Woodstock Redone '90s Style
Filed at 11:19 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
BETHEL, N.Y. (AP)-- Forget trying to recapture a piece of the Woodstock '69 magic. The moshing, crowd-surfing teens who came for the third and final day of this
year's Woodstock concert wanted no peace signs or tie-dye. They came to rock.
Promoters estimated the crowd Sunday swelled beyond 30,000 for the concert headlined by Dishwalla, Marcy Playground, Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, along
with singer Joan Osborne. That compares with the crowd of 18,000 that showed up Saturday, when the bill had such '60s stars as Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens and
Peter Townshend.
The decibel levels emanating from the speakers Sunday seemed to rise with the temperature through the day.
With the added people, younger crowd and temperatures that hit the low 90s came more problems, including crowd-surfing -- passing teen-agers on top of the tightly
packed crowd.
Scores were treated at medical tents for dehydration. One person was arrested on a drug charge Sunday and several rowdy youths were picked from the crowd and
ejected.
Organizers banned beer sales, angering the crowd to the point that people began chanting during Osborne's set. Some near the stage also threw water bottles, causing
Osborne to look visibly perturbed as she left the stage at the end of her performance.
``It's a big disappointment,'' said Don Murphy, 30. ``I think (the beer) kind of helps the festival atmosphere. We ran into people on the way in who were leaving
because of this.''
Even if peace and love weren't always apparent, it was a new generation that had descended on Max Yasgur's old farm Sunday.
``This is definitely not Woodstock,'' said 16-year-old Alicia Nackley of Liberty. ``Someone is trying to make money off of this. It's way too organized.''
Goo Goo Dolls lead singer Johnny Rzeznik added during his set: ``In 30 years, I hope you guys aren't going to get stupidly nostalgic, come back here in your BMWs
and try to relive all this.''
Meanwhile, in Limestone, Maine, two days of performances by the ban Phish wound up Sunday. The Vermont-based band, known for its Grateful Dead-style
improvisational concerts, attracted an estimated crowd of 60,000 to the former Loring Air Force Base.
Fourteen concertgoers were arrested Sunday night and early today on drug charges, bringing the total number of arrests to 18, state police said.
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