Were Limp Bizkit Really to Blame for Woodstock '99?

Woodstock '99, which was held from July 23 to 25 that year, ended in absolute chaos and much of the blame was pointed at the then-ascending nu-metal group Limp Bizkit.

The Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage documentary from 2021 seemed to target Limp Bizkit and frontman Fred Durst, who commanded over a crowd that had begun to scale on-site structures and tear things apart. But is it really the band's fault, or perhaps a coincidence that they were onstage at a fever pitch moment?

Extreme heat, shortage of supplies, overcrowding and aggressive music doesn’t exactly make for three days of peace and love. Instead, riots, sexual assaults and even deaths come to mind when Woodstock ’99 is brought up. It all seems to exist in the shadow of the name Limp Bizkit, however, lumping all the problems under the word "disaster."

With a myriad of these problematic incidents, how could it all be pointed at a band? Is it possible that absolutely nobody else could, at the least, share some of this blame? Or even own up to it outright?

A Different Woodstock Than the Past

Woodstock ’99 promoter John Scher, along with original Woodstock ’69 organizer Michael Lang just marketed the festival to what was popular at the time, and unfortunately, nu-metal came hat in hand with aggression, misogyny, homophobia, and was very much a hit with the angry frat boy-type audience.

What people forget about Woodstock ’99 is that the worst of the rioting, looting and assaults didn’t even happen the same day Limp Bizkit performed. They occurred the day after.

The fact was Woodstock ’99 was plagued by a series of oversights by the organizers, and the extreme summer heat only added fuel to the fire. People saw through the greed of the high tickets costs and overcharging for things such as water bottles.

The security they hired was severely under-qualified and received little equipment, instruction and/or training. They did a horrible job of planning things such access to toilets and showers.

The venue, a retired air base, was simply spread out way too far between stages and the tenting area. Of course, the blacktop added to the brutality of the heat and the industrial feel was a harsh contrast to the fest's peace-loving brand.

One moment that HBO’s Woodstock documentary didn’t show was Fred Durst saying to the audience, ”We already let all the negative energy out. It’s time to bring some positive energy into this motherfucker.” In a later interview, Durst recalled, “I don’t think [the crowd] understood what I meant. Okay, let’s get rid of all that negative energy so we can bring positive in. That means start jumping — jumping and singing. It doesn’t mean start raping and burning the place down.”

Woodstock ’99 made Limp Bizkit go from the bad boys of TRL to villains in the mainstream media. News reports showed Fred Durst singing “Break Stuff” and clipped it over video of all the mayhem that ensued. For the narrative, it was convenient.

To this day, John Scher lays the blame on the bands, especially Limp Bizkit. It let the organizers off the hook, but maybe they should’ve seen the issues in trying to put a dollar sign next to the romanticism of the old festival. Sometimes people don’t want the truth, they just want a scapegoat.

Watch the full video on whether or not Limp Bizkit were to blame for Woodstock ’99 below.