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I had a similar experience at Woodstock '94, though the level of violence was certainly much lower than at ‘99. (I just wrote up a huge expose on my experience

I had a similar experience at Woodstock '94, though the level of violence was certainly much lower than at ‘99. (I just wrote up a huge expose on my experience, but the comment was waayyyy too long to put here, so i'm just putting this much-smaller note, maybe I'll post the longer one in a blog writeup somewhere). It was an awesome road trip of three dirt-poor college students the summer after freshman year, trying to get by with minimal budget and having no plan or idea how to get there. We couldn't afford the tickets, but on Saturday concert organizers got rid of the fences and gates, making the concert effectively free! So my friends and I made last minute plans to go to the show on Sunday, 300 miles away. Many adventures getting there, and we got separated at the actual show, so I spent the entire day by myself in the crowds. It was a total juxtaposition between MC's on stage saying "let's hear it for peace and love" and the crowds cheering for peace and love. Versus the realities of the crowds hitting and pushing each other for stepping wrong into their space, throwing mud around, mass groping of any girl who dared to go topless, food venders selling way overpriced food and drinks, people making racist comments, etc. Overall I'm glad I went, got to see Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Peter Gabriel, Porno for Pyros, and Spin Doctors. And learned some interesting aspects of human nature too.

nytesky 2y ago
As I’m similar age, this was pre cell phone? Yeah losing yourselves in that sort of crowd for a day without a phone is a different experience nowadays (it’s like how 50% of Seinfeld episodes would resolve in 5 minutes if everyone had a cell phone). As young college students, did you forgot to the the parent-style meeting point, or you all just didn't want to bother waiting around by $landmark for someone to wander back?
- jeffwass 2y ago
  Actually the crazy part was finding my friends at 3 AM after walking a few miles in the dark from the concert grounds to where we parked the car, with only a rough sense of where I was going. Amazingly we found each other! On the way in, a few miles away from the venue traffic just “stopped” and we had to park on the roadside and walk the rest of the way, cutting through fields and woods, following others who seemed to know where they were going. We left the issue of getting back to the car as a problem for “future us”. Not sure why we didn’t pick a meeting spot, or maybe we got separated too quickly before thinking we needed one. Though actually I think we just weren’t too bothered, figuring it would all just work out. And it did. Yeah, this was all pre-cell-phone (well, “car phones” were a thing, but mainly for the rich). If we had had phones, the adventure would have been much less interesting. We’d have gotten there much quicker w/ sat-nav, we’d have found each other and cut all anxiety wondering where we all were when the last set ended at midnight.

nytesky 2y ago

As I’m similar age, this was pre cell phone? Yeah losing yourselves in that sort of crowd for a day without a phone is a different experience nowadays (it’s like how 50% of Seinfeld episodes would resolve in 5 minutes if everyone had a cell phone). As young college students, did you forgot to the the parent-style meeting point, or you all just didn't want to bother waiting around by $landmark for someone to wander back?

jeffwass 2y ago
Actually the crazy part was finding my friends at 3 AM after walking a few miles in the dark from the concert grounds to where we parked the car, with only a rough sense of where I was going. Amazingly we found each other! On the way in, a few miles away from the venue traffic just “stopped” and we had to park on the roadside and walk the rest of the way, cutting through fields and woods, following others who seemed to know where they were going. We left the issue of getting back to the car as a problem for “future us”. Not sure why we didn’t pick a meeting spot, or maybe we got separated too quickly before thinking we needed one. Though actually I think we just weren’t too bothered, figuring it would all just work out. And it did. Yeah, this was all pre-cell-phone (well, “car phones” were a thing, but mainly for the rich). If we had had phones, the adventure would have been much less interesting. We’d have gotten there much quicker w/ sat-nav, we’d have found each other and cut all anxiety wondering where we all were when the last set ended at midnight.