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Boston Herald (MA)
March 25, 1993
Edition: 01
Section: ENTERTAINMENT
Page: 057
SHOWBIZ HOTLINE

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BEST POLL: The lineup for the WFNX Best Music Poll Concert next Wednesday at the Lansdowne Street nightclubs is impressive.

The event - held simultaneously at Avalon, Axis, Venus de Milo and Bill's Bar & Grill - features performances by Porno for Pyros, Best Kissers in the World, 808 State, Therapy?, Helmet, School of Fish, Supreme Love Gods, Grant Lee Buffalo, Starclub, Gin Blossoms, Seka, God Machine and Mighty Joe Young. Tickets for the 21-and-over concert are $10 and are available at the four clubs on the night of the show only.

Social Distortion, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Belly and Black 47 will perform at the WFNX's main stage concert at the Orpheum. Tickets are $20.50 and are on sale at the Orpheum and Ticketmaster.

Boston Globe
March 26, 1993
Edition: THIRD
Section: ARTS AND FILM
Page: 80

LANOIS PAINTS MOODS WITH QUIET MUSIC
Author: Steve Morse, Globe Staff

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WFNX AWARDS LINEUP: The WFNX concert at the Orpheum next Wednesday shapes up with Black 47, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Belly and Social Distortion. There will also be a raft of activity in the Lansdowne Street clubs that night to celebrate the station's annual awards. Playing at the various clubs are Porno for Pyros (featuring Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction fame), Robyn Hitchcock, Gin Blossoms, Helmet, Grant Lee Buffalo, Best Kissers in the World, 808 State, Starclub, Supreme Love Gods, School of Fish, Seka, the God Machines, Therapy?, 32-20's, Mighty Joe Young, City This and Sidewalk Gallery.

Boston Globe
April 2, 1993
Edition: THIRD
Section: LIVING
Page: 87

ROCK FANS SAMPLE WFNX SMORGASBORD Author: Jim Sullivan and Michael Saunders, Globe Staff

"They were camping out on Lansdowne Street at 2:30 in the afternoon," marveled WFNX program director Max Tolkoff, about 1 o'clock Thursday morning upstairs in the office at Axis. Earlier in the week, Tolkoff said he'd gotten calls from people out of state wondering if they could spend the night before the concert on the street. By 9 p.m. Wednesday, the line extended all the way down Lansdowne, or Ted Williams Way, past the Cask 'N' Flagon, on down toward Kenmore Square. The clubs had pretty much stopped selling tickets by that point. Why the crowds? Why the frenzy?

Well, the four-club Lansdowne Street bash held to celebrate the Boston Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll is an Event every year: A lot of bands for a cheap ticket and a good cause. "It serves notice to the Boston music community that alternative music is here to stay," said Howie Cusack of the Pretty Polly booking agency. "It's the path of the '90s."

But this year, one of the 16 bands the WFNX folks pulled in was Porno For Pyros, the braying new outfit fronted by alternative rock superstar Perry Farrell, formerly of Jane's Addiction. It was, in the words of WFNX DJ Neal Robert, "an incredible coup. You could almost build the night around it."

Don Law Co. booking agent Jodi Goodman agreed: "It is a real coup. There are no plans for a tour. I think a large part of why they did it was because this was an AIDS benefit." Thursday, Phoenix CEO Barry Morris said they expected to exceed the $25,000 raised last year, with all the profits going to the AIDS Action Committee and the Multi-Cultural AIDS Coalition.

At least 3,500 people came by Lansdowne to sample the smorgasbord of alternative rock on parade, with most of the harsher metallic bands -- Seka, Helmet, the God Machine, Therapy? -- over at Venus de Milo, the local bands at Bill's Bar and the pop/rock bands at Avalon and Axis. In theory, one could pay $10 and gain access to any of the clubs or come down after the four-band Orpheum show and get in free with a stub; the problem was that the clubs filled early and long lines formed with the club s' gatekeepers instituting a one-in/one-out policy.

There was some consolation in the hammering sounds of Helmet for those turned away from Porno For Pyros. "We were going to go see them, but then we heard that they closed the doors, so we stayed here," said Paul Conrad, 21, a machine operator from Beverly, who was among the hundreds who headed for Lansdowne after the Orpheum show. He saw Helmet being Helmet: thinking- person's metal played with tight chord changes and an incessant rhythmic punch. The God Machine -- alternately echoing Joy Division and early Pink Floyd and then drilling down deeper for a harder, desperate industrial sound -- was another Venus standout. Earlier at Venus de Milo, local thrashers Seka opened the night's metalfest with a raw set containing some interesting gr ooves lost in a forest of hard-core cliche. The band was flying on the strength of its selection as best local heavy metal band in the Boston Phoenix/WFNX poll.

How was Porno? Much like Jane's Addiction: Uneven. Flashes of incendiary, provocative brilliance and stretches of dull wah-wah-flavored guitar and churning, flat grooves. One gets the feeling that the sinuous Farrell, sporting close-cropped red hair and an often tortured expression, runs more on ego and attitude than he does genius. He can be perversely charismatic, and he frequently chatted up the benefit aspect: "I had a friend who died from AIDS. People thought I had AIDS. But I just got tested and I'm negative, so up to now, I don't. But if you have AIDS, or if you have a friend who has AIDS, make it sweet up till the end."

One problem with the 'FNX event is that there's so much going on, you always get the feeling you're missing something better or you're not totally focused on any particular performance. "I don't particularly like these," admitted Robyn Hitchcock, who opened the Avalon show with an acoustic set. "It's a cattle-market situation, and I don't mean it picking-up-people- wise. It's just not a great place to play, certainly not solo acoustic. There's a line between being a musician and a politician. One travels around as a musician much the way one travels around as a politician: kissing people."

At Axis, Starclub played lightweight, semi-catchy pop. Later, at the same (and now packed) club, the Supreme Love Gods scored with a stronger set of psychedelic-flavored rock. Said a bartender: "This is the most I've ever made here in one night. And am I glad I'm on this side of the bar."

Over at Avalon, Best Kissers in the World left proving they were definitely not the best band in the world, not after a short, uninspired set of slap- happy progressive pop. They drew big yawns all around until Grant Lee Buffalo packed a surprise for fans of "Fuzzy," the band's stark, powerful journey in country-tinged rock. The band kicked out the jams, a Neil Young & Crazy Horse with amps set at 11, to grab the attention of the crowd's grungeheads. It worked through most of the set -- especiall y on Young's "For the Turnstiles" -- but not as well on "Fuzzy," which didn't take well to the all-out approach. It's a song that succeeds because of its balance, aggressive but not overwhelming, solid rock but not stale and stodgy.

GL Buffalo bassist Paul Kimble enjoyed the night, despite the hectic free- for-all atmosphere. "If there are people here and they like us it's a good thing," he said. "Beyond that I don't think it matters what the pretense is. Although I don't feel any particular kinship with anybody else on this bill."

Especially 808 State.

On paper, 808 State seemed to be the oddest selection for a die-hard rock palace like Avalon. The band is a pioneer of techno, a dance-at-all-costs style where banks of samplers and synthesizers replace most instruments. And this was a rock, not rave, crowd intent on prostrating itself before the image of Farrell, lead Pornographer. They were reluctant to dance, and practiced their body-surfing instead. But when 808 State tore into "Cubik," many of the folks bobbing on the floor began to really move. Although Buffalo drummer Joey Peters couldn't resist a backstage jab: "Turntables and teabags!" he exclaimed. "We could have played longer and Perry could have started earlier. This is like a rock 'n' roll Tupperware party."

"I get a really positive vibe," said 'FNX's Robert. "Everybody's finally in a good mood to party. I think it's partially because of the weather, the first really nice day."

"It's a mini-festival and a cattle-call," said Tolkoff, responding to Hitchcock's mini-jab. He said he'd consider the possibility of spreading the event over a couple of days in the future to minimize the hassle element. "But it is a scene, a happening with an energy all its own."