Shows/1993-10-01
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Setlist:
They Might Be Giants
— with Black 47, Pere Ubu, Cracker, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones opening —
SUNY Albany in Albany, NY
October 1, 1993
Fan Recaps and Comments:
The WEQX FallFest at SUNY Albany, held at the university's Recreation & Convocation Center.
"Alternative rock fest tasty, but portions too small" by Michael Lisi
The Sunday Gazette, Oct. 3, 1993:
Give the jocks at WEQX-FM radio a solid "A" for effort when it comes to the station's five-band alternative rock festival at the State University of New York at Albany Friday night.
The six-hour show succeeded on many levels, including offering a cheap night out and providing the Capital Region with arguably the best live alternative rock sampler ever to land here.
Things ebbed toward the middle of the set but picked up again toward the end as former Camper Van Beethoven leader David Lowery reached back for the classic Camper romp "Take The Skinheads Bowling."
Cracker, They Might Be Giants, Black 47, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and punk pioneers Pere Ubu performed at the alternative rock juggernaut at the school's Recreation and Convocation Center.
While it was nice to see so many bands including the return of Irish rockers Black 47 cramming that many acts into a six-hour block of music usually means only one thing: short sets.
That's exactly what happened Friday night. Each band was given a scant 45 minutes to play, and for most groups, the tease wasn't long enough for the bands or the 3,500 mostly college-age fans that showed up.
Bands like Black 47 and They Might Be Giants were just starting to boil when their sets ended, while Cracker seemed musically hemmed in by its mini-set.
Maybe a better idea would have been to book three bands and let each group play for at least an hour and a quarter. The extra half hour would have made a difference.
Still, performances at the sold-out show were spirited, including a sloppy yet energetic set turned in by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who surprisingly closed the show.
Decked out mostly in plaid, the Boston-based Bosstones immediately caused chaos on stage and off as they smacked out their mix of British ska with tinges of punk and hard rock. Bass player Joe Gittleman dove into the pulsing crowd before the set started, setting the tone for the band's wild performance.
With lead singer Dicky Barrett crowd diving through much of the set, the Bosstones were fun to watch. The crowd, dancing like mad to the frenetic beat, didn't seem to care how sloppy the band was.
Black 47 pounded out a driving set to open the fest and ended up turning in one of the night's best performances.
Led by guitarist-singer Larry Kirwan, the six-piece Bronx-based band picked up where it left off after an impressive January show at Bogie's, churning out burning versions of "Funky Ceili," "James Conolly" and the rap-infused "Rockin' The Bronx."
With Kirwin's Irish-accented warble up to full speed, it didn't take this bar band long to warm up to the large stage setting and heat the crowd up as well.
The quirky pop-duo They Might Be Giants came armed with a full six-piece band that packed a real punch behind their infectious, tongue-in-cheek pop.
Giants John Flansburgh and John Linnell and hired hands turned the gym into a big dance pit as the crowd bounced and danced to revved up reads of "Don't Let's Start," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," "I Palindrome I" and a nutty read of Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" complete with a punkish polka-style break.
Opening its set with the rocker "Teen Angst," Cracker seemed fired up at first as it knocked out killer versions of "Low" and "I Saw The Light" behind the beat of ex-Poi Dog Pondering bassist Bruce Hughes and former Pixies' drummer David Lovering.
