Woodstock Matured

Woodstock, Powder Ridge and Altamont are now part of American legend, symbols of the best and worst of times for the once flowering counterculture. So the Summer Jam held last weekend in Watkins Glen, N.Y., seemed somehow an atavism, more a class reunion than a happening, a nostalgic spectacle of youth in search of its youth. "I can't believe it, but I'm selling more milk than beer." said a local store manager. Some hard drugs and lots of marijuana were available, and the 500 deputy sheriffs on the scene were kept busy. Although more than 600,000 people poured into the area before the festival ended, Watkins Glen proved by and large a very orderly, even sedate trip. There was little nudity and few medevacs. Campers gave wooded areas "street" names like Big Pink Lane and Hippie Highway. The show's promoters, after inundating newspapers and radio stations with advance publicity; announced days before the opening that the event was sold out. The unintended result was that even more people were attracted. "Woodstock was different," explained the festival's stage manager, Rock Impresario Bill Graham. "This is like going to a good restaurant where you know you'll get a good steak. We're professionals now. Rock has grown up."

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