Lack of music equaled lack of enjoyment at Fall Fest

This year's Fall Fest was an experience in aimless wandering. The few times there were enough people to call it a "fest," the general mood was that of disinterest with the carnival amusements and lack of music. People came, saw their friends, grabbed some food and left.

Although there were reports of greater attendance than last year's Fall Fest, there were never enough people there at one time for the place to start hopping.

The major gripe voiced by the majority of students was the lack of music. Due to a Tufts Community Union Senate budget miscalculation, there was not enough money to hire live musicians. In response, Tufts called on local radio station WBCN to broadcast from the University for the first half of the show but the station backed out of a verbal agreement and did not show up.

However, WBCN did send a vendor, reps for Everquest, a popular online fantasy game, who attempted to placate the crowd's desire for live music by playing tunes from their van. Unfortunately, the reps tried to recruit customers by playing all the hit songs from 1996.

Sophomore Jon Cohen spoke for most of the attendees when he said, "Where's the [bleeping] band?"

Fortunately, at around 2:30 p.m., Tufts managed to bring in DJ Elyte, more commonly known as Eli Levin-Goldstein, a junior at the University. While his setup was underpowered and did not put out enough sound to deafen everyone on the quad, he at least provided more musical variety than the boys from Everquest.

For a casual, laidback affair such as Fall Fest, however, the noise level seemed appropriate. One could carry on a conversation with friends, yet still have something to dance to when the urge hit. In some ways, DJ Elyte saved Fall Fest. Unfortunately, he arrived so late in the afternoon that it was of little consequence.

The rock climbing wall, obstacle course, and extreme bungee, were all amusing attractions that took attention away from the vacuum of tunes. The bungee was easily the best received, allowing participants to jump 15 feet in the air, and perform rolls and other acrobatics in a safe manner. Freshman also responded positively to the complimentary massages by Health Services, and the slushies and cotton candy provided by the Senate.

Reactions to the changed format of Fall Fest were, at best, mixed. Sophomore Chris Bowen, who lived in Miller Hall last year, said of the previous Fall Fest, "The music was really loud, and all I wanted to do was go hang out downhill." However, he went on to explain that live music would be a better choice in the future.

Many students, however, did enjoy last year's Fall Fest and were disappointed by this year's, as well. Sophomore Cecilia Dos Santos echoed Bowen's statement saying, "First of all, it's not loud enough, so you can't tell that there is music playing. Last year, everyone was dancing, and you could go over by the stage."

After last year's noise complaints, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate chose not to hire another raucous rap group. However, this year's overly subdued festivities seemed an equally unfulfilling choice. An anonymous Concert Board member, who insisted on noting that Fall Fest was not their planning, said, "I think we could have gotten Tufts' bands to play, and at least it would have been live music."

Unlike Spring Fling, where the focus is on the big-name acts, Fall Fest would have been an excellent chance for student bands to get their names out and would have fit the budgetary constraints. Unfortunately, the first-year students were not given much to get excited about in terms of big campus musical events.

This year's Fall Fest was, at times, somewhat entertaining, but it clearly was not memorable. In a week's time, it is doubtful someone will say, "Hey, remember Fall Fest? Man, I have the craziest/funniest/best story from that day..." While there is a lot of potential to make Fall Fest an event for all of campus to enjoy, it still needs a lot of work to get there. This year's letdown will hopefully lead to the betterment of next year's Fall Fest