*****

THE NOVACAINE high of a situation like the Sha-na-na concert is an understandable escape. If there is little safety, at least there is a common bond in numbers. In this mob exists a different spirit from the vein of Sha-na-na nostalgia, but it is of the same genre. Commercialized consumerism can create instant nostalgia, market a product, and sell to those who crave it. There is a record collection that comes on with "Remember the sounds of the Summer '73." We're already nostalgic about the present, a time scale compressed to the point of absurdity. It is humorous, but it carries desperation for those just a little younger than I am. Maybe Sam Ervin is right when he says we face the worst time of our history. Perhaps there will be nothing about this age to be nostalgic about, so the spirit of an age that has characterized past decades will have to be created artificially. Watkins Glen was a programmed attempt to recreate a Woodstock, but the atmosphere of Woodstock, the greatness of that celebration, was complete spontaneity. No one knew what to expect, and it is impossible to package and sell the unpredictable. Watkins Glen went like clockwork. It even rained on time. Because of the precision, there could be no spirit of Watkins Glen. Yet in the midst of the crush at the stage of Suffolk Downs last week, one young girl stood on her friend's shoulders to exhort the crowd:

"Come on people, let's be cool. Remember Watkins Glen!"

Remember the Maine, remember Woodstock, "re-mem-mem, re-mem-a-member..."

*****

WHEN THE CONCERT came to an end, the beleaguered members of Sha-na-na had every right to be pissed off. They had been pelted, showered, and greeted with cries of "bring back Aerosmith." As they wearily left the stage after an excellent, if for the most part unappreciated performance, the lead singer paused at the mike one last time:

"Now look, drive carefully home, and we don't want none of youse to get hurt or nothing, but we ten in the band up here are better than all of you put together."

Remember the Sha-na-na concert back in '73...