WOODSTOCK '94 IS SHOWING HOW 25 YEARS CHANGED U.S.

EVENT REPLACES TRUST WITH RULES, TIGHT SECURITY; ONCE YOU'RE IN, YOU'RE IN

DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994

SOURCE: BY DAVID GERMAIN, Associated Press

The first of the Woodstock '94 pilgrims arrived yesterday to a scene far different from the late, great love fest of 1969. Metal detectors. Wire fences. Police patrolling the perimeter. Police dogs sniffing for drugs. Hundreds of security guards in orange Peace Patrol T-shirts. Special Woodstock currency to buy food and souvenirs. This is not your father's Woodstock. The strict rules on what can be brought in -- no bottles, food, booze, metal tent stakes -- have left some fans fearful they'll be spending the weekend in the Gulag Woodstock, the Woodstockade, Woodstalag 17.

"We're the only communist country left in the world. Look at this," said Charlie Brown of Jacksonville, Fla., pointing at metal detectors set up in a field near a parking lot for ticket holders in Coxsackie, about 20 miles from Saugerties. Fans were required to pass through the detectors before they could board school buses to the concert site. "Big Brother has taken over Woodstock," Brown said. April Malara of Paramus, N.J., said she felt as if she was being bused from one prison town to another. Coxsackie's main industry is a pair of prisons.

"It's like jail, that's what it is," she said. "You can't leave. You can't bring in anything that looks like a weapon. You can't bring in a lawn chair because you might hit somebody with it." The crowd of 170,000-plus is being bused to the festival from parking lots throughout the region to ease traffic. Without the bus plan, town leaders would not have permitted the festival, said James Schmidt II, the transportation director.

"Will there be frustrations? Yes. Will there be problems? Yes. Will it go smoothly? No," Schmidt said. While fans waited impatiently for buses, the 850-acre festival grounds were chaotic as promoters put on finishing touches. Two huge stages have been set up in front of acres of open space. Hundreds of vendors' tents and thousands of portable restrooms dot the grounds, along with high-tech amusement rides and exhibits.

The first acts go on today at midday, with the bigger names like Joe Cocker, Melissa Etheridge, Metallica, Aerosmith, Spin Doctors, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel performing tomorrow or Sunday. Organizers planned to have 900 security guards inside the concert site, and hundreds of local police and 550 state troopers keeping order outside. While fans grumbled about the restrictions, many conceded they would feel safer because of the tight security.

"I think it's a necessary evil," said Mark Beebe of Brockport. "It's a different society than 1969; it's so much more violent." Half a million people, many times promoters' expectations, showed up for the original Woodstock in Bethel, 55 miles from the site of this weekend's concert.

Sara Klenz of Syracuse said this year's promoters are paranoid and are treating fans like inmates after they paid $135 for tickets. "I think they're being too suspicious," she said. "Not everybody's coming to create problems. We're just here to enjoy the music."

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