There are many theories as to what made the music festival Woodstock ‘99 erupt into an event of violence and devastation, many of which are covered in the new Netflix documentary about the ill-fated event, Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99.
Was it the over-commercialisation and profit-at-any-cost ethos of a festival originally set up to promote peace and love? Was it the music acts, mostly nu-metal bands, inciting anarchy and violence in a volatile crowd? Was it the toxic masculinity of the era, and the frat-boy mentality pervading much of youth culture in the ‘90s? And how much of this could be blamed on the organisers?
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The initial co-founder of Woodstock, Michael Lang (who died in January 2022) agreed to partner with John Scher, known as New Jersey’s most successful concert promoter, for a 30-years-on revival of the iconic hippie festival. The event turned into a horror show. Festival-goers launched into violent behaviour, destroying and setting fire to most of the site in upstate New York, and sexual assault was rife.
Over twenty years on, Scher is interviewed in the docu-series, but he’s still pretty unrepentant about how the event played out, how they managed it at the time and whether they hold any accountability for the crimes at the heart of its legacy. Here are some of the most controversial things Scher says throughout the three-part series:
Courtesy of Netflix
Revealing why he was reviving the much-loved cultural moment, in footage from a meeting in the ‘90s:
“This is an extraordinary experience, there’s nothing like this that happens anywhere in the world. That being said, this is a money-making venture, all right?”
Liaising carefully with James Brown's talent manager once the festival began:
“I said, ‘go fuck yourself’”
The king of glossing over crisis management issues:
“We were having fun. We had worked a year to plan this, and it was working. Yes, issues existed, but they were isolated. Nobody came thinking they were going to stay at the Ritz Carlton.”
John Atashian//Getty Images
Glossing over the violence and destruction at the festival, while speaking to the media at a press conference:
“We had some amazing music. Then you’ve got knuckleheads, maybe 50 of them, causing trouble… so let’s try to focus on the overwhelming positiveness.”
On how women were treated on site:
“There were a lot of women who voluntarily had their tops off. Then you get into a mosh pit and you crowd surf. Could somebody have touched their breasts? Yes, I’m sure they did. What could I have done about it? I’m not sure I could have done anything.”
On the four reported rapes, and the many other sexual assaults at the festival:
“Woodstock was like a small city, you know? All things considered, I’d say that there would probably be as many or more rapes in any sized city of that… but it wasn’t anything that gained enough momentum so that it caused any on-site issues, other than, of course, the women it happened to”.
Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99 is streaming on Netflix now.
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