When Run DMC Came to Fredonia

By Angela Spara

As a student at SUNY Fredonia, I know how significant the year end festival of Fred Fest can be. It marks the beginning of spring, the end of a school year and lots of wild stories to talk about for weeks. Between annual pig roasts, barbecues, concerts and late night bar crawls, it’s worth getting hyped about. But what happens when a weekend of fun and relaxing turns into 22 arrests, angry crowds and a drastic change in the festival as we know it?

Well, that’s what happened in Fred Fest of 2001, when an angry mob took to the streets after leaving a dreadful performance by the once legendary Run DMC.

People came from all over to see the performance at Fredonia. There were people coming in from parts of Western and Central New York, and even some parts of Pennsylvania. The crowd’s build up of excitement was put to rest once the performances had begun.

According to reports in the Leader, the crowd’s animosity began when the band took 10-minute breaks in between songs. Most of the sets consisted of a lot of talking and annoying phrases for the audience to scream. The bulk of the sets weren’t even songs. They played only fragments of their most popular songs -- “It’s Tricky,” “King of Rock” and “Walk this Way.” With the amount of alcohol present in the crowd, it wasn’t long before the crowd got riotous.

It wasn’t only the terrible performance of Run DMC that upset the listeners. The whole Fred Fest lineup for the weekend left students wondering which Fred Fest performers were lamer, this year’s or the prior?

The weekend started off Friday afternoon with a band from Amherst called Dinkus 9. They had a funky, ska sound that was danceable, and you could tell they wanted to please the crowd, according to the Leader.

The enjoyment didn’t last long.

The next band to perform was from Syracuse University and named August Project. The songs were middle of the road “frat rock.” The only people actually listening to the performance were drunken girls who seemed more into trying to get the attention of the lead singer, than actually listening to the music, according to Leader reports.

People seemed more worried about getting some booze in them then actually listening to the bands.

Saturday’s performances began with a less than impressive pop, punk band called Harold’s Trousers. This performance had no Fredonia students in the crowd, according to the Leader, and the only people who seemed to be enjoying the band were either drunk or high.

The next band to go on before the dreadful Run DMC performance was a rock band named Fuzz Bubble. The crowd seemed to enjoy their presence more than the performers the day prior. The band hit the stage to the “Star Wars” theme, which set the crowd in good spirits. Little did the listeners know what they were in for next with Run DMC’s performance.

After the concerts had come to a rest Saturday evening the angry crowds headed for the bars.

The streets of Fredonia never seemed so dangerous.

There was 16 police reports filed on Saturday night alone, according to the Dunkirk Observer. All the violators were between the ages of 18 and 35. People were found intoxicated and unconscious in the streets. Firefighters had to respond to a woman who had a head laceration from being in a fight at a bar. Students were getting pulled over for DWIs and disorderly conduct. Even a Sunny’s bouncer got rushed to the emergency room after trying to break up a fight, when a 19-year-old male smashed a beer bottle over his head.

Because of all the misconduct that occurred during this Fred Fest weekend, the school decided to change the festival from being a three-day occurrence to just taking place on Saturdays.

This helped to reduce the amount of staff time and energy devoted to the fest. It also allowed for students who volunteer for Fred Fest to have more leisure time to relax. It also helped contain the event, and reduced outsiders on campus.

A band’s performance has never caused this much commotion in Fredonia.