Larry Dunne 8/11/00

MixFest 99 took on a slightly different form this year. The Festival has been in existence for years and started on the common by the hatch shell. It then moved one year and was at Boston Plaza in front of government building. It was always free to the public. But this year things are a bit different. The concert ran over two days. Saturday October 9th from 11 am to 9 p.m. and Sunday, September 10th from 11 am to 11 p.m. Saturday was on City Hall Plaza that was free, and then Sunday was at Foxboro Stadium. The Sunday show at Foxboro was not free and listeners needed to buy tickets that began at $15. While the fee was minimal listeners tickets were going to support three New England charities: Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County, the New England Patriot's Charitable Foundation, and the Susan G. Komen Boston Race for the Cure (breast cancer).

On Saturday the show opened with This Way, a relative new comer to the music scene. The band consisted of Brandon Wilde (vocals, guitar), Chris Foley (guitar, backing vocals), Len Monachello (bass, backing vocals), and Andy LaDue (drums). The band's recent hit is called "She Takes". Also performing Saturday was Vonda Shepard, Train, Lou Bega, Ben Folds Five, Dido, Bruce Smith and NRBQ to name a few. Duran Duran closed the show Saturday performing pop hits from yesterday like "Rio", "Wild Boys", and "The Reflex" as well as recent hits like "Come Undone". Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor are still heading up this popular group after years of success.

Sunday 's line up was a bit more impressive to validate the ticket price. Susan Tedeschi opened for Sunday with Fastball, Sixpence None the Richer, Luscious Jackson, The Pretenders, Natalie Merchant, Sugar Ray, Melissa Etheridge, and Blondie all on hand on the Main Stage with Jah Spirit, Kendall Payne, Entrain, Merrie Amsterberg, Angry Salad, Marthias Lupre and Citizen King on the Festival Stage. Blondie closed the show but it was the Pretenders who gave Blondie competition for stealing the show. It was a close call to pick the best act but the show was great despite the rain.