COLLEGE FEST 1992: A Weekend From Hell

We saw the first ones on the T. Gumchewing, eye-shadowed, Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt-clad intrepids from places like B.U., B.C., Northeastern and Tufts. Very few of us Harvard types.

The occasion? College Fest '92 at Boston's Hynes Convention Center--a weekend-long celebration of everything that's depressing about college.

Bad bands, Ross Perot supporters, model searches, Girbaud jeans displays, mechanical bulls, fashion shows and hula hoop contests were the attraction. All of it for just five bucks.

One of the more interesting people we talked to was the lead guitarist for Temptress, a cross-dressing band whose members have appeared on Oprah, Sally Jessy Raphael and Geraldo. Chuck (pictured below, the brunette to the right of Captain Kirk) told us that Temptress's agent performed genetic experiments on the band as part of their contract. "One day we were on stage playing a gig," he said, "and suddenly we all turned into women."

In front of the HMV booth, hordes of co-eds gathered with outstreched arms yelling for give-aways. The prize--cheap plastic cups with HMV emblazoned on the side--seemed to placate most of the participants in this self-styled "way more weekend."