MIXFEST '98

At City Hall Plaza

Sponsored by MIX 98.5, WBMX

October 10-11

Big name bands, 14 national acts, local talent, two full days, donations to charity and a long and successful history. Plus it was all free. What more could Boston radio listeners ask for? A lot.

Two days of heavy rain was not the only problem with Mixfest '98, the seventh annual, two-day concert event sponsored by Boston radio station MIX 98.5 (WBMX). Fans who braved the weather to spend a disastrous afternoon at City Hall Plaza soon realized that they were duped by a manipulative publicity bonanza on the part of MIX radio. In hindsight, it seems that this concert had little to do with free music, and a lot to do with free publicity for the radio station. That should have been apparent from the weeks of obnoxious, on-air hype that led up to the Columbus Day weekend event.

The station's press relations made it apparent as well. MIX's music director failed to return phone calls from The Crimson, and after being led to believe otherwise, The Crimson was denied press access when management at Regan Communications, the public relations firm handling the event, changed its mind and barred college media from the press area. Michelle King of Regan stated that there were already too many local and national media groups on hand for the event. Although college students across Boston undoubtedly comprised a sizable portion of the audience, college publications obviously did not rank. Apparently they do not provide enough publicity.

But still this concert was free. It could not have been that bad, right?

Fans who arrived early Sunday morning and camped out in front of the stage in eager anticipation for Bare Naked Ladies probably enjoyed themselves. But for those who were not directly in front of the stage, it would have been nice to actually see the concert. With an estimated 100,000 people crowded into City Hall Plaza (a dumb, dumb, dumb place to hold a crowd of this magnitude), fans were lucky enough to see a bunch of umbrellas, some puddles, and rain. And the back of the guy in front of them.

Event organizers were smart enough to move the concert stage this year out of the pit it had been in last year in front of the old City Hall, but that did little to help. Mixfest used to be held on Boston Common, an ideal location for such an event. Because the stage there was elevated off the ground, even people at the edge of the Common only had to tilt there heads up to see. Apparently pressure from Beacon Hill residents unhappy with the crowds and the noise resulted in the move to City Hall Plaza. Yet the Hempfest is still permitted annually on the Common to espouse the use of weed. City officials should realize that cramming so many people into City Hall Plaza is not only unpleasant but also dangerous. MIX and the city could at least consider using the Hatch Shell, which is where fellow radio station WBOS holds its annual Earth Day. If the concert must remain downtown though, maybe some of the numerous corporate sponsors who got plenty of press from the event could pitch in and purchase a jumbotron.

The apparent lack of thought and planning was evident throughout the afternoon. Fans who had paid $50 for Golden Circle charity seats had trouble finding separate access to their center stage seats. Several unlucky individuals were told by security staff to fight their way through the crowd of 100,000 people in order to get to their seats. How fair, not to mention how safe.

And what about the musical acts? How should I know? Like everyone else, I only showed up to see the Bare Naked Ladies. (After a tremendous line-up last year that reunited half of Lilith Fair, MIX stumbled badly this year, relying almost completely on the Bare Naked Ladies to draw the crowd.) And after three songs, I decided I would rather listen to them at home. At least it was dry there, and by flipping through their album cover, you can actually see them while you listen. That used to be the point of a concert.

(By the way, anyone who actually hung around--or in my case, came back from dinner--after everyone cleared out when the Bare Naked Ladies finished playing, was treated to a great show by Hootie and the Blowfish. With half the audience gone, fans could actually see the stage, and have room to dance around to past hits like "Time," "Only Wanna Be with You" and great covers of "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and "Love the One You're With." But who wants to read about that? This is no longer 1995, and fickle fans hate Hootie now.)