Music Fest ’87 at PER Ice Arena – by SAB, with Denny Dent
The late 1980s marked the spectacular final chapter of SUNY Cortland’s legendary “golden age” of campus concerts. The Student Activities Board (SAB) went all out by organizing high-concept festivals and bringing in multi-platinum chart-toppers to rock the student body.
Music Fest ’87
Hosted inside the notoriously loud PER Ice Arena, Music Fest ’87 was structured as a massive, multi-artist indoor festival package.
- The Lineup: The festival featured an incredibly diverse bill, bringing together the hard rock band Zebra, solo pop-rock singer Patty Smyth (fresh out of her stint with Scandal), and the university’s beloved returning favorites, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
- The Visual Anchor: What truly set Music Fest ’87 apart from a standard arena concert was a performance by legendary speed-painter Denny Dent. Known as “the world’s first rock-and-roll painter,” Dent performed between sets, frantically painting massive, heroic 6-foot portraits of rock icons (like Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon) using multiple brushes in both hands, completely synchronized to music.