Sheryl Crow Recalls Halting Her Woodstock '99 Set After Fans Began Throwing Sewage: 'It Was So Bad'
Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect Sheryl Crow at Woodstock '99
Sheryl Crow is looking back on the chaos that went down at Woodstock '99 following a recent Netflix docuseries, which recounted the three-day music festival and the arson-filled riots and multiple reported sexual assaults that went down among its crowd.
Speaking to David Spade and Dana Carvey of Saturday Night Live on a recent episode of their Fly on the Wall podcast, Crow opened up about her experience performing at the upstate New York festival — and the flying bodily substance that led the "Soak Up the Sun" performer to leave the stage early.
Released earlier this year, Netflix's Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 recounted the festival's troubling events, from attendees rolling in mud mixed with sewage from leaking porta potties to multiple reported victims of rape within the uncontrollably raucous crowd.
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Henry Diltz/Corbis via Getty Woodstock '99
"I watched part of [the documentary] on the airplane a couple of days ago. I had to turn it off," said Crow, 60, on the podcast of the festival, which also featured Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Korn, among many other artists. "It was so disturbing, and I remember it. I remember how awful it was."
Spade, 58, expressed surprise at the fact that attendees remained at the festival throughout the entire weekend, considering crowd members became aggressive on the first of its three days — during which Crow performed a daytime set shortly after comedian Andy Dick, who flashed his penis to the crowd. "It is interesting that people did stay. Almost felt like they couldn't leave," she noted.
"It was debauched from the beginning because we were on the first day. You could look out and see girls who were topless on guys' shoulders, trying to get the MTV camera to sweep around in front of them and get on TV," detailed the "All I Wanna Do" singer-songwriter.
David Lefranc/Sygma via Getty Woodstock '99
She then recalled the moment in which she decided to end the performance early. "They were already throwing s--- from the outhouses that were not set up right, that were leaking," explained Crow. "At one point, some landed on my hand while I was playing bass during 'My Favorite Mistake.' That's when we stopped. We played about four songs, and I remember saying, 'Nah, not gonna do it.'"
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When Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 became available in August, former TRL host Carson Daly took to Instagram and reflected on his experience covering the festival for the MTV show.
"All I can say is I thought I was going to die. It started off great, TRL live from the side of main stage interviewing all the bands (like Jay from Jamiroquai) & then started getting pelted with bottles, rocks, lighters, all of it," wrote the TODAY host, 49, in the post's caption. "It got insane, fast."
After Limp Bizkit's late-night set on Saturday of the festival, Daly recalled his boss instructing the MTV crew to leave out of concern for their safety.
"I remember being in a production van driving recklessly through corn fields to get to safety. It was so crazy & a blur now," he added. "I just remember feeling like I was in another country during military conflict. I have so many fun memories from that era, this was not one of them."
