Brooklyn-based dance punks Matt & Kim know how to draw a crowd — and make them happy. Before the doors opened at the Westcott Theater on Wednesday night, youngsters sat along the sidewalk waiting to get in.

At noon, a buzzing mob of 80 students, some sharing headphones, some giddily squealing for Passion Pit and Lupe Fiasco, crowded onto two well-worn yellow school buses at the College Place bus stop. The most aggressive ones pushed and shoved their way into seats – the rest were left behind in the early afternoon drizzle, wondering if the semester’s biggest campus concert was about to start without them.

It's been a whirlwind year for Syracuse's own Mouth's Cradle: In between recording their first full-length, The Next Big Thing, and jumping to the "New and Noteworthy" page on iTunes, the genre-morphing hip-hop duo somehow found time to open Juice Jam for Super Smash Bros., Passion Pit and Lupe Fiasco.

Brandon Linn (BLinn) and Kevin Hegedus (Mouf) were busy at Skytop on Sunday, as well, but The NewsHouse managed to snag a few minutes with them after their set.

For 15 years, Timothy Barr, part time instructor in the College of Human Ecology, has taught Wine and Beer Appreciation to undergraduate students at Syracuse University.  He has also worked in the wine and food industry for more than 39 years, and says that while he’s no expert, he knows a thing or two about wine. I sat down with Professor Barr to find out what advice he has for those planning a wine tour.