Music and Merchandise

The Way More Weekend at Hynes Convention Center last weekend showcased what college students do best: snag free gifts, eat free food and play silly games. This year's collgefest was on a much grander scale than the last one. Instead of a room full of booths with company representatives rationing out the freebies, the auditorium was packed with companies offering everything from credit cards with no annual fees to free condoms to free CDs.

In addition to free product samples, the exhibition also offered free concerts featuring Inclined, Eve's Plum, Tribe and Get Set V.O.P. Also featured were lesser-known bands like Greta, who happily signed autographs after their performance. The bands set up with a minimum of fuss and an informality which set the tone for the night. The casual atmosphere made it extremely easy to talk to the bands. Also, the fact that one of the members of Greta had performed in a dress didn't hurt either.

However, cooler heads were not prevailing over at the NBC booth which gave fans in the Boston area the opportunity to meet their favorites from "Days of Our Lives." With a line that snaked all the way to the catwalk of the Guess-sponsored fashion show, the NBC booth was highly popular. A multitude of hearts skipped a beat as Patrick Muldoon signed autographs for and took pictures with his fans. The heart problem was so contagious that even this reviewer was compelled to cut the line.

Eve's Plum are a great, energetic live band, and a crowd formed instantly as they began to play. Unfortunately, when you spin their new CD envy in the privacy of your own home, the effect is completely different.

envy is an unremarkable CD with unremarkable songs. Each tune sounds pretty much like the other and it is difficult to distinguish tracks 2 through 10 from one another. Vocalist Colleen's raspy shrieks are much more powerful live than taped. In concert, you expect to miss a few lines in the guitars' drone, but Colleen's unintelligible all the time.

The lyrics are neither cheerful nor profound--they're stupid. Their angstridden posturing will grate on your nerves. It's painful to listen to so many unsuccessful attempts at depth; here are some gems from the liner notes: "wish me passion I might feel,/wish me dead I'll be healed," "not knowing of love but feeling the same."

Although Eve's Plum puts on an excellent show, that excellence doesn't translate into a good album. envy's failure makes clear that this band should be seen and not heard.