Starting today the latest incarnation of Woodstock comes to an abandoned Air Force base 10 miles up the road from the small community where I live and teach in Central New York. Though I have no intention of attending this time, somehow, I know exactly what to expect - as do , I imagine, the several hundred thousand people trekking up the New York State Thruway...
The 1999 Woodstock doubtless will prove a well-crafted product - sanitary facilties and fast food aplenty. Concert-goers will know exactly what's expected of them. There will be the requisite photos of happy, muddy young people in next week's newsweeklies. This time there will be no surprises...alas...
All that will be missing are the uncertanties that made Woodstock '69 the real thing.
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