That's what we should've done. Sat in that "parking lot" (it was all dirt at the time) for probably 2+ hours and drove home to east Texas through the night. Quite the experience.

Both the road there and especially the road back were fully deadlocked. I was in a van or suburban, depending, and we just started partying in the road and in that giant lot.

I was impressed they were able to find a real life 'Beavis & Butthead" duo to walk us through some of the more intense moments.

double aught said:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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The traffic getting there was a nightmare. Got there about midway thru and saw The Wallflowers, Jewel, Sugar Ray, Collective Soul, Paula Cole, Counting Crows, No Doubt. Stayed near the back of the crowd between the race garages and the stage. We left near the end of No Doubt to avoid the after show traffic. As we were leaving people stuck in the stands and on the track were throwing water bottles and other items at people in the front stretch grass

Whos Juan said:

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AggieUSMC said:

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Quote:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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They probably had adequate security, sanitation, and water. That's all Woodstock '99 needed but the organizers cared more about maximizing their profits.

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It was only one day and there's no way in hell they made any money off of it. I think I got my ticket free with a Blockbuster rental.

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I ordered a little soft sided Blockbuster cooler online and got four free tickets with it.




Back when MTV covered music. At one point Serena Altschul interviewed Jewel, and it was more than my little 19 year old heart could take.

Redstone said:

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I made it to the very front as Gwen Stefani was shaking her goods. Legit thought I was going to get crushed to oblivion. She was throwing water bottles and I almost got hit in the head.

We knew there was no way to get out of that parking lot and so just passed out for nearly a full day.

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Ditto. Describes my day and night there. Add in crowd surfing to get out of the pit.

One thing I was hoping for was some kind of update at the end.

Did the organizers/promoters ever face any lawsuits after this '99 debacle? I thought for sure someone would've sued the shlt out of them.

Whos Juan said:

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AggieUSMC said:

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Quote:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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They probably had adequate security, sanitation, and water. That's all Woodstock '99 needed but the organizers cared more about maximizing their profits.

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It was only one day and there's no way in hell they made any money off of it. I think I got my ticket free with a Blockbuster rental.

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I managed a Blockbuster Music at that time. All you had to do was mail in your receipts from the store to get free tickets. Can't remember how much they needed to be per ticket. Thankfully I thought ahead and mailed in a ton of receipts that people didn't take so I had a stack of tickets on me because so many people came in the day of the show (and the few days leading up to it) saying they never got theirs so I was easily able to hand them some and make them happy. I headed out to the site that afternoon with my niece who was in love with Gavin Rossdale. The fight to get out of that parking lot was an absolute nightmare. Took 3+ hours just to get to the highway if memory serves.

AustinAg2012 said:

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One Louder said:

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I cant believe the promoters allowed candles to be distributed on the last night. Of all the moronic decisions, that was the stupidest.

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Agreed. "Hey, guys, we made it! After the Chili Peppers' set, it's all over... Why don't we give this uncontrollable crowd some fire to close the festival? I mean, what could possibly go wrong?!"
Idiots.

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Both the dried up old hippy and the slimy concert promoter's decisions during the whole thing were just astounding. One was a moron, the other just a slimy money grubber. The way they tried to play everything down in the press conferences was disgraceful.

And then as a finale let's give this angry out of control mob fire! What could possibly go wrong.

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Man, this video just oozes 90s.

A plymouth neon commercial.. starting at $10k!
Condom commercial
Free HIV test commercial
$8 six flags ticket on coke can commercial

1:22:50 reminds me of today's 'name 3 songs from the band on your tshirt'. Lol, this chick is asked who she moshed to, and she replies, 'oh so many bands.. like, you know, all the good bands!'


Amazing how grunge had a look, even though it was just the clothes those guys wore, but media turned it into a cash cow.
But the look of these later 90s bands; MB20, TEB, collective soul, wallflowers.. it's literally an old tshirt and non-descript pants. They look like a bunch of middle aged dads.

And holy cow, Louis CK in a toilet art MTV spot, saying he's david cross. That's funny.

Man Jewel was a piece. And Gwen was very androgynous with that short hair.

That bit had so many popular bands and I still wouldn't pay money for that. That was a bad stretch of music.

emando2000 said:

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That bit had so many popular bands and I still wouldn't pay money for that. That was a bad stretch of music.

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Same here. I've paid several times to see collective soul, they are great live, and appears to be mostly the same guys as this '97 video. Just saw them right before covid hit.

But counting crows, 3EB, MB20, no doubt... honestly it's best they be remembered how they sound on CD. None of them sounded like they transferred well live.

I've seen most of those bands live and they're a lot of fun.

Duritz likes to sprinkle some of his "spoken word" stuff in there, but I've always enjoyed counting crows.

Only one I never saw live was No Doubt, but would imagine they brought a lot of energy.

Diggity said:

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I've seen most of those bands live and they're a lot of fun.

Duritz likes to sprinkle some of his "spoken word" stuff in there, but I've always enjoyed counting crows.

Only one I never saw live was No Doubt, but would imagine they brought a lot of energy.

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I have too. Duritz pretty much ruins every song live IMO! A guitar player straying from the album on a solo is one thing.. but when the singer sings songs totally differently than the album, it just doesn't do it for me.

It seems, maybe it was the era, but the singers and guitar players in a lot of this era of bands like to jump around on stage.. doesn't bode well for sounding good!

double aught said:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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Gal I was dating that summer LOVED No Doubt and Bush/Gavin. I wasn't into them but I went. Meh.

62strat said:

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emando2000 said:

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That bit had so many popular bands and I still wouldn't pay money for that. That was a bad stretch of music.

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Same here. I've paid several times to see collective soul, they are great live, and appears to be mostly the same guys as this '97 video. Just saw them right before covid hit.

But counting crows, 3EB, MB20, no doubt... honestly it's best they be remembered how they sound on CD. None of them sounded like they transferred well live.

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Collective Soul was the band I was least excited about, going into that day. But they were the ones I was most impressed by. Sounded great live.

Also, I remember Sugar Ray playing on a side stage. Must've been right before "Fly" took off.

Saw Train on a side stage at RockFest in 98.

I've always thought they were like Matchbox….

Great singer
Radio hit sounds
AWFUL lyrics - just flat out bad

Although album Yourself has lyrics far worse than most Train

Houston in the 90s had small venue great shows of:

Cowboy Mouth
Blue October
Better Than Ezra

ie good 90s, alongside most Britpop

Redstone said:

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Houston in the 90s had small venue great shows of:

Cowboy Mouth
Blue October
Better Than Ezra

ie good 90s, alongside most Britpop

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For me living in DFW the band in that time period that was the best was Flickerstick.

Know Your Enemy said:

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Redstone said:

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Houston in the 90s had small venue great shows of:

Cowboy Mouth
Blue October
Better Than Ezra

ie good 90s, alongside most Britpop

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For me living in DFW the band in that time period that was the best was Flickerstick.

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Soulcracker was better

Ah Rockfest. That was one heck of a day. My buds and I started the day up front but moved to the grandstands for the night portion. No issues, but the plastic bottle war between people in the grandstands and people on the track was a sight to behold.

Diggity said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Redstone said:

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Houston in the 90s had small venue great shows of:

Cowboy Mouth
Blue October
Better Than Ezra

ie good 90s, alongside most Britpop

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For me living in DFW the band in that time period that was the best was Flickerstick.

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Soulcracker was better

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Soulcracker SUCKS!

How many went to the free concerts one of the local stations use to host at Williams Square (Las Colinas)? Went to a few, have a Flowerhead CD I bought during their set (not great, but hearing the songs brings back some good memories)

I found it really weird that Flea, a grown man, was playing buck naked in front of a crowd of mostly kids.

Ziggy Sobotka said:

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I found it really weird that Flea, a grown man, was playing buck naked in front of a crowd of mostly kids.

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To be fair, it would've also been really weird had he done that in front of a crowd of mostly adults.

AggieUSMC said:

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They overcharged for inferior services, inadequate sanitation, held the festival on an airfield tarmac in triple digit temperatures with scarce water and shade. Security was practically non-existent. Mix that all together over 3 days, I couldn't imagine what could possibly go wrong.

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I think its a little overblown on the conditions, the complaints weren't that there was no water, it was that it was too expensive. I didn't see anything about port-a-pottys overflowing. The main complaint was the trash, which was to be expected (anyone been to Chilifest, and thats a country festival in Texas). It sucked for the concert goers that it was hot, but it isn't the promoters fault that they happened to have record heat those days on New York state.

The main problem was the lack of security, which led to the fires and rioting at the end of the festival, and that was encouraged by Limp Bizkit and RHCP. That can probably be blamed on the promotors not realizing the audience and atmosphere at rock concerts of the era. Crowds that size and a lack of security in that setting is a recipe for disaster.

What I'm getting at, is that although conditions weren't great, so many people including many of the ones interviewed did not regret going.

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I hope John Scher and his 'We didn't have any more rapes than a city of that size would have' burns in hell.

What an incredibly asinine, crass, and just flat out awful thing to say. And to say it on camera for a film crew was shocking.

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I think there was one rape reported, he is right. He's wasn't condoning. I think it could be expected that at a festival like this that lasts three days with a bunch of drunk and druged kids, some unwanted sexual moves are going to be made. I think the filmakers really wanted this to be a central theme of why the festival was a disaster but in reality it was not.

^ That you John?

You sound like you're defending them.

I've worked ACL for about 10 years and have seen it all. Voodoofest, Lights all Night, LoneStar Jam....more than I can count. Sanitation was a huge problem at woodstock. You can sell water all day but every festival is REQUIRED to have free water stations. I don't remember what the name was but Sara on the show developed an infection because of the water. They tested the water and the room with the samples stunk. I mean, did you even watch the whole series???

The promoters were CLUELESS and blamed the kids. Yes, kids are azzholes but the promoters set everything to up to fail. These idiots thought people in 99 were just like people in 69. This hippies were so out of touch with reality. They literally blamed others and took ZERO responsibility.

Security - The yellow patrol idea. Dumbest shet I've ever heard of with that lineup. And you have to realize that they didn't even show the RATM or Metallica shows. I'm sure those kids realized a couple of hours into the weekend that there were NO COPS around. Cops aren't there to arrest people but they do keep the peace. There were so many times working ACL where people would get out of hand and the simple presence of a cop changed their attitude within an instant. There are so many stories.

The Rave - What good can come from a rave after all of the shows? Seriously. Going to a rave is one thing but going to one after midnight after spending all day at a festival??? Lol. Sure some can do it but it's 300K people.

The rapes - The promoter compared those problems to a problem of the same sized city. A city of that size has those problems so it's understandable that a festival would have the same things happening. WOW!!!!

The candles - omg....idiots!

I gotta stop b/c I get a headache when people sound like they're defending these FOOLS! Yes, it was that bad. They completely effed up and took no responsibility for it.

You're not understanding what I'm saying.

I clearly stated that more security was needed, that the yellow shirt thing was ridiculous. Had they had security, and the riots/fires would not have happened, it would not have been considered a massive failure. expensive water, heat and a rowdy but not completely out of control crowd do not make for a completely disasterous festival. Remember, the original Woodstock was disasterous from an infrastucture standpoint, it just didn't have the rioting and destruction so everyone talks about it in peace and love.

TexAgBolter said:

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Ah Rockfest. That was one heck of a day. My buds and I started the day up front but moved to the grandstands for the night portion. No issues, but the plastic bottle war between people in the grandstands and people on the track was a sight to behold.

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We got out there the day before and camped and saw the sun come up and went into the festival and I'll never forget how hot it was that day and the water bottle war being pretty terrifying to be stuck in the middle of.

Here's a bunch of good clips from Woodstock '99 Relix put out today, particularly for jamband fans, including my favorite band of all time, moe..Much different crowd atmosphere surrounding these acts.

https://relix.com/festivals/festival_news/detail/woodstock-99-revisited-planet-drum-moe-guster-and-more/?utm_source=Relix+Daily&utm_campaign=e6fa08d7e1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_08_11_06_54&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_486e6e4b54-e6fa08d7e1-25688609&mc_cid=e6fa08d7e1&mc_eid=972ae36c5c

Know Your Enemy said:

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Whos Juan said:

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AggieUSMC said:

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Quote:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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They probably had adequate security, sanitation, and water. That's all Woodstock '99 needed but the organizers cared more about maximizing their profits.

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It was only one day and there's no way in hell they made any money off of it. I think I got my ticket free with a Blockbuster rental.

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I managed a Blockbuster Music at that time.

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What location? And I don't know if this still holds true but at the time, Blockbuster Rockfest was the single largest ticketed concert event in human history.

johnnyblaze36 said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Whos Juan said:

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AggieUSMC said:

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Quote:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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They probably had adequate security, sanitation, and water. That's all Woodstock '99 needed but the organizers cared more about maximizing their profits.

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It was only one day and there's no way in hell they made any money off of it. I think I got my ticket free with a Blockbuster rental.

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I managed a Blockbuster Music at that time.

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What location? And I don't know if this still holds true but at the time, Blockbuster Rockfest was the single largest ticketed concert event in human history.

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Greenville & Lovers

tk for tu juan said:

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double aught said:

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Any of you fellow GenXers go to Rockfest at Texas Motor Speedway in '97? It was a helluva show with every big pop/rock act at the time. They estimated up to 500k people there but no issues.

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The traffic getting there was a nightmare. Got there about midway thru and saw The Wallflowers, Jewel, Sugar Ray, Collective Soul, Paula Cole, Counting Crows, No Doubt. Stayed near the back of the crowd between the race garages and the stage. We left near the end of No Doubt to avoid the after show traffic. As we were leaving people stuck in the stands and on the track were throwing water bottles and other items at people in the front stretch grass

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The funny thing was after all of those bands the crowd kept screaming Woo-hoo! on the way out because they played the video for Blur's Song #2 at least 35 times between bands.

Hold a show with Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit, you're gonna attract Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit fans

I wonder how many festivals Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit have played at that didnt get torn up or burned down vs how many did.