Limp Bizkit performed “Break Stuff” 18 times before Woodstock ’99. Prior to their July 24, 1999 performance, no riot was attributed to the 5-piece band from Jacksonville, Florida. 

Limp Bizkit has performed “Break Stuff” 587 times since Woodstock 1999. Since their July 24, 1999 performance, no riot has been attributed to the 5-piece band from Jacksonville, Florida. 

Limp Bizkit and their performance of “Break Stuff” at Woodstock ’99 has been highlighted in two documentaries in the last two years about the disastrous festival. Neither doc does any deep diving about Bizkit’s touring history prior and since. The newest one, Netflix’s Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 is the bigger offender due to a specific talking head. 

Anyone could have critiqued Bizkit’s Woodstock ’99 set. It’s disappointing that the ABC News journalist David Blaustein offers psychoanalysis of Bizkit lead singer Fred Durst rather than give context of either the band or rock festivals in general. 

Blaustein’s role in the new Netflix doc is to give context to pop culture at large. In addition to the doc beginning with footage of himself post riot at the fest, we get his take on American film and how it helped get to the riot. He uses two movies to illustrate the late-90s pop-culture stance on young people, sex and violence. “American Pie was the most successful R-rated comedy we ever had,” Blaustein begins. “It is brimming with sexuality from a male perspective. Then you have Fight Club with a very interesting take on masculinity, consumerism. But most importantly, violence. It’s a good snapshot of where the psychology may have been of a lot of the kids who attended Woodstock ’99.” Sure. American Pie was successful but was only two weeks old when Woodstock ’99 kicked off and Fight Club wasn’t released until November. The anecdote is a stretch. 

The doc’s second-hour focus is mostly about Limp Bizkit and their infamous set. Once again, Blaustein’s reporting from the festival in 1999 is interspersed with his modern-day takes. He puts himself in the pit and explains to the news consumer about the projectiles hitting Blaustein.

It’s understandable and disappointing ABC sent a 26-year-old to Woodstock that seemingly had no understanding about mosh pits. Sure, it’s out of the ordinary in day-to-day life but slamming into hundreds of others was, and is, not uncommon at music festivals. This is not a phenomenon unique to Limp Bizkit, Korn or any other Woodstock 99 act. When he claims he was hit by a Frisbee and a shoe, I entirely believe him because I was hit by Frisbees and shoes at most every outdoor rock festival I attended from 1997 to 2001. That was the norm. If he’s providing color for the ABC News listener, great. If he’s reporting to showcase the out-of-control nature of a Limp Bizkit set, that’s irresponsible. 

The biggest disappointment is Blaustein’s interpretation of Limp Bizkit’s performance of “Break Stuff.” He appears surprised by Fred Durst’s preamble before “Break Stuff,” a preamble he’s most likely given 609 times, a preamble about the desire to break stuff when you’re having a bad day. It gets markedly worse when Blaustein goes from reporter to psychologist when he says, “You could see Fred Durst’s id, ego, and superego battling it out on stage.”

No. That is not possible. 

Blaustein continues, “You see the look on his face, like, “Holy shit.” You have a superego. “All right, calm down, Fred. Just be good. Don’t do anything crazy.” But then you have the id going, “Fuck, yeah! Let’s do this!” 

Blaustein proceeds to repeat what Durst says during the bridge and ends with, “Kerosine. Match. Boom!” That is not what happened. 

Limp Bizkit did exactly what they were booked to do at Woodstock ’99. If their actions actually led to a riot, the group would not have been able to perform 998 times from 1995 to 2022. 

Here are some things other than Limp Bizkit addressed in Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99: festival promoters charging $4 to $12 for bottled water after taking bottled water from attendees upon entry, festival promoters providing ‘free’ water with fecal matter, festival promoters hiring untrained teenagers for security, festival promoters neglecting trash pickup, festival promoters distribute 100,000 candles to prevent gun violence during the last moments of a three day festival held in 90+ degree heat. All of these things are acknowledged. Limp Bizkit receives more screen time than any of these issues. 

Unironically, the film/series wraps with Korn’s Jonathan Davis, the main musician responsible for Limp Bizkit obtaining their pop culture relevancy, as the voice of reason. “As a promoter, if you’re going to put on an event, your first responsibility is the safety of the crowd. But they were completely unprepared. It was like, let’s just get a quarter-million people together and let’s see what happens. For anyone to get hurt, there’s no excuse for that.” 

Davis is right. Obviously. No matter how many songs about breaking stuff or going blind a group performs, it’s the responsibility of the people producing the show to maintain order. Now get in the pit and try to love someone. JK. Kid Rock isn’t good. 

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