I Was at Woodstock ‘99. It Really Was That Dangerous.

Rage, hyperthermia, dehydration, and the festival organizers’ apathy were a toxic mix. It remains the only live music event from which I have been evacuated. If you have trouble reading this message, [view it in a browser](. [I Was at Woodstock '99, and Yes, Everyone Was That Angry]( There was chaos and carnage, feces and fire at Woodstock ’99, but what still triggers me twenty-two years later is the little tiny variety cereal boxes. The audience at the festival, as you will learn from Garret Price’s excellent documentary Woodstock ’99: Peace, Love and Rage, which premieres tonight on HBO, was massive and largely male. These guys were mostly white, and these white guys were mostly angry. Angry at the August heat, angry at the lack of shade on the festival grounds, angry at the absence of tap water and the price of bottled water. They were also angry at MTV for leaning briefly away from rock music and toward boy bands and Britney Spears, this being 1999. I know this, because I was there covering the festival for MTV, so I served as an unofficial complaints department. [Read More]( [The Perfect Back-to-Work Blazer Is 60% Off Right Now]( For those of us obsessed with Getting Dressed, it's time to load up our shopping carts with ideas and start planning those Monday-to-Friday fits. Sure, you've got a lot of collared whatnots and sturdy pants that haven't gotten any playing time since February 2020, but don't those feel kind of stale to ya all of a sudden? Because cobwebs aren't trending for fall/winter '21, we highly suggest you do a little restock before your first commute. And there's no better place to start than an unstructured blazer. This one, specifically, from Everlane, will do the trick. And better yet, it's on sale right now for a mere 59 bucks.[Read More]( [Everlane's Summer Sale Is Still Stocked With Essentials—And They’re Moving Fast]( While you may feel all set for summer already (especially if you've been a frequent visitor to esquire dot com backslash style), this Everlane sale is the right opportunity to stock up on the sort of summer essentials you'll be wearing for years to come. We’re talking perfectly basic T-shirts, slim chinos that go with everything, jeans—jeans—for less than $30. Everlane has even, once again, marked down the perfect blazer for returning to life. [Read More]( [The 17 Best Waterproof Bluetooth Speakers for Water-Adjacent Adventure in 2021]( If 2021 has a soundtrack, its theme could be described as "wild abandonment." So we need portable speakers that are "wild abandonment"-proof. In other words, waterproof. Of those, there are many. But first, hold tight for some rather dry, owner's-manual speak to help make sense of what's waterproof, what's water-resistant, and what would melt under a splash from the faucet, wicked witch-style, in the Bluetooth speaker realm. [Read More]( [Kanye West and JAY-Z Have Reunited for a Song on Donda. Here's How Fans Reacted.]( Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET, the wait began—or, for longtime Kanye West fans, continued. West's planned live listening event for his 10th studio album, Donda, itself anticipated for several years now, did, in fact, go live when it was supposed to, but more than an hour passed before music began to thump. When it finally did, West emerged onto the field of Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz stadium wearing his now-signature full face mask and a red version of his YZY GAP Round Jacket (now available for pre-order in black), a color we hadn't yet seen. The rapper didn't speak a word throughout the entire event, but paced the entirety of the covered football field, dancing, posing, and sometimes pausing as tracks blasted through the speakers. The feature list was heavy: the late Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, Pusha T, Lil Baby. But those weren't the names that got fans really going Thursday night. When West played the last track of the album, before ceremoniously walking off the field, a familiar voice boomed throughout the venue: JAY-Z. [Read More]( [Why Amy Winehouse Endures]( Ten years ago today, Amy Winehouse died at the age of 27, a wretched ending to a life of brilliant highs and too-well-chronicled calamity. But as my friend’s karaoke choices illustrate, a decade later, Winehouse still occupies a strong place in the public imagination, and remains a singular and transformative figure in pop music. At the 2019 Glastonbury festival, Miley Cyrus covered "Back to Black" (the title track to Winehouse’s magnificent 2006 album that has sold sixteen million copies worldwide and won five Grammy Awards), while Lana del Rey recently said that she considered quitting music following Winehouse’s death. [Read More]( [Read More on Esquire.com]( [One kettlebell is all you need]( Follow Us [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Notice/Notice at Collection]( esquire.com ©2021 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019