It was a markedly different affair than its predecessor(s): clean and orderly; friendly and well-organized. Any drug use was discreet, and nudity was not in evidence. There were no births, no deaths, and no arrests on-site. The fence stayed intact, the garbage was being picked up, and the New York Thruway remained uncongested. It did rain, during Stevie Nicks' set on Friday night, but not enough to create the muddy mess of the first Woodstock or its 1994 25th anniversary sequel held nearby.

So it wasn't your father's—or, dare we say it?—grandfather's Woodstock. But for those who attended, the original festival's spirit remained intact. "This is amazing," John Wozniak of Marcy Playground said after his band brought "Sex and Candy" to the land of peace and love. "It's just about as surreal as it gets. I sucked it in, drank it all in, every minute detail." Even Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins, who was critical of the new festival before his band played ("All of you hippie bastards, die," he said during a press conference), conceded that "when we drove over the hill here and saw this thing that was actually a movie, it's hard to stay completely jaded."

No one understood that better than Richie Havens, who opened the first Woodstock and played A Day in the Garden, where his guitarist recreated Jimi Hendrix's electrified version of "The Star Spangled Banner." "It's never different," said Havens, who has also performed at several of the informal anniversary gatherings on the site. "The emotion is always great when it's happening, and it's wonderful that, when it's over, we have that connection for a long time."

Havens' assessment aside, it is hard to say exactly what connection will be made this year's event. Rather than the landmark statement of a generation's collective consciousness that was the original Woodstock, the Garden party was a multi-generational homage to that legacy and a step towards the site's future as permanent entertainment facility, which is the stated desire of its owner, former cable TV impresario Alan Gerry. Due to modest ticket sales (capacity was 90,000 for the weekend), Gerry lost money on the $5 million-plus festival, which he financed through his non-profit Gerry Foundation. But he wrote it off as a necessary "research and development" expense. His plan has generated a certain amount of controversy in this Catskills community—some see it as a potential boon to the economically beleaguered area, but Woodstock purists consider any development of the property counter to the spirit of the first festival.

Participating artists weighed in on both sides. Don Henley dedicated his hit "The End of the Innocence" to the late Max Yasgur, who owned the property in 1969, saying, "Max, you had a beautiful farm. I understand it's not gonna be that way for much longer." He then changed a line in the song to: "They're beating hay fields into seats/ For this hometown boy that they've elected king." Pete Townshend—who had an "absolutely rotten" time with the Who at the first Woodstock but resolved that with a relaxed set that was easily the festival's musical highlight—saw it a bit differently, noting "the very fact that somebody has bought this bit of land and wants there to be music here says a lot about what really was important about the original occasion. If anything, what this is doing simply is honoring what was meant to happen back then, picking up the pieces."

Even Havens, surveying the peaceful family-friendly gathering on the same ground that housed a chaotic hippie happening 29 years ago, surmised that the Woodstock site's future could well be bright. "I think everything gets sophisticated after it is created," he said. "I think this is the sophistication of what was started (in 1969). It now just has the idea of safety…and convenience around it."

A Day in the Garden also left a legacy of good music, though not the kind of career-making performances that marked the original event. Townshend's lengthy concert on Saturday was the most striking and engaging of the weekend, during which he and his band offered rootsy and pleasantly loose-limbed rearrangements of songs from the Who and his solo career, plus surprising covers of two Canned Heat tunes—"On the Road Again" and "Going Up the Country" (with special guest Taj Mahal)—the latter learned from the original Woodstock concert album. Noting "the last time we played this here, the sun was coming up," Townshend closed his show with a majestic rendition of the Tommy finale "See Me, Feel Me" accompanied by a local choir.

Many acts used their sets to preview new material. Backed by an ace band that featured trumpeter Mark Isham, Joni Mitchell played several songs from her forthcoming album, Taming the Tiger, as well as older favorites such as "Hejira" and "Big Yellow Taxi." She finished her Saturday show by finally performing "Woodstock" at the site of its inspiration. The Goo Goo Dolls rocked the field on Sunday with a number of charging new songs, including "Broadway," "Flat Top," and "Wake Up in Your Arms," though it was the hit ballads "Name" and "Iris" that drew the biggest response. Marcy Playground abetted its smash "Sex and Candy" with tunes slated for its second album, including "Wave Motion Gun," "Teenage Hypochondriac," and "Crazy Katie and Her Red Jet Air Balloon." An animated Joan Osborne slid a couple of fresh selections—"Libertine" and "Sensitive"—into her set but told the crowd only that her next album would be out "someday."

Most of the other performances featured a highlight or two. Henley covered a pair of John Hiatt songs ("Shredding the Document" and "Feels Like Rain"), while Third Eye Blind reworked U2's "I Will Follow" with blazing energy. Meanwhile, some of the old-timers rekindled the Woodstock spirit with familiar selections, including Ten Years After's guitar opus "I'm Going Home" and Melanie's "Candles in the Rain." And though Ziggy Marley was sick and had to miss the gig, brother Stephen Marley capably fronted the Melody Makers for a set that brought father Bob Marley's spirit to the proceedings with renditions of "No Woman No Cry" and "Get Up, Stand Up."

A Day in the Garden may not live on in the way the original Woodstock has, but it certainly showed that getting back to "the garden" was a fine way to spend a summer weekend. And when Townshend told the crowd "maybe all of us will come back here some day soon"—referring, perhaps, to next year's 30th anniversary—it seemed like a hard invitation to turn down. —Gary Graff