The Prices, Drugs & Mayhem of Woodstock ’69 & ’99: A Comparison in Photos
Woodstock '69 and Woodstock '99 were the same in name only; in reality, they couldn't have been more different.
The original Woodstock is currently celebrating its 53rd anniversary, while the new Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 was recently made available for streaming. This made me want to do a little comparison of the two.
I wanted to know: if Joe Schmoe Concertgoer took a time machine directly from Woodstock '69 in the fields of Bethel to Woodstock '99 on the asphalt of Griffiss, three decades apart, what would've been the most glaring differences?
Here are just a few:
PRICE OF ATTENDANCE
1969: $6.50 for one day, $18 advance for all three days.
1999: $150 plus service charges
PRICE OF WATER
1969: (Bottled water didn't exist)
1999: $4 - $5 a bottle
WHAT WAS FREE
1969: Peace & love
1999: Rage
THE LANDSCAPE
1969: Beautiful farmland
1999: Concrete you could cook an egg on
THE MUD
1969: Actual mud
1999: Actual human s**t
STATE POLICE CALLED FOR
1969: Thruway closure
1999: Sexual assault
THE DRUGS
1969: Boatloads of weed, the occasional LSD trip
1969: (Well, at least this was the same.)
THE CLOTHING
1969: Not much.
1999: Even less.
THE FOOD
1969: Whoooaa, we forgot about that, man...
1999: $12 for a 12-inch pizza ($21 in 2022)
THE MUSIC
1969: A slew of breakout musicians
1999: A slew of broken equipment
We would be here all day if we wrote about everything that was different about the two Woodstocks, but why not let the pictures do the talking? Below are some side-by-side photo comparisons of Woodstock '69 and Woodstock '99: