Offspring, Korn, And Bush Rock Woodstock

07/26/1999 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(7/26/99, 1 p.m. PDT) -Mostly hard and heavy acts, including the Offspring, Korn, and Bush, rocked Woodstock '99 on Friday (July 23) night.

Although it did not make the splash that fellow Cali-punkers Green Day did at Woodstock '94, the Offspring proved to be one of the best-received bands of day one of this year's Woodstock. Amid lots of flying plastic water bottles, the Offspring rocked the crowd for an hour with a string of its power-punk hits.

Singer Dexter Holland pointed out to the crowd that "you guys are dirty!" With that, the band launched into "It's All I Want," and never let up the intensity. By mixing hits like "The Kids Aren't Alright," "Get A Job," "Gone Away," and "Come Out And Play" with lesser-known songs, the band satisfied both its hardcore and casual fans.

During the set, the Offspring destroyed a bunch of dummies sporting Backstreet Boys masks, as a Backstreet song played over the sound system. After that gimmick, the band finished up with some of its best-known songs, including "Gotta Get Away," "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)," "Come Out And Play," "Get A Job," and "Self Esteem."

The members of Korn likely knew it would be a good night when just minutes before the show, a girl with the band's name painted across her bare chest was hoisted on a man's shoulders in front of the stage. As the first few notes of "Blind" got the crowd hyped, singer Jonathan Davis emerged wearing a black kilt and shirt.

Korn then ran through its set, one of the most energetic of the day, offering such highlights as "Twist," "Got The Life," "A.D.I.D.A.S.," "Freak On A Leash," "Shoots And Ladders," "Faget," and a bagpipe solo, in addition to three songs from the group's upcoming album.

It appeared obvious that Korn epitomized the new breed of modern music, which is very much in evidence at Woodstock '99. "It's definitely a new generation; you can see on the bill just how much the music has changed and evolved," Korn guitarist Munky Schaeffer said. "I just think kids are a little wiser."

Bush's 80-minute set on Friday came as something of an anticlimax to Korn's fury, with many in the exhausted, spent crowd leaving during the show.

The band opened with "Machine Head," "Personal Halloway," and "Greedy Fly," before moving into some uncharted territory. Bush played some of the new songs that will appear on the forthcoming album, The Science Of Things, including "40 Miles From The Sun," "War Machine," and "The Chemicals Between Us."

Led by a shirtless Gavin Rossdale, who at one point surfed through the crowd at the front of the stage, Bush also offered plenty of hits, including "Everything Zen," "Glycerine," "Come Down," "Swallowed," and "Little Things," as well as two covers--Neil Young's "F--kin' Up" and R.E.M.'s "The One I Love."

The Insane Clown Posse gave Woodstock a full helping of its outrageous, profanity-laden fun on Friday night, thumping through an hour's worth of multi-textured hip-hop songs, mostly from its latest album The Amazing Jeckel Brothers.

Declaring that the fans had paid too much money ($150) for their tickets, ICP gave some of their $100,000 fee back by taping $100 bills to the bottom of balls that they tossed to the crowd.

Features on the Offspring, Korn, Bush, Green Day, R.E.M., and the Insane Clown Posse are available on LAUNCH.com.

-- Darren Davis and Gary Graff, Rome, N.Y.

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