December 6, 1999, Monday, ONE STAR EDITION

SECTION: CAPITAL REGION, Pg. B7

LENGTH: 486 words

HEADLINE: Moxy Fruvous fun and quirky

BYLINE: DAVID MALACHOWSKI; Special to the Times Union

BODY:
It was as if contact lenses were suddenly outlawed. Never in my life have I seen so many people wearing eyeglasses, at least half of the nerds-and-proud crowd were sporting them.

Moxy Fruvous' fanatic fans, known as Fru-heads, follow them around from town to town like the ''Deadheads'' used to, and Phish fans currently do -- and the way things look, it won't be long before Ben & Jerry's will be naming an ice cream flavor after this band, too.

''We are men of principle,'' affirmed Fruvous drummer and vocalist Jian Ghomeshi. Before he and bandmates Mike Ford (vocals, guitar), Murray Foster (vocals, bass) and Dave Matheson (vocals, accordion, banjo guitar) set foot on the stage at Northern Lights, they insisted that the giant ''Molson'' sign hung on the wall behind them had to be covered up. Which might have been a good idea, except it was then covered with shiny, plastic garbage-baglike material that was even less aesthetically appealing than the beer sign itself.

The Toronto-based band brought their quirky but melodic, acoustically based allegories to town Saturday, and kicked things off with a smart, harmony-laden take on The Who's ''Substitute.'' There were no stars here -- the quartet all lined up at the front of the stage, even the drummer, who stood up as he played. Banjos and accordions made appearances as they went from a driving ''Horse@@hyphen@@shoes,'' the secret agent feel of ''Spanish Fly,'' the tongue-in-cheek ''My Baby Loves A Bunch Of Authors,'' and even a gorgeously poignant take of ''Independence Day,'' all overflowing with their clever wordplay and melodic tension.

As they volleyed between the serious and hilarious, their fans stayed right with them, often sang along, and seemed privy to what appeared to be not-so-private jokes interjected between their songs. Sometimes they improvised tunes, sang a capella, rapped or fell into wacky polkas, as if they were a carefree party band at some tropical resort.

Even with all this fooling around, they could still play well -- their vocals were dead-on, and their impeccable harmonies sounded like a heavenly cross between the Beatles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

They ended with a crowd-bonding sing-along of ''The Drinking Song'' that sent the fans home smiling. Even if you weren't a Fru-head, it was good clean fun.

Opening act the Russell Wolff Band brought a perfectly compatible acoustically orientated opening set, stocked with charming ditties like ''If I Was A Cop,'' ''I Wanna Work In A Supermarket,'' and ''I Hate Everyone.''

FACTS:MUSIC REVIEW MOXY FRUVOUS With the Russell Wolff Band When: 9 p.m., Saturday.Where: Northern Lights, Route 146, Clifton Park.Musical highlights: The always edgy ''Psycho Killer,'' and the hilarious ''My Baby Loves A Bunch of Authors, '' a driving ''Horseshoes,'' and the poignant ''Independence Day.''The crowd: The nerdy-and-proud crowd.

LOAD-DATE: December 7, 1999