DATE: Sunday, August 17, 1997               TAG: 9708170099

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Concert Review 

SOURCE: BY JEFF MAISEY, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   57 lines

PETER, PAUL AND MARY SING BACK THE DAYS OF PUFF AND PROTEST

The times, they are a changin', and the people are a-agin'.

For the first time this year, the gray-haired and bald outnumbered the youth in the audience Saturday night as Peter, Paul and Mary played at the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater.

After a harmonious opening number, Peter Yarrow addressed the crowd, joking about age. He kidded, ``We don't sing this at the end anymore, because some of you tend to fall asleep.'' Then the entire audience sang along with ``Puff the Magic Dragon.''

Peter, Paul and Mary formed in 1960 and became an instrumental force in the age of lyrical protest folk music.

The spirit of this down-to-earth American music lived on Saturday, as the three were perfectly in tune with one another.

Accompanying the trio on stage was an extraordinary upright bass player and a talented fellow who plucked, picked and blew a variety of instruments.

Not all of the tunes performed were popular compositions. A large number in the first set were obscure folk sing-alongs, along with which the concert-goers clapped.

Noting the current environment of protest, Peter, Paul and Mary played a ``join the union'' medley with lyrics from Woodie Guthrie and others, asking ``Which side are you on?''

Because of mankind's indulgence, self-destruction and conflict, the timeless ``Where Have All the Flowers Gone'' was a moving song. ``Stewball'' followed in a strumming fashion.

Its chord progression and vocal melody sounded a lot like John and Yoko's ``Happy Xmas.''

Jimmy Rodger's ``Sweeter Than Wine'' was performed by Yarrow to open the second set, which included an a capella chorus sung along with members of the audience.

Yarrow continued with a Hanukkah classic, which he wrote: ``Light One Candle: Don't Let the Light Go Out.'' It celebrates Jewish culture and its struggles and was greeted with warm applause.

The dressed-in-white Paul Stookey continued the solo segment with the wavering notes of ``The Wedding Song,'' which he wrote to bless Yarrow's wedding. It was a melodic, poetic delight complete with the original lyrics - some of which were performed at the wedding but never recorded.

Silence gripped the crowd, and rightly so. He was showered with applause.

With the first cool breeze of the sultry night, the group performed Bob Dylan's brilliant classic, ``Blowin' In the Wind.'' It was followed by the closing, sweet slice of Americana, ``This Land.''

As comedians and storytellers, Yarrow, Stookey and Mary Travers were as good as they were musicians.

The Summer of Love generation celebrated 30-plus years, and the voices of reason and protest lived on. ILLUSTRATION: CONCERT REVIEW

Peter, Paul and Mary, Saturday night at the GTE Virginia Beach

Amphitheater.

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