Woodstock '99 is thehigh point of my life so far. My brother, three friends and Iknew we had to be part of all the excitement at Griffith AirForce Base.

We were greeted by a scalper who sold ustickets for less than we would have paid at the ticketcounter. Soon after we arrived, Limp Bizkit began anincredible set that was delayed when fans began tearingplywood from a sound tower. When they resumed, Limp Bizkit'sFred Durst encouraged fans to let him stand on the plywoodheld by the crowd.

Then Rage Against the Machine tookthe stage for a phenomenal show. They burned an American flag,which didn't surprise me due to the political content of theirlyrics, but did manage to make a majority of the fans veryangry. Finally the crowd quit booing and Metallica took thestage. They played for an hour more than their scheduled time.The only downfall of the night was the lack ofwater.

The next morning we arrived just as Our LadyPeace was about to take the stage. Their show was not thatgreat, although there were a lot of Cana-dian fans in thecrowd waving flags. After lunch, we caught the end ofSevendust's show. Then Collective Soul took the stage to playwhat I thought was one of the best shows of the weekend. Theyplayed over an hour's worth of their own songs, plus a veryimpressive rendition of Ozzy Osbourne's "CrazyTrain." Next was Godsmack, and they got the crowd pumpedwith the best show of the weekend. A few minutes of Megadethwas enough for me; I didn't go for lead singer Dave Mustaine'snegative energy.

This is when things took a turn forthe worse. People began looting and burning things. I believeit was the ridiculous prices for food and water that setpeople off - $10 for a burrito and $4 for a small bottle ofwater in intense heat? It was crazy. I saw people throwvendors out of their booths and hand out food and water. Therewere many fires throughout the night, which tuned me into thefact that things were going wrong.

The next morning Iawoke to the smell of smoke from still-burning fires; the carhad a thin layer of ash on it. We decided it was time to goback to Gouverneur and our normal lives.