The Pharmacy, In Philadelphia, August 6th, 2021

     Here are pictures that I took at The Pharmacy, in Philadelphia, on August 6th, 2021.  The lineup was Blanks 77, Submachine, One Sided and The Whiskey Bats.

Blanks 77:

Submachine (With a bonus picture of Oyo Ellis when he grabbed the mic):

One Sided:

The Whiskey Bats:

The Direct Line From Woodstock '99 To Right Now

 

     I took the time to sit down and watch the documentary about Woodstock '99 and, as the minutes went by, the sinking feeling in my stomach kept getting worse and worse.  I knew the festival was bad but I had no idea it was that bad.

     I do remember having had the opportunity to go to Woodstock '99 with some friends that I went to school with.  Once I found out how much outdoor living there was going to be I quickly turned down the invitation.  I was (and still am) an indoor kid and the thought of camping somewhere was enough to make me want nothing to do with an outdoor music festival that lasted for three days.  And after watching the documentary, I am so glad that I bailed on it.

     The ignorance and savagery of America was on full display that weekend.  Vendors price gouging on bottled water while people were bathing in the free drinking water stations that were set up.  Security guards that were confiscating food and water at the gates but letting booze and drugs in for a small bribe. People rolling around in mud next to the overflowing port-a-johns somehow not realizing that they were rolling around in human waste.  People who passed out from heatstroke were being taken to the medical tent and treated as drug overdoses with defibrillator pads instead of having their temperatures taken and treated accordingly.

     Then there was the escalating violence of the weekend that was capped off by looting vendors and setting fires in various parts of the festival grounds.  Not to mention the untold number of sexual assaults that occurred over the three days.  Very few of the assaults were reported so that's the statistic that the organizers stick to when questioned about it.  All these years later, scumbag promoter, John Scher still blames the women that were assaulted instead of the rapists that couldn't keep their hands to themselves.

     The speculation surrounding the root cause of a bunch of clueless white boys cutting loose for three days on what used to be a military base only scratched the surface.  Part of the sinking feeling that I had was due to the cultural ripple effect that occurred from the late nineties to this very moment.  I would feel comfortable wagering a large sum of money that the majority of those in attendance at Woodstock '99 went on to be T*ump voters or cops or have a high likelihood of beginning a conversation with “You know what I heard on J*e R*gan the other day?”

     The generation of white males that this event was pitched to had been culturally catered to since birth for no other reason than their expendable consumer dollars.  And I say this as a white male that is part of that generation.  We had cartoons, movies and sports jammed down our throats along with Happy Meals, soda and candy disguised as breakfast.  No wonder some of us have no attention spans, lack basic critical thinking skills or have trouble figuring out how to act in public.  That's not an excuse for the behavior but how can any other outcome have been expected when a concentrated amount of cretins are all in the same fenced in area for three days.

     The behaviors on display at Woodstock '99 did not start at anger.  This behavior came from somewhere further down the evolutionary chain.  The crowd was docile and looking to have a good time until they were denied what they wanted and then they immediately escalated to rage.  The facilities were shit so they broke them.  The food and water was overpriced so they tore down the vendor tents.  Women were seen as objects to be had so they were taken without a chance to even say “No.”  This was straight up caveman/toddler behavior.

     The parallels between the events of that weekend and the events of the past year became very clear. White males who have been practically handed everything they need to get by have complete meltdowns when they are told “No.”  Whether it's a poorly planned music festival or having to wear a piece of cloth over their faces when they go to the grocery store.  Any minor inconvenience is somehow seen as the greatest slight against humanity.  If something doesn't go their way, look out because they will be on a rampage.

     Musically, the lineup was not very impressive.  It was mostly forgettable, corporate rock flavor of the day type bands.  Unfortunately, the flavor of the day was Nu Metal so bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were given much more of a spotlight than they deserved.  Those bands were all over what was left of MTV and radio which was starting to succumb to the spreading cancer of Clear Channel.  Empty lyrics over aggressive music was gobbled up by the target demographic like an ice cold Mountain Dew.

     I was (and still am) the angriest of angry white boys and I don't think I have ever acted out in that way. I could have very easily gone that route with music but it was Rage Against The Machine that told me to do the requisite reading to go along with the aggression.  I didn't have many friends so I had a lot of time on my hands to sit in my room and read as many books as I could.  I tried to feed my anger with as much information as I possibly could and to also deprogram myself from what my parents told me.

     I do remember listening to the radio to hear Rage Against The Machine play their set.  During "Killing In The Name," the band set fire to the American flag that used to hang upside down over the bass amps.  The former Pittsburgh DJ that went by the name “Booker” was MC-ing the proceedings for KROQ and exclaimed “I am so angry right now!!!”  I couldn't tell if he was feigning anger or if his angry voice was just flat out whiny but it sure was funny to me.

     After seeing how awful Limp Bizkit was back in 1999, it sure is weird seeing them treated with some sort of reverence in 2021.  Given their recent appearance at Lollapalooza and the media attention surrounding it, I would like to think that band would have been better.

     I guess that's what happens when empty vapid culture grows up and has kids.  People are getting nostalgic for shit that never had any substance.  I could never imagine taking one of their records off the shelf and saying “Gather 'round, children. Let me show you Limp Bizkit.”