Have you seen Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 yet? It’s a documentary about the third edition of the Woodstock festival on Netflix. The original festival was organized in 1969 by Michael Lang who is also the man behind the ’99 edition. And I could remember it! I was starting my career in the music industry and found out about the festival on the news. On television that was, long before high speed internet. On the news, it wasn’t about the announcement of the legendary festival or it’s line up. They said nothing about the line up. They were talking about riots, fires and sexual assault. A tragedy.

And now, almost 25 years later, there is this documentary that everyone in the music business has to see. It gives you a pretty insight in how shitty promoters work and think. And I’m not talking about the promoter’s decisions and actions from twenty five years ago. The responsible promoter, John Scher, was interviewed just a couple of months ago! As they say: ‘A fox will lose it’s hair, but not it’s tricks… ‘ It’s stunning to see what he did back then and what he is saying now about the events that weekend.

In chapter 27 of Never Work With Your Idols, I mention Woodstock ’99 as an example on how not to promote festivals. To quote myself:

“Crowd management and safety are the very first and most important aspects you must never save on. Wave goodbye to your ego in this respect and make sure you have people helping you out who really understand the subject. And don’t let money be the driving factor.”

Find out yourself and watch Trainwreck. You’ll be amazed.