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Saturday, 21st September 2002
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Boston, MA - Media Reviews

MixFest is fun but lacks the hard edges By Ken Capobianco

This year WBMX-FM ("Mix" 98.5) decided to go indoors for its MixFest, holding it at the FleetCenter and offering a generous platter of pop craftsmanship. With David Gray, John Mayer, Guster, Rubyhorse, and two of today's pop princesses - Pink and Avril Lavigne - to go along with old-school metalists Def Leppard, the show was a decided walk on the mild side. Good songs, solid choruses, well-strummed acoustic guitars, polite thank-yous: This was a show moms could love, and many of them in the audience did, shaking and shimmying alongside their children.

It was the Def Leps who shook up the house up after what was a sometimes too-pleasant evening. With rip-snorting guitars and drum wallops to back Joe Elliott's effortless vocal gymnastics, the quintet helped the audience get the Lep out during its closing set. The band mixed old sing-along classics with new tunes from its fine new CD, "X," which recalls the best of the hummable rock that once created Def Lep hysteria.

The rest of the show proved that six hours of craftsmanship can have you craving for someone to shake it up. Perhaps more mix is needed in the MixFest - a little R&B, a blast of white noise - to go with the manicured pop.

Gray came off best. An ingratiating performer from Wales, he has a burnished voice and an ability to write cerebral songs with heft. He played some of his more affecting tunes, including "Sail Away" and "Please Forgive Me," which combine strong lyrics and melody. Gray hit the mark throughout a set charged with musicality and dimension.

Judging from the screams, Mayer has become a hottie. He comes from the earnest school of songwriting, and he bolsters his work with supple acoustic guitar playing. His short set was pleasant and diverting, but you wish he would cut a little deeper.

Despite her bad-girl image, Pink performs music that's about as threatening as Bambi. This was her third time through the area in the past six months, and some of the fizz has left the bottle. She has an efficient band, and it cranked at times, but a medley of Janis Joplin covers fell flat, and Pink should know better than to sit during songs if she wants to get a party started.

Lavigne's rocket-like ascent has left the pint-sized Canadian teenager playing arenas before she has headlined her own tour. It shows: She has yet to develop a stage persona that goes beyond jumping up and down while replicating her record.

Guster and Rubyhorse, two local entries, acquitted themselves admirably with short, sharp sets.

By Boston Globe.


MixFest serves up snap, crackle, pop for all ages By Linda Laban

MIXFest, with Pink, Def Leppard, John Mayer, Avril Lavigne, at the FleetCenter, last night. What on Earth could 17-year-old skater pop princess Avril Lavigne possibly have in common with middle-aged soft-metalers Def Leppard?

Besides both appearing at WBMX-FM's MIXFest 2002 at the FleetCenter last night, that is? Diverse as they are, both acts know how to spin out a pop-toned hit. Indeed, the link between all seven artists on the bill was a canny knack with hummable, memorable tunes.

True to its name, Mix-98.5's six-hour annual celebration, co-sponsored by the Herald, culled artists from the United States, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom. The show fused varying nationalities as well as musical attitudes - just as long as those included a strong melody and a persuasive backbeat.

Ending a long evening, Def Leppard, its glory days long since past, dragged out too many middling songs, including Now from its ballad-heavy new CD X, which is out Tuesday. Even catchy, chart-busting '80s hits like `Animal' seemed dulled by time.

Among a handful of covers, Pink, now a brunette, also pulled out an '80s hit: her powerful cover of 4-Non Blondes What's Going On.' Played with her well-oiled band, her funky samba Get the Party Started, pop rant Mizzundastood, which included some racy antics with her female guitarist, and gorgeous My Vietnam were pure Pink.

British singer-songwriter-guitarist David Gray, and his younger U.S. counterpart John Mayer, both backed by three-piece bands, put out the kind of full-bore electric performances that should forever banish them from the coffeehouse circuit.

Ex-Berklee student Mayer, receiving ear-splitting cheers, moved from strumming his acoustic guitar during a pumped-up Your Body Is a Wonderland' to a lilting solo that turned into quite a show of virtuosity.

The rich-toned Gray, playing before Mayer, belted out songs from his breakthrough record White Ladder and beyond, swapping acoustic guitar for keyboards to end with a rave-cultured finale.

Rushing the stage with her trio of guitarists while her drummer pounded out a fierce beat, the Canadian punk coquette Avril Lavigne pogoed through Sk8er Boi before nailing the show with the killer chorus of her power-pop ballad Complicated.

Boston-based newcomers Rubyhorse - which hails from Ireland and mixes dance and Britpop accents with basic melodic rock - and beloved Beantown pop-rock veterans Guster delivered short, sharp sets (20 minutes each), high on energy and hooks. Something like the average pop hit in fact.

By Boston Herald 2002.


Def Leppard Live In Boston By Mitch Lafon

Def Leppard Live at the Mix98.

It was with great anticipation that I drove from Montreal to Boston to catch one of England's finest back on North American soil. The band was the closing act on a bill that seemed better suited to 'N Sync than Def Leppard, but so what? Also, at the Fleet Center that night were Canada's newest star, Avril Lavigne, the ever energetic Pink (who actually surprised me, by putting on a reasonably rocked out show), the always lethargic David Gray, the "15 minutes of fame" John Mayer, and the "who cares about" Guster and Ruby Horse.

The crowd was a mix of older and newer faces. All there to catch a glimpse of their generation's big-named act. The press was well-treated and though I had met Def Leppard before, I never thought I'd be given a chance to meet Pink or Avril Or David... That's just not the beat I cover, but with the help of the gang at Mix 98 I was given a chance to meet them all. The venue was filled to capacity and stayed filled throughout most of the show. Having seen the younger 'kids' there, I was expecting a nearly empty venue by the time Def Leppard took the stage, but to my surprise they stayed and sang and danced. Who knew? I guess someone has been rummaging through their older sister's or brother's CD collection.

After having sat thru the good (Pink and Avril), the bad and the ugly, it was time for the main attraction... Def Leppard! The band had looked a little tired on their last tour in North America, so it was anybody's guess as to what tonight's show would bring. Luckily, the band brought back the excitement they had on earlier tours. Could it be that the critical acclaim of their new album X has put a bounce back in their walk or was it simply that the band wanted to show the others on the bill the true meaning of 'rock band'? Either way, it was hard to find anything to complain about this night.

Sure, the band could have dropped the song “Promises” from the set for “Bringing On The Heartbreak” or even “Rock Brigade” (for that matter) and, yes, the sound at first needed some tweaking in the mix, but at the end of it all... it was Def Leppard in an arena in North America in 2002... How can that not be good?

By KNAC 2002.

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