on the board believed anyone who said this was going to be a bad idea. The food stands charged outrageous prices. The air force base caused everyone to have to walk long distances just to see different bands. And come Day Three, the entire festival had turned into a riot, which local police were helpless to stop.
- Heat Wave: On Saturday, temperatures skyrocketed to over 100 °F (38 °C), and suffice to say it's a major catalyst for nearly all the festival's issues to go From Bad to Worse.
- Hope Spot: Towards the end, there’s talk of a big final act, which gets everyone’s hopes up to save the festival. It turns out to be…The Red Hot Chili Peppers playing a slow song before archive footage of Jimi Hendrix. To say all hell breaks loose is an understatement.
- How We Got Here: The first episode opens on Monday, with the aftermath of the festival. The entire series then showcases how it all went so badly.
- Incendiary Exponent: The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed "Fire" while the entire crowd was handed lit candles. One interviewee claimed that more and more fires were popping up as the song progressed. Then the festival wrapped up, and the gloves came off with the fires.
- In Vino Veritas: The drug variety. Sara, a concert-goer, just dropped acid when she called her mother to let her know everything was okay. What did she get in response?Sara: I'm like, "Hey, Mom, this is such a great time. I am having the best time." And she goes, "Yeah? What's there?" I go "Naked people! Everywhere. It's so great!" And she goes, "Oh m- What did you say?" And I said, "Oh, I gotta go."
- Mood Whiplash: Fatboy Slim’s set is humorous, especially when a stoned attendee drives a van in…until the staff discovers a teenage girl raped and her rapist getting his pants back on in the van. This all but destroys any hopes for a peaceful festival.
- Never My Fault: Michael Lang does have moments of reflection where he admits, however uncomfortably, that maybe there's more he could have done in planning the festival, especially when it comes to the treatment of female concertgoers. John Scher, of whom other members of the staff don't paint a very good picture, has no such moments, and goes out of his way to make a scapegoat out of Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst.
- Powder Keg Crowd: The entire crowd was this when things started going bad on Saturday. But it was Sunday when that powder keg exploded, turning into a full-scale riot when the Red Hot Chili Peppers ended their set on a low note.
- Rage Breaking Point: The remaining attendees on Sunday ended up going berserk when their hopes of a spectacular final act after the Chili Peppers' were dashed. After all the rage that was being built up over the course of the festival, Sunday was when things completely blew out of proportion.Attendee: BURN, MOTHERFUCKER! WHOO!
- Rape as Drama: All of the rapes and sexual assaults are included in the documentary to demonstrate the lack of morality and disregard for welfare that occurred.
- Scenery Gorn: When things began to unravel on Saturday and Sunday, the festival grounds more or less resembled a warzone. But on Friday and early Saturday, it was at least functional.
- Scenery Porn: Seeing the beautiful art on the walls, and the big crowd of people, gives viewers a lot of nice and successful scenery. But that wasn't meant to last — in fact, by the end of the festival, all that art is torn down and used as kindling for several bonfires.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- Handfuls of attendees simply gave up on Sunday, and decided to leave. They were some of the lucky ones.
- Fatboy Slim and his crew packed up and left before finishing their set, after an underage girl was raped in a van during his performance.
- Suspiciously Apropos Music:
- While the rest of the documentary makes clear that it is a case of Never My Fault, John Scher gives a long diatribe about how the moment the festival truly began to build up its From Bad to Worse momentum was during Limp Bizkit's playing of "Break Stuff" (with archival footage of Fred Durst riling up the audience's participation to the final chorus of "give me something to break!").
- Scenes of attendees giving up and driving away on Sunday morning are accompanied by Willie Nelson performing "On the Road Again" during his set.
- This Is Gonna Suck: By the time the festival begins, most of the boots on the ground staff knew the festival was going to go badly no matter what they did or said. They just didn't realize HOW badly.
- Tick Tock Terror: Whenever the clock appears, it is accompanied by a simple tick-tock sound. Despite this, it enhances the suspense when that clock appears, as it indicates a major event going sour at that time.
- Too Dumb to Live: Wanting your venue to send a message about gun violence? A noble cause, sure. Wanting to give lit candles to a venue of people who have dealt with price gouging, the heat, and the wretched smell for three days who've bottled up their anger? That won't go well.
- Unreliable Voiceover: An interview with the organizers talking about how well the festival is going and how much fun everyone is having is intercut with footage of hot, tired, thirsty, and angry attendees. Driven home further when the camera focuses on an attendee sleeping on hot tarmac wearing a hat that reads "LIAR" in huge letters.
- Wham Line:
- Episode 1:
- '69 was set in a field, and certainly promoted peace and love. But the setting for '99?Scott: Oh shit. This is a base.
- Despite numerous warnings to pay James Brown before he opens the concert, this line cements the idea that if there's any opportunity to cut corners, they will be taken.John Scher: And I said, "Do me a favor. Just hold on just a minute. I want you to hear something: One, two, three!" *James Brown plays* I said, "Go fuck yourself."
- Due to the extreme heat, people had to drink lots of water. But due to the brought water bottles being taken away, you had to buy them. But this line introduces one of the most infamous aspects of the concert: the price-gouging.Heather: Back then, a bottle of water was probably 65 cents. But at Woodstock, a bottle of water was a stupid four dollars, and it pissed people off.
- '69 was set in a field, and certainly promoted peace and love. But the setting for '99?
- Episode 1:
