Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 13, 1994                   TAG: 9408190016
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SAUGERTIES, N. Y.                                 LENGTH: Medium

FARM, SHMARM: IT'S THE '90S

Or how about rocker Todd Rundgren in his ``Todd Pod,'' frantically playing an array of instruments before an interactive audience. In just 25 years, the Woodstock Nation has taken a giant leap from the pastoral mud village that assembled on Yasgur's farm to a brave new rock 'n' roll city of the future that is laid out on another farm this weekend.

``Think of two high-speed freight trains, one called `rock 'n' roll,' one called `technology,''' said Danny Socolof, president of Mega Interactive Festivals Ltd., which organized the 11-acre Surreal Field of technology exhibits at Woodstock '94.

``What we tried to do is create as best we can a high-tech rock 'n' roll theme park,'' Socolof said as the three-day festival opened Friday.

Among the features of Woodstock '94:

Automatic teller machines on the former farm where the festival is being held.

A rollicking ride aboard Peter Gabriel's ``Mindblender,'' a tiny capsule that rocks and pitches on hydraulic lifts. Inside, viewers are assaulted by a video of Gabriel's ``Kiss That Frog,'' a steamy romp through a swamp where a lascivious frog pursues a sexy woman.

The Synchro Energizer, a pair of bulbous goggles with headphones that emit light and sound designed to soothe and reduce stress. The developers say it also improves intelligence, strengthens the immune system, raises self-esteem and induces euphoria.

Rundgren's ``Todd Pod,'' where the musician who now likes to be called ``TRi'' performs on half a dozen instruments suspended around him while the audience tinkers with video cameras to alter his image on TV screens.