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 Woodstock 94 Revisited                         Bookmark and Share
 

After 13 years of procrastination I finally decided to write this article. Why? First reason: My photos were glued to a collage that I had made. And I was always wanting to scan and save them. Second reason: Not enough good photos or articles on the web about this incredible weekend. Third reason: I was bored and I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time.   Photo Gallery

As I’m writing this article and looking at the old photos, I’m now reliving this awesome experience, as I hope you will too. Wow! What a freaking weekend.  Woodstock 94 (wiki)



It started when 4 guys wanted to do another Woodstock like the one in Bethel New York in the summer of 1969. I was only 9 so I didn’t go. People actually went to Bethel too during that same weekend in 94, why, I don’t know.  When Woodstock 94 finally became a reality, I gladly paid for 4 tickets, $135.00 each. I figured that was a good price to see 50 bands. Little did I know I would only see a hand full of bands, oh well. I heard it took about 30 million dollars for this event to happen.

Well my 3 friends and I were off to Saugerties New York on Friday August 12th, for the show that was going all weekend till Sunday August 14th. 2 days of Peace & Music on an 840-acre site.

On the drive up the first thing I did wrong was display my ticket with pride in the inside window of the back seat of the Cadillac that my friend rented for the weekend. As I rolled down the electric window, my ticket went inside the door of the car and the ticket disappeared. What horror. We had to stop and get tools to take the door apart to get the ticket out. Then to top it off, they never took my ticket at the gate, so I guess I didn’t need a ticket as thousands of others found out too. Well somebody had to pay.

After being searched at the parking lot 2 miles away we were bused to the front gate.

We were lucky to get there on Friday because the tent sites filled up fast. We got 2 tent sites in north field near the North stage. After a couple of hours we noticed that people had beer. They were buying it across the street. So my friend and I went and got a case and could not believe that no one stopped us. I saw fear in the eyes of the people who were monitoring the gates “the Peace Patrol” they were just totally overwhelmed.

 Our first band that we got close enough to see was Sheryl Crow, she sounded great. We ended going back and forth a few times to get a closer look of other bands too. The rest of the bands we were able to hear from our campsite, which happened to be all night. Especially during the “Rave” that techno music dance party. Absolutely no sleep those 2 nights.

Getting around was not easy as close to 400,000 plus people squeezed in.
Near the stage was very packed and once you committed you were there for the duration.

There were crowd-surfers and some topless women who used their attributes on the shoulders of dudes to get closer to the stage. The guys didn’t seem to mind but other women were kind of pissed. We did meet some interesting people though.

Then there were the Mud people. "Thus the name Mudstock, They starting as early as Friday, mostly from that water spray tent run off in front of the north stage. I just couldn’t do the mud thing, not without a shower. Though they all looked like they were having the most fun out of everyone there.

 One funny moment was when my friend bought Sushi at one of the food tents with his Woodstock money. In the hot humid sun he sat on the ground eating sushi. People who passed were freaking out as I was too. You can actually feel the bacteria growing. I couldn’t believe he ate it all. That’s hunger for you.

 I made plans to meet people at certain areas during that weekend, but when those times came, I was some where else without a prayer in the world to get close to those meeting places. Sorry everyone. I didn’t even see my roommate for the entire weekend there,
I saw her when I got home. We both laughed.

There were those little sprinkler areas that was an experience. That was basically your shower for the whole weekend, it felt like wild animals at a watering hole.

Then there were the 2 naked people walking around. People were getting there picture taken with them, I couldn’t believe it.

Then there were the 3,000 porto-potys, what a smell, Holding my breath that long was impossible. I found it easier to go in the woods outside the gate sometimes. That’s around the time I saw some drunk guy just urinating in his pants as he stood by someone's tent. That’s just way to wasted.

 Walking around the outside area there were some really nice artwork to view.

 The only way we found our tent site amongst the thousands of others was by finding that long wood pole that someone raised and attached underwear to the top like a flag, that was our marker. I didn’t get lucky either, no 69 in 94. I still have my condom. Some people even wanted to pitch their tent right in the only standing area we had, we felt so bad to say no.

You can see how wiped out people were getting. Stressed out from lack of sleep, humidity and the rain. Some people started leaving on Saturday. Next tous some people even abandoned their 10 person tent. When I went in the tent I noticed a cooler, but when I opened it smelled like they used it as a toilet. Gross. But wait a minute. Our own private bathroom. Cool. Then everyone one else found out and by Sunday it was so nasty that when I open it on Sunday I almost puked.

 The color of the mud on the last day didn't look too healthy at all either, and people were still wallowing in it. Then seeing all the garbage on the ground was not a pleasant site. We all need to have better camping skills and etiquette because that would really help us be prepared if we were all displaced because of a real natural disaster.
 

On late Sunday afternoon we decided we had enough and we dragged our belongings for a few miles back to the car. There we found our car deep in the mud. Luckily there was a bull dozer there pulling everyone out. We ended up hearing that 4 people had died with one killed in a Mosh Pit. It also took several tractor trailers filled to haul away all the abandoned tents that people had left behind.

All in all. It was a great and unforgettable weekend. But it was not impressive enough to entice me to go to the next Woodstock in 99 that had riots, fires and groping. I’m glad I wasn’t part of that, but that definitely made Woodstock 94 much more appreciated. I’m so glad I went.
 

Woodstock Montage          Photo Gallery
 

 


The Bands

Aerosmith
 
The Allman Brothers

Aphex Twin
 
Arrested Development
 
The Band
(with Bob Weir)


Blind Melon
 
Blues Traveler
 
Candlebox
 
Jimmy Cliff's All Star Reggae Jam
(with Rita Marley & Shabba Ranks)
(Eek-A-Mouse)

 
Joe Cocker

Collective Soul
 
The Cranberries
 
Crosby, Stills & Nash

John Sebastian
 
Sheryl Crow

Country Joe McDonald
(with the Fugs)


Cypress Hill

Del Amitri

Bob Dylan

Melissa Etheridge
 
Peter Gabriel
(Last act to play)

Green Day
(great mud fight)

 Jackyl

James

King's X

Live

Metallica

Neville Brothers

Nine Inch Nails

Orbital

Orleans

Paul Rodgers Rock
 & Blues Revue
(with Slash, Neal Schon, Jason Bonham and Andy Fraser)

Peacebomb

Porno for Pyros

Primus

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Rollins Band

Todd Rundgren

Salt-N-Pepa

Santana

Sisters of Glory (Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Mavis Staples and Lois Walden)

Spin Doctors

Traffic

The Orb

Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman
 
W.O.M.A.D.
 
Violent Femmes

Youssou N'Dour

Zucchero

 

MP3 Players

      MP3 Downloads

Concert  Tickets 

 

 

 

 

Woodstock 94 Sound Track
 

Woodstock 94 Video (VHS)

Great 60's Photos Book
 

 
 
  
 

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