Given the rich history of the original Woodstock festival and the controversy surrounding its 1999 successor, it seems like Woodstock '94 is the forgotten "middle child."

Woodstock 1994
Collective Soul at Woodstock '94 (Getty Images)
loading...

Woodstock '94 took place August 12-14th to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original. The site was Winston Farm, west of Saugerties, about 70 miles northeast of Bethel, where the first one took place.

Roughly 350,000 people attended the festival, even though only 164,000 tickets were sold.

Below are 7 things you may not know about Woodstock '94:

1.) IT HAD THE MOST MUD OF ANY WOODSTOCK

Mud is synonymous with Woodstock (even though 1999's was raw human waste), but Woodstock '94 took the crown for being the muddiest. Day 1 was hot and dry, but incessant rain on Day 2 turned much of the field to mud.

2.) THREE PEOPLE DIED

Three people died at the '94 festival, but all from pre-existing conditions. Actually, each of the three Woodstocks had three deaths each.

3.) IT WAS AVAILABLE ON PAY-PER-VIEW FOR $49

Remember pay-per-view? Those were the days. There was a time when you could watch pay-per-view "Scramblevision," where you didn't buy the event, but you could still hear it through video distortion. Since Woodstock '94 was all about the music, "watching" in Scramblevision seemed like a good option here.

4.) BOB DYLAN, WHO DECLINED A 1969 INVITATION, FINALLY SHOWED UP

Dylan famously declined an invitation to the original Woodstock, even though he lived near Bethel at the time. He must've had a change of heart 25 years later. His performance was considered one of the highlights of Woodstock '94.

5.) SHANNON HOON OF BLIND MELON WAS TRIPPING BALLS

Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon was noticeably high on acid, and he gave a rather disjointed interview to MTV afterwards. Hoon would die the following year of a drug overdose.

6.) GREEN DAY ALMOST STARTED A RIOT

Billie Joe Armstrong has been known to get contentious on stage from time to time. By the time Green Day performed, concertgoers were already starting sling mud. The punk rock trio attempted to play through it, but mud kept hitting Armstrong's guitar. He eventually lost patience with the crowd and started throwing back, resulting in a full blown mud fight. Worst of all, during the skirmish, security mistook bassist Mike Dirnt for a fan and broke several of his teeth.

7.) THE DOUBLE ALBUM WAS EVERYWHERE IN THE '90S

It seemed like the two-disc Woodstock '94 album was all over the place. I remember you could always find a used copy at the record store. It was certified platinum in the U.S. and Canada.

seller thisnthatauctions80 on eBay
seller thisnthatauctions80 on eBay
loading...

NOTABLE ACTS • DAY 1

  • Blues Traveler 
  • Jackyl
  • Sheryl Crow
  • Collective Soul
  • Live 

NOTABLE ACTS • DAY 2

  • Joe Cocker
  • Blind Melon
  • Cypress Hill 
  • Crosby, Stills & Nash 
  • Metallica
  • Aerosmith 

NOTABLE ACTS • DAY 3

  • The Allman Brothers Band 
  • Porno for Pyros
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers 
  • Bob Dylan 
  • Peter Gabriel 
  • Green Day
  • Santana 

NOTABLE ABSENCES

Guns n' Roses were asked to perform, but were in the midst of internal strife that would result in Slash eventually departing the band.

Johnny Cash was in talks to perform, but declined after promoters couldn't promise him the main stage.

Alice in Chains were initially advertised, but Layne Staley's drug problems forced them to withdraw.

Remembering Woodstock '94 in Pictures

A collection of 35mm photographs taken at the Woodstock '94 concert shows what it was like to be in the crowd and backstage at this historic Hudson Valley event.

25 Fascinating Facts About Woodstock 1969

More From 96.1 The Eagle