The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, December 6, 1978-P, e 5
AMERICAN
ROMANCE"
by mike taylor
A ROCK'N'ROLL CONCERT should be a party. Your host is one of
your favorite artists or groups-someone you're willing to pay good
money to see. For stimulation and relaxation you've got some joints, a six-
pack, or maybe a hip flask of your favorite whiskey. The lights go out, the
music hits center stage, and you're off-searching for the heart of rock'n'roll
ecstacy. I
For many people, including myself, that means plenty of moving
around. You jump up in excitement. You dance to the frenzied rhythms. You
rush the stage. You celebrate, with everyone else who came to the concert,
the vibrance of life itself. You all came to the same party-so let yourself go
and have some fun!
Unfortunately, there are some people who do not believe that a rock con-
cert should be a party. Some of them are the hefty guys you are strutting
through the aisles and circulating round the stage before the show
begins. Ask. one of these ex-wrestlers what their job is, and invariably
they'll say, "I'm here to protect the safety of the patrons." Actually;
we all know why they're there-it's to prevent us from having fun.
SOME OF THEM are the people who sit behind you and scream
"SADDDOWWNNN! ! !" whenever you rise with a surge in the music. You
try to dance, you try to have fun at this party, and they say we should
all sit down instead.
I can think of three recent concerts where my friends and I tried to enjoy
the party, and some others insisted on not having fun.
Last spring, Elvis Costello and the Attractions came to Royal Oak for a
concert. We had heard his albums and read articles about him, and deter-
Doily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
DE VO
mined that Costello was one of the "New Wave" artists bopping around. We
assumed that meant plenty of dancing and rushing the stage-but boy were
we wrong! The bouncers pushed us back whenever we stepped out of our
seats, and one 6 foot5 inch monster tossed two of my pals out the door.
DEVO CAME TO the Punch & Judy theater in Grosse Pointe in October.
This time, it definitely seemed like we were in store for some fun. Devo had
been on The Midnight Special and Saturday Night Live, and Newsweek had
written a story about them. Everyone said they were certified kooks. You've
got to dance to certified kooks, don't you? Not according to the powers that
be atthe Punch & Judy. The bouncers made it quite clear that Devo should
best be appreciated by spuds sitting still in their seats. Some of my friends
were sitting way in the back, so no one prevented them from having fun.
Bruce Springsteen came to East Lansing last month. We knew all about
Bruce. We knew that you just had to jump up and down and wreck havc at
a Bruce Springsteen concert. We knew you have to sprint up to Springsteen
during his habitual dive into the crowd during "Spirit in the Night." We knew
you must do everything in your power to get up to the front of the stage,
hopefully before the end of the first song. But the bouncers disagreed. A
Bruce Springsteen audience ought best to sedated, they seemed to say.
But it's impossible not to have fun at a Bruce Springsteen concert. While
we couldn't rush the stage at will, we could rush half-way up during each fast
song, realizing we would have to creep back to our seats in shame in just a
few moments. We could hide as bouncers strolled by, ready to pounce when
Springsteen came into the audience. For me, this was the essence of
fun-blasting through three guys twice the size of me to get to Bruce, win-
ning through the madness of my eyes and the determination of my soul.
And in the end, fun won out. By the encores, everyone who wanted to
have fun was up in front, having a blast. We had found that ecstatic heart we
call-rock'n'roll.
Handel's Messiah:
a reflection
By GERARD PAPE
The Messiah is an institution in Ann
Arbor. The first University Choral
Union performance devoted to this
work was in 1886. Since 1929, perfor-
mance of Handel's oratorio has become
an annual affair. The performance of
The Messiah usually roughly coincides
with the Christmas season though the
work itself is only half about Christ's
birth. The second half of the work is
about Christ's death and resurrection
as well as the resurrection of all the
dead at the end of time.,
What is there to say about The
Messiah that has not been already
said? It is truly a beautifully written
work, unfailing in its inspiration. There
is no musical filler within it; the music
is of equal interest from beginning to
end. Its performance last Friday at Hill
by the University Choral Union was
certainly a good one. the orchestra
played well, the chorus was excellent,
and the soloists inspired. All this I take
for granted.
I WOULD LIKE to reflect a little on
the religious sentiments expressed in
this work. It is clear when the audience
is asked to join in and sing the
Hallelujah chorus that this is meant to
be more than just a sing-a-long, though
certainly, in the modern times that it is
now performed, this is what it mainly
is. The custom of the audience arising
during the Hallelujah chorus came
about in 1743 when the work was in-
troduced in London. The King of
England, George II was supposed to
have been so moved that he arose
during the Hallelujah chorus and had to
be joined by his subjects who were not
allowed to sit while the King stood.
Standing, of course, is a gesture of
respect as well as approval. The King of
England in standing for the Hallelujah
chorus was thus showing respect for the
music as well as no doubt approval of
the sentiments expressed.
What were these sentiments? Just
previous to the Hallelujah chorus, the
tenor sings, "Thou shalt break them
with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them
in pieces. . ." This is followed by the
chorus "Hallelujah for the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth." Certainly
George II, ruling by the divine right of
kings, could have no trouble with these
sentiments. The. enemies of the King-
are the enemies of God.
What of the wider religious
philosophical and historical tradition
that Messiah's text arises from? The
text is a combination of Jewish and
Christian history. Throughout the work
one has a sense of the seething rage of
the religious community, There is first
the important rage of the powerless
Jews turned against themselves. Sub-
jagted and persecuted by countless
historical powers, the Jews awaited
their deliverer. However, first God
must "purify the sons of Levi." It is un-
clear who is evil. Is it the Jews or those
that subjugate them? It is clear from
the Bible that the Jews regard them-
selves as being punished for their sins
as well as looking to the day of the
destruction of their enemies. Feeling
powerless and subjugated, the biblical
Jews took comfort in their punishment
and thus the possibility of their
forgiveness and return to power.
In the second portion of the work, the
deliverer (Christ) has come. However,
he is still impotent and powerless
"despisedand rejected of men." Again
it is unclear who is evil. The religious
chorus sings "Surely he hath borne our
griefs... He was wounded for our tran-
sgressions." Yet, not too long later it is
"the kings of the earth rise up, and the
rulers take counsel together against the
;Lord." The Christian religious com-
munity celebrates the victory of God,
when the tenor sings "He that dwelletl4
in heaven shall laugh them to scorn.
The anger of the Christian community
towards its persecutors is finally ex'
pressed by God's laughter. This is con-
fusing in that the Christians were
lamenting that Christ had to die for
their sins and yet it is the non-
Christians who are punished. Again, it
would seem that the Christian guilt like
the Jewish is more of a powerless self-
directed anger. At the end of Messiah
power is restored to the believers. "And
though worms destroy this body, yet in
my flesh shall I see God." The impotent.
become ominipotent and immortal.
It is interesting that The Messiah
with its religious dynamic of power and
impotence, rage and guit, should so
move King George II. In some ways,
men of his power are identified in the
work as the enemies of God and true
believers, and yet the historical trend of
divine right of kings overturned this
original sentiment.
RECORDS
Live Bootleg
Aerosmith
Columbia
By TIMOTHY YAGLE
Afer a quartet of solid studio albums
and a single mediocre one Draw The
Line, the five-man band from Boston,
Aerosmith, has finally released their
first live LP. Live Bootleg is a .great
album, for it excellently depicts what
this heavy metal band is all about: a
wrenching, thunderous good time.,
But it is far from perfect. Like a
genuine bootleg recording, the sound is
sometimes abysmal, and, like their
other recordings and live performan-
ces, they often fail to live up to their
potential-making mouch mediocre
music.,
Live Bootleg culls most of the biggest
hits that appeared on the group's studio
albums, recorded during their 1977-1978
tours. The hit parade includes "Walk
This Way," "Draw The Line" (by ac-
cident not listed on the album's plain
green cover), and the classic "Train
Kept A Rollin'," which was recorded at
their concert in Detroit last April.
The only song not done live on the
album is their top-twenty version of
"Come Together," which was recorded
at the band's studio in Waltham, Mass.
Although a fine one, it is surprising
how slow this album gets off the
ground. "Back In The Saddle," "Sweet
Emotion," and "Toys In The Attic" all
show'* plenty of energy, but are
squelched by either their sloppiness,
unintelligible lyrics, ill-pacing, or some
multiple combination of all three.
Furthermore, on side two there is lit-
tle that is special, except for lead
guitarist Joe Perry's great work on his
talk box during "Walk This Way,"
which is one of the best things on the
LP. But things pick up-fast.
A slow-starting "Dream On," ends up
as an impressive song, and an always
strong "Chip Away The Stone" and
"Mama Kin" all highlight side three.
And with a flip of the disc a different
side of the band crops up on the hard-
rocking R and B flavored "I Ain't Got
You" and "Mother Popcorn," recorded
in a tiny Boston club near the beginning
of the group's career in 1973.
At the very end of the recording, ex-
ploding noisily, are a string of
firecrackers someone tossed up on
stage: not rare at an Aerosmith show.
It is an apt capper for the album, for,
like a string of firecrackers, some
Areosmith songs crackle, and there are
always a few that fizz out. Luckily on
Live Bootleg, there are few that don't
go off with a bang.
Art sale planned
The Union Gallery will hold an art
sale by Marson Graphics, Inc., of
Baltimore, Md., Dec. 12 and 13, the
University announced.
Etchings, woodcuts, lithographs, and
seriographs by ancient and modern
masters will be available from 10 a.m.-
6 p.m. on Dec. 12, and from 10 a.m.-8
p.m. on Dec. 13.
The gallery is on the second floor of
the Michigan Union.
The U-M SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS
THE UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN
nce-
~~pan
"
0 e
0
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 at 8 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9at 8 PM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10 at 3 PM
POWER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
PREMIERE PERFORMANCES OF WORKS BY GUEST ARTISTS
GUS SOLOMONS, JR. (performing in his own work)
LAURA GLENN (funded in part by the Nat'l Endowment for the Arts)
GARY LUND
Special performance of Jose Limon's THE EXILES
Tickets available at the P. T. P. Box Office in the Michigan League
Mon.-Fri. 10 am-I pm, 2 pm-5 pm (313) 764-0450
Power Center Box Office opens 2 hours before each concert
AVOID THE RUSH'
BooxsRorE
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i: ,,
L
I
ART
STAFF
Arts Editors
owen gleiberman mike taylor
staff writers; May Bacarella, Bill Barbour,
Mark Dighton, Patricia Fabrizie, Diane Haith-
man,Katie Herzfeld, Steve Hook. Mark Johans-
son, Eleanora DiLiscia, Marty Levine, Rich
Loranger, Dobilas Matunlionis, Anna Nissen,
Joshua Peck, Christopher Potter, Alan Ruben-
feld, Will Rubino, Anne, Sharp, Renee Schil-
cusky, Erick Smith, R.J. Smhh, Tom Stephens,
Keith Tosolt, Dan Weiss, Carol Wierzbicki,
Timothy Yagle, Bruce Young, Eric Zorn.
There once was a freshman named Nate,
Who, while in the dorm never ate.
He grew weak with fatigue,
Then discovered the League.
Now Nate runs like a power V-eight.
L.K.
Lunch 11:30to 1:15
Dinner 5:00 to 7:15
SNACK BAR
Lower Level
7:15 AM to 4:00 PM
Open
TheMichigan
LA 9Ue Next to Hill Auditorium
Located in the heart of the campus,
it is the heart of the campus .. .
Send your League Limerick to:
Manager, Michigan League
227 South Ingalls
You will receive 2 free dinner
tickets if your limerick is used in
one of our ads.
Buy, sell or trade your books through The
Michigan Daily BOOK EXCHANGE
A two line ad will cost only $1
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All BOOK EXCHANGE ads will appear in The Daily
Saturday, December 9, 1978.
Come in personally to The Daily, located next to the Student Activities
Building, on the second floor. All ads must be turned in before 5 p.m.
Thursday, December 7, 1978.
Or fill out the form below and mail it to: BOOK EXCHANGE
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor MI 48109
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Mail to: BOOK EXCHANGE
420 Maynard St. 1
I Ann Arbor, MI 48109 I
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1 Name I
Address
WE ARE LOOING FOR A FEW 0000 PEOPLE
Wde.Tit& Rgoditer, i . I
25185 Goddard Road
Taylor, Michigan 48180
313 291-5400
Edmondi Engineering, Inc.
1501 W. Thomas
Bay City, Michigan 48706
517-686-3100
Gronger Engineering. Inc.
314 Haynes St., Cadillac, MI 49601
616 - 775-9754
Impact
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25185 Goddard Road
Saks
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Christmas
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For your Christmas
shopping convenience,
we'll be open on weekdays
from 9:30 a.m. till 8:30 p.m.,
and on Saturdays from
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