Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99 Luminary

A concert that claimed to be all about good music and good vibes ended with fires, riots, and assault. What went wrong?

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 like the nu-metal Zapruder film.

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.

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.

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.

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.