Watch The Cranberries Play “Dreams” and More at Woodstock ’94
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With all the talk of the festival’s anniversary and the disastrous attempts at a 2019 reboot, you’re probably tired of hearing the word “Woodstock” at this point, but hang in there for one more mention: We promise it’s worth it.
Five years before the chaos of Woodstock ‘99 and 25 years after the first celebration of “peace and music,” the condensed free-for-all that was Woodstock ‘94 took place at Winston Farm in Saugerties, N.Y., about 100 miles north of the city, on Aug. 13-14. While not a complete catastrophe like its successor Woodstock ‘99, Woodstock ‘94 had its share of problems—mud, substantial over-crowding, a general lack of “peace” paired with the “music.”
But there were some highlights, too, including this stunning Cranberries set from this day (Aug. 12) in 1994. The dearly departed Dolores O’Riordan (who tragically passed away in 2018) leads the ‘90s rock icons in a searing performance of hits like “Dreams” and “Zombie.” You can watch both below.
O’Riordan’s stage presence was electric. The Cranberries frontwoman traces the stage over and over as she stomps and screams and encourages the crowd to follow suit. The enormous sea of onlookers hoisted waves of crowd-surfers (including children, puzzlingly) as long-haired attendees populated a dusty mosh pit. You can really see why this rendition of the festival is often referred to as “Mudstock ‘94.”
Again, you can watch highlights from The Cranberries’ Woodstock ‘94 set below via the Paste vault.
Read: The Cranberries Talk 25th Anniversary, ‘90s Nostalgia and Playing “Linger” on The Bachelorette