OH, HELL NO

Rumors going around today that a "Woodstock '09" concert will take place this summer, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original. Lame, and a bad idea. First of all, the festival market is getting way oversaturated. It will end up being a concert of bands on the festival circut. Secondly, the name has been pretty much destroyed.

I won't front: I went to Woodstock '94 and had a blast. Nine Inch Nails were mind-blowing, it was the moment they went from being an underground band to one of the biggest and (arguably) the most influencal band in the world (for a while, at least). I also saw incredible sets by The Violent Femmes, King's X, Metallica, Aerosmith, Primus and great ones by The Allman Brothers Band, Traffic and Bob Dylan (sadly, I missed Green Day). It was a great time, very commerical, and didn't have the free-for-all spirit that I imagine the first one would have. On the other hand, it had bathrooms and food. And the vibe was great - I didn't see any fights, and even though the rain, most people appeared to be having a great time.

At my then-girlfriend (now wife)'s behest, I attended Woodstock '99. We saw some great performances: Metallica, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine, Mike Ness and Willie Nelson. I remember being pretty knocked out by Sevendust, and I thought that Rusted Root was great. But by then, the whole Korn/Limp Bizkit/Kid Rock rap-rock thing was in full effect, it was more about violence than anything else. I saw all the shit go down during the Chili Peppers set, but it was brewing all weekend. The festival looked like a prison camp, they were totally ripping off the captive audience and the bands on the bill just didn't help. I remember during Sheryl Crow's set dudes yelling out "show your tits" and stuff like that. That didn't happen four years earlier, it was just a different vibe, period. I think the festival was an embarassment, and the name should be retired.