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COVER STORY First Night 2000: A sampler Apocalypse now     Y2K Pops will play a loop of 15 songs under the guidance of a "semi-conductor." Bill Tremblay works on the robotic maestro. (Globe Staff Photo/John Tlumacki) MORE INFORMATION Fri. and Sat. 1 p.m.-1 a.m. Hynes: Main Lobby Y2K Pops Techno-artists William Tremblay and Rob Gonsalves hit their conceptual mother lode when First Night production director Gina Mullen urged them to come up with a proposal for the millennial shindig. After all, says Tremblay, "this was going to be the big one." Cogitating about what to propose, they cast a wary eye at our era's version of apocalypse: Y2K. "This time last year there was a spate of news stories about how the world would end. Elevators would plummet, things like that," says Tremblay. "We felt it was highly overrated, and a bald-faced marketing strategy to get everyone to buy a new PC." In fact, says Gonsalves, "The average Joe at home using Word and Excel won't run into any problems. Most applications don't care what the date is." Tremblay and Gonsalves decided to test the doomsayers' theory - while still making merry. They've collected 101 older computers, dating from 1987 to 1992, most of which are not Y2K compliant. Each has been programmed to sound like a particular musical instrument; together, all 100 will sound like an orchestra. Each will also project a visual element corresponding to the musical note it plays. Starting at 1 p.m. at the Hynes Convention Center and going until 1 a.m., Y2K Pops will play a loop of 15 songs under the guidance of a robot, called the "semi-conductor." At midnight, any number of the computers may come down with the millennial bug. Gonsalves and Tremblay plan to monitor all the hardware and software, and to see what hits the double-zero wall and what passes through it when 1999 gives way to 2000. Boom or bust, it ought to be a good show. - Cate McQuaid Previous page | Next page

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