June 23

By JERRY CROWE

POP/ROCK
         Back to the Garden: The first large-scale concerts with major-name talent at the site of the original Woodstock since the original Woodstock 29 years ago will be held Aug. 14 and 15, commemorating the anniversary of those "three days of peace and music." Joni Mitchell--who didn't make it to Woodstock but wrote a much-loved song about it--is expected to be announced as one of the headliners today, as is Stevie Nicks (who also did not appear at the 1969 event) along with several acts that did perform at the famed gathering. Going under the title "A Day in the Garden" (the name "Woodstock" is owned by the producers of the original show, who also oversaw Woodstock '94 at another site), this is the first event at the old Yasgur farm property since it was purchased by businessman Alan Gerry, who reportedly has plans to build a Branson, Mo.-type destination for the Woodstock generation.

Woodstock Redux on Yasgur's Farm

by Marcus Errico
June 23, 1998, 2:15 p.m. PT

The world's most celebrated cow pasture is getting ready to host another music festival.

The plot of land that used to be Max Yasgur's farm, site of Woodstock, is being prepped for a new concert for the first time in nearly 30 years, it was announced Tuesday.

Billed as "A Day in the Garden," this latter-day Woodstock will feature some relics of the first fest--the Who's Pete Townshend, Richie Havens and Ten Years After--as well as Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers and Joni Mitchell, whose song "Woodstock" chronicled the original concert. The two-day event will go down August 14 and 15, with tickets costing about $70 for each day.

"We have created a landmark music even with extraordinary artists," says Danny Socolof, the event's producer. "All of us associated with the festival are thrilled to be hosting this rededication of the most famous music site in the world."

A half million people came to the farm in August 1969 to share good vibes and bad acid in the pouring rain. The three-day concert, arguably the touchstone event of the '60s, featured performances by Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Grateful Dead and dozens more. Modern rockers paid tribute 25 years later in Woodstock 2, but that concert did not take place at the original site.

Ironically, the town where the festival took place was actually Bethel, New York. The real Woodstock, which was where Bob Dylan lived, is farther upstate. Dylan attended the original concert as a nonperformer but played the second Woodstock.

Billionaire cable baron Alan Gerry bought the farm last August, saying he intended to transform the land into a theme park of sorts.

Additional information is available online at www.DayintheGarden.com.

June 24, 1998

Legends Reed, Mitchell Sign On For Woodstock Revisited

Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell join concert veterans Pete Townshend and Richie Havens for 'Day In The Garden.'

Contributing Editors Frank Tortorici and Randy Reiss report:

The 30-year anniversary of a certain legendary, generation-defining concert is still a year away, but apparently it's none too early to celebrate the spirit of Woodstock.

Having recruited punk-rock godfather Lou Reed, California-rock veteran Don Henley, reggae torchbearers Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers and original Woodstock veterans Pete Townshend, Richie Havens and Ten Years After, the Bethel Development Corporation and GF Entertainment have announced a concert event entitled "A Day in the Garden," to be held Aug. 14-15 on the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, Sullivan County, N.Y.

"We are rededicating the most famous music site in the world," said Danny Socolof, the concert's executive producer. "The challenge was to compose a lineup that would speak to the impeccable pedigree of the site. I think the stars on the lineup announced [Tuesday] exceed all of our expectations."

Reed, Henley, Marley and the others have been added to the bill alongside previously announced performers including Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks and folk-rock legend Joni Mitchell (who wrote the original concert's anthem "Woodstock" in 1969 without ever having performed at the show).

Billed as the first large-scale organized concert with headline talent to be held at the site in 29 years, "A Day in the Garden" will span two days and feature displays of '60s memorabilia along with seminars and workshops on the era. There also will be a crafts fair and specialty food kiosks.

A smaller concert on the original site -- featuring such performers as Victoria Williams, Soul Asylum, the Jayhawks and original Woodstock act Melanie -- took place in summer 1994, while the more large-scale Woodstock '94 concert - - featuring more contemporary acts such as Green Day -- was held in neighboring Saugerties, N.Y.

The money raised from "A Day in the Garden" will go to the Gerry Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the economy in Sullivan County. In addition, the organizers have a long-range plan to hold other concerts at the site. "We are contemplating a bright and long future for this site, but we are squarely focused on the success of this event," Socolof said.

Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert-industry trade magazine Pollstar, said he thinks that the organizers of any future concerts on the site shouldn't strictly rely on Woodstock nostalgia to bring in concert-goers. "I don't know the condition of the site now and I'm unfamiliar with the geography of the area," Bongiovanni said. "But if it is really far away and traffic conditions are terrible, they might have trouble drawing people to the site on a regular basis."

Socolof, though, was more concerned with this summer's event, preferring to put off speculation about future shows until a later date. "We want to produce a gracious few days for our guests and superstar talent," he said. "We also want to honor what happened in Bethel 29 years ago."

While the original Woodstock came about as more of a spontaneous gathering of massive proportions -- drawing from 300,000 to 400,000 people -- the Woodstock tribute is expected to be thoroughly planned and considerably smaller in scale. Initial plans call for a limited attendance of 30,000 people a day.

"The scope and scale of the two events are entirely different," Socolof said. "We're not putting on a huge show. We're managing things to a scale that can be done professionally. It's an entirely different animal."

The idea was to book acts that were important in rock n' roll and would also complement the legacy of the site, Socolof added. "[T]his is not Woodstock redux," he said. "We respect what happened 29 years ago and extended invitations to many artists who had performed there. Our goal was to create a great, compelling live concert for 1998."

According to Socolof, there is a theme that unites the performers each day.

Friday's lineup -- Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers and Ten Years After -- consists of artists who "have made [or] are still making vital contributions to rock 'n' roll." Saturday's lineup -- Pete Townshend, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed and Richie Havens -- is made up of what Socolof called "poet laureates of rock 'n' roll."

When asked how the decidedly urban rock of Lou Reed fit into the overall natural theme of the concert, Socolof said that the legendary Velvet Underground frontman was important to have at the concert because of his stature in rock 'n' roll.

"Lou brings a cool edge to the group," Socolof explained. "He pushes himself and he pushes his audience. We think he perfectly complements the lineup.

" 'A Day in the Garden' is inspired by the organic nature of the surrounding area," Socolof continued, "which is some of the most beautiful farm country in the world, and by the song 'Woodstock,' which Joni wrote."

Tickets for "A Day In The Garden" go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. EDT through Ticketmaster at a cost of $69.98 per person per day. Those who can't score tickets need not worry about tying up the freeways of Upstate New York, as they will be able to access the proceedings live on the Web through infoseek.com.

Summer concerts for Woodstock site

By Adam Sandler

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - In the first step of a long-range plan to turn the site of the famed 1969 Woodstock Festival concert into a performing arts and entertainment complex, promoters have launched a two-day concert bill dubbed "A Day in the Garden."

The shows, set for Aug. 14-15, will feature performances by four acts each day, including such recording stars as Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Pete Townshend and Joni Mitchell.

The event is being staged to raise the profile of the town of Bethel, N.Y., which hopes to attract visitors to the region and remind them of the town's unique role in music history.

It was at Max Yasgur's Bethel farm, and not the nearby town of Woodstock, that the famous festival unfolded in 1969.

"As we envisioned when this site was acquired, the magic that was created at the Woodstock concert is stirring once again," said Alan Gerry of GF Entertainment, one of the show's producers and whose company is working with the Bethel Development Corp. to lure visitors to the area.

"This marks the renaissance for this historic site."

In addition to the more than six hours of performances both days, the event will be enhanced by a memorabilia display, seminars on aspects of the '60s and specialty food kiosks.

"All of us associated with the festival are thrilled to be hosting this re-dedication of the most famous music site in the world," said Danny Socolof, executive producer of "A Day in the Garden" and principal in Megaworks.

Local musicians also willl have a presence and be given an opportunity to perform before an audience.

To encourage a family experience, children under 12 accompanied by an adult can attend free, and parking and access will be simplified.

Attendance for the two days of music (each day will be ticketed separately), will be limited to 30,000 people in order to provide a comfortable atmosphere, according to organizers.

Of the four acts initially announced, only Townshend performed at the '69 Woodstock fest, with his band the Who. Mitchell wrote the most famous song about the event, but didn't attend.

A nearby site was used for Woodstock '94 -- the Woodstock Music & Art Fair -- a cross-generational event that boasted performances from acts of the era of the original Woodstock, as well as up-and-coming artists from the alternative rock scene. More than 250,000 people attended the three-day event.

By Steve Morse, Globe Staff

Day in the Garden is the name of the concert series headed to the original Woodstock Festival site in Bethel, N.Y., on Aug. 14 and 15 (this is the 29th anniversary of the festival). The lineup for Aug. 14: Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, and Ten Years After. For Aug. 15: Joni Mitchell, Pete Townshend, Lou Reed, and Richie Havens. Tickets are $69.98 per day and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. The series is presented by the Bethel Development Corp. and GF Entertainment. The executive producer is Danny Socolof, who produced the Surreal Field, a part of Woodstock '94.

Concert springs from roots of Woodstock

A Day in the Garden, the first rock event staged on Max Yasgur's farm since Woodstock in 1969, has nothing _ and everything _ to do with that pop-culture milestone.

The confirmed concerts, on Aug. 14 and 15 (an Aug. 16 bill will be announced within 10 days), coincide with Woodstock's 29th anniversary and crib from its marquee. Woodstock alumni Pete Townshend (then with the Who), Ten Years After and Richie Havens are booked, as is Joni Mitchell, who penned the after-the-fact theme song Woodstock.

But the W-word is conspicuously absent from the Garden campaign, which isn't sanctioned by the Woodstock trademark's owners. Nor is Garden expected to lure the half-million fans who descended on Bethel, N.Y., in '69 or the 400,000 who went to Woodstock '94 in nearby Saugerties, N.Y.

Gate-crashers, who plagued both events, are unwelcome.

"Don't show up thinking you can walk right in," says executive producer Danny Socolof. "We plan a gracious, wonderful, safe and comfortable event for people willing to pay. If you don't have a ticket, you won't get in."

The concerts, also featuring Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed and Ziggy Marley (the added third day will tout newer acts), will be simulcast on the Internet but not aired on pay-per-view or radio. Daily attendance will be limited to 30,000. Already, fans in 30 states are buying the $69.98 tickets, available from Ticketmaster. "The Woodstock magic is working again," Socolof says. "People want to reconnect with that vibe."

Organizers assured nervous Bethel residents that the event will be civilized and could trigger a renaissance in economically hard-hit Sullivan County. Socolof envisions Garden as a big step toward the long-term goal of building a performing-arts complex on the site.

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY