e 8-Thursday, September 21, 1978-The Michigan Daily

Charades sink
By PATRICIA FABRIZIO
The folks at Pine Knob Monday night
left with confused smiles on their faces
after the opening show of Neil Young's
month-and-a-half tour; whether the
pleasure outweighed the bewilderment
is hard to say.
From the entrance to the encore, the
only consistency was the oddity of it all.
Examples:
" The stage crew were dressed as
"Star Wars" sand people.
" Young didn't "enter" the stage;
rather, the hooded roadies hoisted up a
false cover on a prop speaker to reveal
him lying underneath, Sleeping Beauty-
style.
" In the middle of the electric set, the
stage hands came on bearing a
mammoth tuning fork to "help the band
tune up.
AT THIS POINT, one might think
that I went to an Earth, Wind, and Fire
show by mistake, but Young's cheap,.
novelty store props made EW&F look
like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
The music? Major blunders in this
department. The most glaring error
came when Young repeated a song he'd
already played during the encores. It
was about Johnny Rotton, and went
something like this:
My, my, hey, hey,
Rock 'n'roll is here to stay,
It's better to melt / Than to fade away,
My, my, hey, hey,
Out of the blue and into the black,
The king is gone, but he's not forgotten,
This is a story of Johnny Rotten,
Hey, hey, my, my, Neil Young surprised1
Rock 'n'roll can never die ..

Young's concert

NOON LUNCHEON
Soup & Sandwich 504
FRIDAY, SEPT. 22
ANN SCHLITT

U of M Affirmative Action:
"Title 9 and How It Affects
the University of Michigan"

at
GUILD H

OUSE

802 Monroe

his fans at Pine Knob Monday night with a host of bizzare stage props and devices.

-- -.-.----------- -----...---- .--.----.-.-.---
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PROFESSIONAL THEATRE PROGRAM 1978-79
GUEST ARTIST SERIES I
USHER APPLICATION I
Name I
Address Zip Code
Telephone U of M ID. No.
RULES
1. You must be a U of M student.
2. You must choose your series in order of preference.
3. Married students may send applications together.
4. This application MUST BE POSTED BY U.S. MAIL ON OR AFTER Friday,
September 22, 1978. Mail to: Usher Guest Artist Series, Professional I
Theatre Program, Michigan League Bldg., Ann Arbor, MI48109.
3. Must include a stamped, self-aoidressed envelope.
PLEASE NUMBER CHOICE 1, 2, 3, etc. I
CHOICE '
SERIES A: (WED. EVE.).Oct. 18, Nov. 29, Feb. 14, Apr. 11
SERIES B: (THURS. EVE.) Oct. 19, Nov. 30, Feb. 15, Apr. 12
SERIES C: (FRI. EVE.) Oct. 20, Dec. 1, Feb. 16, Apr. 13
- SERIES D: (SAT. EVE.) Oct. 21, Dec. 2, Feb. 17, Apr. 14
SERIES E: (SUN. MAT) Oct. 22, Dec. 3, Feb. 18, Apr. 15
NOTE CURTAIN TIMES: All Evenings at 8:00 p.m. Matinees at 2:00 p.m.
I
She Stoops To Conquer Oct. 18-22
Richard II Nov. 29-Dec. 3
The Inspector General Feb. 14-18
The River Niger April 11-15
-......._...-...,...._.._--- -- ------- ---I

It wasn't like he'd run out of hits, with
"Down By the River" and "Southern
Man" absent. His back-up band, Crazy
Horse, was far from tight, coming in
both early and late, but never on time
for their vocals.
BUT ALL WAS not sour. There were
some special moments, even though

they seemed in spite of Young's
attempts at self-parody. "I am a
Child," "The Needle and the Damage
Done," "Cinamon Girl," and "Aftert
the Gold Rush" (except for a blown
line) were flawless.
"Sugar Mountain," sung from the top
of a giant speaker, lost some of its
impact, ' however. "Tonight's the

The Ann Arbor Film Cooperltive presents at Aud A
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Preston sturges night
The first big American writer-director, Sturges created a string of energetic
classic comedies, all with an individual, outrageously satirical and sexual stamp
which miraculously eluded the censors. Sturges targets were the pious frauds
on the American scene-politicians, small town big deals, self-righteous mil-
lionaires, even Hollywood itself. The frauds are still with us, and Sturges
jokes, primed with hilarious satiric gunpowder, still explode.
THE PALM BEACH STORY
(Preston Sturges, 1942) 7 & 10:20-Aud A
Sturges at his peak-o mountain that includes SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and THE LADY EVE. In this screwball
comedy, CLAUDETTE COLBERT runs away from husband JOEL McCREA and lands on Palm Beach with nutty
millionaires Mary Astor and her bumbling brother. RUDY VALLEE, in a fantastic picture stealing per-
ormance. THE GREAT MCGINTY
(Preston Sturges, 1940) 8:40 only-Aud. A
A bum is transformed by the party machinery into something resembling a statesman. Just like real life.
Sturges' first film and one of his funniest. A stinging comment on the non-choices offered by the two
poarties (who shall remain nameless). Rarely shown, so DO NOT MISS. BRIAN DONLfVY.
Tomorrow: The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes.
The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative is looking for new members. Ask for details
at our showings.
-U

Night" was almost lighthearted.
"When You Dance, I can Really Love"
and "Cortez the Killer" were okay. In
fact, nothing sounded bad. But the
nonsense in Young's stage show ruined
much of the feeling that might have
been there. Two of those omnipresent
roadies danced completely across the
stage in front of the band during
"Cinnamon Girl". Irritations of this
type were incessant.
Young started out acoustic, changed
to electric, and then switched back and
fprth for the rest of the evening. At one
point, when Young decided to make an
unscheduled guitar change, the roadies
weren't moving fast enough to
suit him, (Perhaps their costumes
were impeding their efficiency.) He
remarked, "I'm gonna get-sleepy again
if I don't get my guitar," reminding us
of his Sleeping Beauty act. We were all
getting mighty sleepy too.
DURING THE breaks, Young played
a tape of stage announcements from the
Woodstock album. Judging from the
crowd's reaction, few people
understood what Young was doing, and
thought they were real Pine Knob
announcements. People began to look
around nervously when Chi- Monck (the
Woodstock announcer) asked people to
buy hamburgers from a guy who'd just
had his stand burned down, and a "no
rain, no rain, no rain" chant almost
started up under clear skies at Monck's
urgings. The announcement about the

brown acid being bad ("just take a hal
a tab") got nothing but blank looks.
I found this quite amusing, but mos
people just ignored it after a while. Thi
was the general tone of the show: if yo
got the joke, fine; if not, the joke's on
you.
Yet all these pitfalls the crowd
adored Young the showman. They
spilled into the aisles and rushed the
stage during "Like a Hurricane," and
when the house lights went up, usuallya
sure sign that the show is over, tIe
audience cheered until they won their
hero back again. It was a tenaciously
tolerant crowd, in light of the show.
Lest anyone think I get my jollj s
attacking Neil Young, I wish to
emphasize one point. Before this show,
Young was more than just a voice on
record. To me, he was a person, a
thinking, feeling artist who ha
expressed my own feelings in his music
so often that he sometimes seemed an
extension of myself.
This show, more than a charade, wai
not unlike a child seeing Santa Claut
commit armed robbery
Disillusionment is far too weak a word
for it, Maybe I set myself up for it, but
felt Young's show negated everything
that is Neil Young. I'll continue to listen
to his records, but I don't think I'll evOr
hear what I heard before.

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