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GINA VIVINETTODebbie and Lenny Kostas are pretty typical of the concert's laid-back, longtime fan, though this year they are changing their rockin' ritual just a bit.
Debbie Kostas says she's getting too old for Livestock. Actually, just too old for the way she, hubby Lenny Kostas, and their pals have done the annual hard rock festival in Zephyrhills for the past decade.
So, the 44-year-old data entry operator from St. Petersburg and Lenny, 35, are bidding bon voyage to the tent and the portable potty. Bye-bye to the bugs, the mud, the rain.
No more green-haired revelers howling drunkenly at 4 a.m. around their campsite.
"I'm older now," Kostas says, "I'm not handling the chaos so well."
But Kostas, whose friends in the e-mail music community know her as "Sunlover," says she and Lenny have discovered some of their favorite bands at Livestock - Oleander, Gravity Kills, New American Shame - and won't stay home this weekend. The Kostases, and about 15,000 fellow music lovers, will be spending the weekend at the big party hosted by WXTB-FM 97.9 (98 Rock).
"Oh, we'll go," Kostas says. "We'll try the hotel thing this year. We'll still visit our friends at the campsite, to be part of the festivities and bond with everybody in between the bands. If we feel like old fuddy duddies, we'll go back to camping next year."
Debbie, Lenny and the 14th annual Livestock, growing up together.
The accidental campers
The Kostases are well-equipped to camp in 250-acre Festival Park with the rest of the 15,000 people attending Livestock, many of whom set up for the weekend in tents and RVs.
Years ago the couple, who do no other camping, purchased a $40 pup tent. They soon upgraded to a two-room tent that cost $150. They also bought the spiffy port-o-potty chair, lanterns, pots and pans, a grill.
Debbie Kostas estimates the couple blows as much as $300 each year on provisions for Livestock. That's not including the tickets, which this year are $60 for the weekend. She and her friends start planning the adventure at least two months before the event.
One feature about camping she'll miss: Lenny grilling steaks and offering them to folks around the campsite with a wry, "You want some livestock?"
She'll miss the mellow moments, too, when folks get out guitars and sing around the campfire.
Love and mustard
Livestock IV was Kostas' first "proper" Livestock - that is, the first in which she got to camp out for the entire weekend. It was also the first she attended with the new man in her life.
"I had just met Lenny. This was the first time in years I had gone without a shower in two days, let alone no makeup," says Kostas, who works in an office. "It was totally liberating."
Lenny burned his finger on something at the campsite and Debbie soothed the sting with mustard. (Ahhh . . .) The rest is history.
Runner-up: Last year's Livestock XIII, starring Def Leppard. "They are rock icons," Kostas says. "And I got (guitarist) Phil Collen's autograph."
Never surrender
During Livestock V, the couple had to act quickly when a friend had an epileptic seizure and fell into the campfire.
As friends rushed to help the man, a guy from a nearby campsite ran over with a fire extinguisher.
"The guy with the fire extinguisher was naked," Kostas said. "I didn't even notice at the time."
She says her friend had to be helicoptered out to the hospital to have his burns treated, but didn't lose his love for Livestock; he has attended several since.
There's one in every crowd
Kostas has attended 11 festivals and can vouch that many, ahem, eccentric characters roam the grounds.
Her favorites include the woman who wears the long sweater coat, which she opens from time to time to reveal that she wears nothing but a marijuana charm necklace.
And the guy with the green hair and green beard.
Naked people are everywhere, Kostas says.
One favorite was Duct Tape Boy, the naked, loud, drunk kid who got so obnoxious even his own campsite mates got weary of him. They duct-taped him to a lawn chair until he passed out.
And the guy who was so drunk he broke a beer bottle over his own head.
Kostas will remember, without fondness, the Korn Girl. She surmises the Korn Girl enjoyed Korn's performance at Livestock VI a lot, which inspired her to scream the band's name incessantly at Livestock VII, which, unfortunately, did not feature Korn. Nevertheless, the Korn Girl, sitting atop an RV, inebriated, continued screaming for 11 hours.
"My friend Cheri couldn't take it anymore," Kostas said. "The next morning, she threw an ear of corn at the girl. Everybody around was really happy."
Hall of famer
The Pasco County sheriff's office reported last year that most of the tomfoolery was limited to drug arrests, including a heroin overdose that wasn't fatal. There were also counterfeit T-shirt sales. Nearly 80 off-duty deputies, some undercover, worked the festival last year, and saw some unusual behavior - like the guys who tried to sell fake LSD on strips of paper to a plainclothes officer. Injuries included yet another guy falling into a campfire.
But for sheer stupidity, it's hard to top the Livestock attendee who last year wore a bright orange Polk County Jail uniform to the festival. The outfit would have been a funny gag were it not for the fact that the guy wearing it (a) was on house arrest and (b) had stolen the uniform with the black letters stating "Polk County Jail" from the jail three months before.
When a sheriff's deputy tried to question him, he ran right into the arms of two other officers. By Monday, he was back in jail for violating his probation.
Fun for all ages
Kostas says the crowd at Livestock is everyday people. She sees folks of all ages there, including parents with their kids.
"There are people there way older than me," Kostas says. "People pushing 60, the hippie throwbacks who are totally into music and peace and love." Kostas says that's as it should be.
Rock 'n' roll keeps you young, she figures. Livestock is on her calendar this year, and every year. How long does Kostas continue to attend?
"As long as the good lord lets me."
PREVIEW: Livestock 14, gates open 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, Zephyrhills Festival Park. Two-day tickets: $39.98 advance, $60 day of show. (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100.