http://ae.boston.com/music/stories/20020924_mixfest_review.html

MixFest is fun but lacks the hard edges

By Ken Capobianco, Globe Correspondent, 09/24/2002

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 Elliot'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, a nd 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
repl icating her record.

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

Mix Fest

Featuring Def Leppard, David Gray, John Mayer, Pink, Avril Lavigne,
Guster, and Rubyhorse

At: The FleetCenter, Saturday night

© Copyright 2002 New York Times Company