The Michigan Daily-Thursday, March 22, 1979-Page arts & entertainment FORBER T'S DETROIT SHOW SPLENDID: Ptti rocks hot and cool I NOON LUNCHEON Soup and Sandwich 75, Vice President Harold Shapiro, Academic Affairs: "Students and the Tenure Process" Friday, March 23 GUILD HOUSE-112 Monroe By MIKE TAYLOR Dream rock 'n' roll bills are not always made in heaven - sometimes you have to create themself.Tuesday night, for instance, you could have driven 30 miles to a gaudy new pleasure dome just outside Detroit called Center Stage to see Steve Forbert, an up and coming rocker who's been compared to Lou Reed and Woody Guthrie, and then, leaving before the headliner, Nicolette Larson, came on, returned to Ann Ar- bor just in time to catch the Patti Smith Group at Second Chance. Sounds crazy? Sure, but it was worth it. It was ironic that Forbert, who got his start a few years ago as the sole folkie at New York's CBGB's, was' playing at a place that reminded me- of the musical theaters that regularly bring in the likes of Pat Boone, Phyllis Diller, and Perry Como. Everything was per- fectly in place, from the armies of neatly uniformed attendants who seem to have nothing better to do than parade, blocking your view, every few seconds, to the twinkling lights and red velvet curtains, to the V.I.P. booths, where executives of the company and their friends can watch the music protected by glass. - "THIS PLACE looks like a discotheque," Forbert remarked half- way into his set, but when the comment brought on boos, he just shrugged it off and went into his next song, a punchy version of "Thinkin':" / Don't you go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin' Don't you go thinkin' so much that you're fallin' behind, Don't you go thinkin' and thinkin' and thinkin', Don't you go thinkin' till you're losin' you mind.. "Thinkin'," like many of the songs he did Tuesday night, is on his first album, Alive On Arrival. As the title implies, it's a bundle of optimism, although that doesn't mean all the songs are happy ones. "Tonight I Feel So Far Away From Home," which he performed as a meditative, almost haunting dirge, wa so powerful that almost everyone who was talking at the beginning of the tune was staring at Forbert in awe when it ended. Loneliness, according to For- bert's scheme, is just a passing thing, so that in every darkest moment, there's always plenty of hope. Opening the show with just his acoustic guitar, Forbert was able to create a riveting rock 'n' roll presence. Here, as we saw him carrying the show all by himself, the street imagery of Lou Reed merged with the classic melodic spirit and simplicity of Woody Guthrie to form bright, refreshing music that hasn't forgotten where its roots are. Indeed, Forbert sang Sam the Sham and the Pharoah's great "Wooly Bully" with "You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play" as an encore, marking the evenig's most exhilarating moments. THE LAD from Mississippi sang several songs from his next album, in- cluding the rambling "Song on the South," the upbeat, aggressive "Romeo's Tune," and the funny, gutsy "It's Been a Long Time." From Alive On Arrival came tunes like "Steve For- bert's Midsummer Night's Toast," "What Kinda Guy," and "Big City Cat," as well as his two best songs to date, which he used to close the show, "It Isn't Gonna Be That Way," an ab- solute knockout in terms ofboth melody and lyrics, and "Going Down to Laurel," a positive charmer. My only complaint is that Forbert's band lacked the spunk of the musicians he' used on his album. A guy with For- bert's talent deserves a rock 'n' roll band with drive, stamina, and creativity, and this one was lacking in all three. In any case, I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot from Steve Forbert in the future. MInutes after I arrived at Second Chance, Patti Smith mounted the stage, dressed in a black coat over a loose shirt and jeans, looking healthier than I've ever seen her before, yet full of all the angry passion her piercing eyes have ever shown. "WE'RE GOING TO do two sets tonight," she hesitantly announced, "so I hope you don't mind if we break in a lot of new material in this first set." I didn't hear any complaints, just a roar of recognition as the band tore into the Byrds' "So You Want To Be a Rock 'ii' Roll Star," to be included on Smith's forthcoming album, Wave. It was laid- back and fiery at once, as languid guitar solos by Smith and Lenny Kaye sprang into hot riffs, and back again. From there it was to tight, precise versions of "Ask the Angels" 'and "Redondo Beach," from Radio Ethiopia and Horses respectively. Miraculously the crowd seemed to ac- cept the rest of the set, which consisted almost entirely of tunes from the up- coming album, every bit as much as they did these two great old songs. Most of the new songs were slow, melancholy epics, full of gripping in- tensity. Some featured Patti's earthy clarinet, almost all included heavy doses of mid-sixties, Animals-inspired organ from Richard Sohl. "Frederic" sounded strangely like Bruce Springsteen's version of "Because The Night," which she wrote, of course,. with Springsteen. "I HAVEN'T HEARD this song on the radio," she said as she began "Pop- pies." "What's the problem? I think you're the problem! They'll give you as much shit as you'll take." It was a slow, almost hypnotic set, broken only at the end by a revved-up, ready-to-go "Jailhouse Rock." "ELVIS PRESLEEEE. ." she shouted when it finally ended, bounding off the stage. Second Chance is the perfect place for Patti Smith to play, providing the intimacy good rock 'n' roll requires without seeming overly formal, like New York's Bottom Line. Smith recognizes this, and that's one of the reasons, I'm sure, why this week's string of performances mark her third Ann Arbor appearance in a year's time. One of her letters, plastered firmly on a downstairs wall, reads: Dear second Chance guys ... Still on the road... We done a few jobs since you but none as wonderful. . . Thank You for the flowers . . . I was really touch- ed . . . I sared the card ... SMITH OPENED the second set with her "Pledge of Allegiance' to Free See PATTI, Page 9 for your summer trip a guide to M AG ICAL&- MYSTICAL SITES ' Europe and the British Isles Paperback CN 656 $4.95 Elizabeth Pepper and John Wilcock A fascinating tour guide to some of the great enchanted places of the Western world. "A delightfully be- witching tour of Europe's strong- holds of magic and mysticism... Wild and wonderful tales abound:' -Los Angeles Times HARPER & ROW Paperback Dept. 10 E. 53rd Street. New York, N.Y 10022 SOUNDSTAGE COFFEEHOUSES Thursday Nights 8 p.m. Main Floor Lounge, Michigan Union FREE entertainment from talented local musicians For audition or general info. call 763-1 107 Union Programming -r----- -- - w TTTTTTTWArea rfilT hed7.triI WEDNESDAY IS MONDAY I'ADULTS FRI., SAT., SUN. "BARGAIN DAY" "GUEST NIGHT" EvE. HOLIDAYS 13.50 $1.50 until 5:30 TWO ADULTS ADMITTED MON.-THURS. EVE. 3.01 FOR PRIKE OF ONE ALLMTNEES$1.56 CHILD TO 14 CHEECH & CHONG'S FRI & SAT STATE LATE SHOW "UP IN SMOKE" F, I so V CHARLES BERLITZ'S THE BERMUDA TRIANLE 1 kk SAT. 1-3-5-7-9:25 SUN. 1-3-5-7-9. MON. to THURS. 7 &19 NO WEDNESDAY MATINEE No Posses I I now" Daily Photo By MAUREEN O'MALLEY Patti Smith asks the angels at her show Tuesday night with the Patti Smith group at Second Chance. The group will perform there through this evening. Alam Resnais' 1959 HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR A French actress meets Japanese architect in post-war Hiroshima while making an anti-war film. This inspired ironic set-up is just the beginning of this uniquely beautiful film made by the director of LAST YEAR AT MAR- IENBAD and starring Emmanuelle Riva and Eliji Okada. Short; DEPUTY DAWG (In French). FRI: DISNEY'S DUMBO (plus cartoons) SAT: MURDER BY DEATH (Peters Falk,& Sellers) CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH. AUD. 7:00 & 9:05 $1.50 The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative presentsotf Aud A Thursday, March 22 BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (David Lean, 1957) 6:30 & 9:15-AUD A Filmed in Ceylon, this epic story of British prisoners forced to build a vital railroad bridge for their Japanese captors won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor. ALEC GUINESS is the ramrod- straight British colonel whose principles overshadow his reasons. The ending of this film is sheer irony. With WILLIAM HOLDEN, SESSUE HAYAKAWA. Tomorrow: THE KING OF HEARTS JUNIORS Don't be left out of your 1980 MICHIGANENSIAN Yearbook! - - Sign up for an appointment TODAY by call- ing 764-0561, weekdays from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Or stop by our office at 420 Maynard 1 1 31 U~ I I I