Entertainment: Multimedia Belt

Richard Wagner is considered a god among titans by opera aficionados.

His operas are grand opuses, largely inspired by northern European mythology and legend. Because Wagner operas call for such elaborate sets, staging one is an ambitious endeavor for any company — even one the size of the Metropolitan Opera. Syracuse Opera — the only year-round professional opera company serving upstate New York — has been a successful institution since its first season in 1974, but staging a Wagner opera remains a challenge.

“In a perfect world, we’d all bump our music as loud as we want.”

That's how Brandon Linn envisions a campus scene that's relatively new, even to him.

The writing program senior is one of a growing number of students who, like many, sits at a computer for long hours working on any given night. Linn’s material, though, doesn’t get presented in front of any class.

Instead you'll find it fueling dimly lit attics, basements and living rooms — anywhere there’s a PA system and some willing partiers.

“Are they smoking weed down there?” asked a Syracuse Police Officer on the roof of the OnCenter parking garage. It was probably a rhetorical question.

The Phish fans — or “phans” as they prefer to be called — descended upon downtown Syracuse long before the legendary jam band went on at 8 p.m. Phans sold their tye-dye shirts and homemade jewelry, enjoyed some food and simply hung out before the fourth stop on Phish’s Fall Tour 2009.

Music was pulsing on Westcott Street until midnight as Medeski, Martin & Wood pushed the boundaries of musical form Sunday at the Westcott Theater. 

Although the band played simple instruments—a keyboard, bass and drums—the essence of the show radiated with intensity. 
    
The doors at the theater opened at 7 p.m., but staff held the show until after 9 to allow more people into the venue. As the crowd trickled in, the old theater’s sticky floors filled with concertgoers from teens to graybeards.