Tuesday, January 23, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three Tuesday, January 23, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three By MIKE HARPER Sunday night at Detroit's Ma- sonic Auditorium a motley sell- out crowd of 4600 or so gathered to welcome the undeniable return of the former-pineapple-packer- now-artiste-supreme of Continen- tal Baths' fame, the Divine Miss M. Yes, Miss M, Bette Midler, was making stop No. 3 on her tour of "tacky" American cities, Detroit finishing (only) third to Rochester and Cleveland. But Bette's engaging performance was anything but third-or-even- second-rate, as she entertained with more sheer talent and drive than any other artist in recent memory, this while creating a stage presence of unmistakably awe-inspiring nature. And even if you couldn't tell the "players" without a score- card audience-wise, it was Bette COMING TON ITE and THURSDAY 9:30 P.M.-MODERN LANGUAGES AUD. 111 "AESTHETICALLY AND AURALLY STUNNING. PROVIDES MOMENTS OF UNFORGETTABLE BRILLIANCE." t6.o1"" )"AN ELECTRIF1NG AND ELECTRIFIED PICTURE, (. No) BY DA.PENNEBAKER FIED AT THE MONTEREY INTERNATiONAL POP FESTIVAL. A LEACOCK PENNEBAKER RELEASE to Color~ NEW WORLD FILM CO-OP 761-8522 on the stage, backed by a four- piece rhythm section and her three-girl "choir," the Harlettes. Nothing else was needed though, as Bette and her friends provided almost two and one-half hours of, as the Divine One put it, hard- core "trash with flash." Con- centrating somewhat on her de- but Atlantic album, The Divine Miss M, Bette mixed the very best elements of rock, blues, boogie, pop and sweet soul in her show, proving herself to be a master in the fine art of pro- jecting natural, intimate warmth and humor to a far-too-physically- distant audience; this, of course, heightening her already excep- tional musical sense. Opening with her amiable theme song of sorts, "Friends," Miss M loungingly made her way through a Bessie Smith song, bringing a new sense of bite and fire to the words, hinging on her use of her own "quadruple- entendre" and some old-fashioned B-(plus)-grade bump-and-grind- ing. Bette gaspingly sang with the same mellowed savage grace as Bessie, but she played on each phrase with a much fuller sense of both humor and serious- ness; thus, in the end, the result was a song that was a full show in itself. A "Do You Love Me?"/"Do You Want to Dance?" medley was very well-received and rightly so. The Harlettes pro- vided clean, seemingly-effortless accompaniment to Miss M as she led the entire group in a fine show of capable, musically well- conceived dynamics. The ar- rangement was concise, building on the interplay between Bette's voice and the never-sluggish backing of the rhythm section. Another ass-kicker rocker, "Dah Do Ron Ron," was even better received, as Bette and the girls sang at full force with no appar- ent sign of fatigue, adding an occasional "tacky" dance step Olin TUES. CHARLY CHAPLIN GOLD RUSH CHAPLIN makes good in the American West. One of the greatest comedies ever made. WED. Buster Keaton THE GENERAL Donald Sosin's piano ac- companiment is offered for both films at all shows. ARCH ITECTURE AUDITORIUM B~ette Midler: ** sweet and sultry along the way. This former Crys- tals' hit lacked absolutely noth- ing in this performance; it was just simply amazing, full of the most infectious, friendly-feeling sound and life as is conceivable. Two of the more far-reaching album cuts were spotlighted, those being "Delta Dawn" and John Prine's masterpiece, "Hello In There." Alex Harvey's "Delta Dawn" is a song of a once-great South, and its utterly lifeless shells of people, performed by Bette in a southern-comforting voice with Barry Manilow's lazy, lingering piano providing the principle (early) accompaniment. Bette's voice and the music swell, the pace/mood grows rav- enous behind a feeling of non- descriptness that leaves an ever- longing bad taste in one's mouth. After some thought, it would seem though that this taste is not as much bad as it is sad, driven by a desire to resolve the song at hand. "Hello In There" is a latter-day country- pop oratorio on the sad state of old age and its "captives." As performed here, Prine's song is a chilling plea for understanding and, in a sense, forgiveness for growing old. Bette sings quietly, ending each phrase with a touch of Prine-ish country twine, while never letting the music overcome her. The final effect is devastat- ingly pure and direct. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" helped to recall the earlier days of the fast and furious forties. Bette parodied the Andrew Sis- ters, piling her hair high atop her head, one arm vivacious and the other wall-flower limp, swing- ing madly in a grand show of, once again her word, "garbage" (said with infinite class, of course). The Harlettes backed on both songs, adding to Bette to create that now-a-days tongue in cheek sound that had "that certain something" back then. Lively, so - to - speak. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was excellent even if it lacked the horns as included on the album; but as the music surrounds you, you soon forget the horns and just listen to the Divine Miss M sing with all the true showmanship of Patti, La- Verne and Maxine combined- and the joy flows with every word from her lips. Bette Midler "Superstar" suddenly found Bette sad and direction-less. Though the band and the Har- lettes played on, Bette was vir- tually alone on stage, and the song became a direct one-to-one relationship with each and every member of the hudience, creating a lost sense of forlorn romanti- cism and grave circumstance that lingered unmercifully on. Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" becomes a powerful woman's song in Bette's capable hands, and it too "suffers" from this ensuing sense of grave circum- stance, lending itself to the bit- tersweet side of life. In one of her more speed- rapping moments, Bette told her captive audience that "esoteric" FM was okay, but it was "AM (that) gets you out of the house and onto the street (pause) danc- ing." And so right she was, prov- ing her words with three more rock'n'roll classics. "Your Love Keeps Liftin' Me (Higher and Higher)" was raucous through- out, leading up to the point when Bette shed her low-cut, floor- length silver lame gown to re- veal skin-tight knickers and a lower-cut silver-sequined corset top, thus adding to the show. Bette's voice was striking as well. The Harlettes and the band were virtually unstoppable, musically driving on at an amazing clip. "Leader of the Pack" proved her love for "low-grade retro rock'n'- roll" as she laid down some of the most vicious teenage-punk v o c a 1 s since those original "toughs," the Shangri-Las. This early Shangri-Las' hit was street corner talking in its finest sense as somehow Bette was able to become the entire trio right be- fore the audience's eyes, vamp- ing her way through this verit- able teenage wasteland of camp romance and motorcycle mad- ness. The Harlettes were able- bodied as ever, providing accom- panying mock dance steps and purringly smooth background vocals. After a chewing gum in- tro, Bette kicked the biking ma- chinery into gear, the music alternating between rabid and just plain raunchy, and suddenly the song was over and all of that mindless joy was gone . . . but there was more. The Dixecups' great "Chapel of Love" was performed in a most sh-boom sense, its infec- tiousness never leaving the audi- ence behind; rather, taking them along and engulfing them in the smooth flow of early rock-and, Midler-magic. The "pits," no doubt. Miss M's rhythm section con- sists of guitarist. Dickie Frank, bassist Michael Federal, drum- mer Luther Rix and pianist Barry Manilow, who also does Bette's crisp musical arrange- ments. Federal and Rix are a very capable bass/drums duo and guitarist Frank is a sound, tech- nically-eloquent instrumentalist. The real instrumental star though is Manilow, who plays the piano with virtually as much feeling as anyone, playing the part of in- terpreter of Bette's moods, play- ing on and with them in his rather quiet, directing style. The women, Gail Kantor, Merle Mil- ler and new addition Charlotte Crossley, are likewise excellent, lending their never-overbearing vocal support to the Divine One. As for the Divine Miss M, she is without equal-a warm-blooded blend of timeless style and grace. Her voice is at times strained and breathlessly w on d e r f u 1: sweet or sultry, it commands one's constant emotional atten- tion. Possibly most striking is her endlessly changing physical appearance. Her facial features and expressions run the gamut of pure camp and emotion: she can be some-kind-of-wonderful-ly slutty as in her gum-popping Sorority sister-reject character from "Leader of the Pack," or a seemingly-childlike woman lost in a bittersweet love as in "Superstar." Bette Midler is, in a short three-word phrase, every- one and everything. With her in- finite sense of awe-inspiring stage presence and equally-affecting musical talents, Bette Midler is the stage, entertainer par excel- lence. In one of her favorite words, "divine."~ So me high-energy IBoogie and Blues Luther Allison ONE SHOW ONLY TONIGHT AT 7 P.M. Cinema 5 presents The Sorrow and The Pity Directed by Marosi Ophuls CUTUECALIENDAR MARATHON MUSIC-Mojo Boogie Band and Diesel-Smoke /Dangerous Curves perform this afternoon at the Blind Pig and Locomotion and Iron Horse Exchange perform tonight at the Odyssey as part of the WNRZ Community Marathon. Cover charges will be donated to the Mara- thon to help organizations in the Washington St. Com- munity Center before the fire there last December. Music will be broadcast live over WNRZ-FM. FILMS-AA Film Coop shows Hamilton's Diamonds Are For- ever tonight, Aud. A, 7, 9; Cinema Guild shows Chap- lin's The Gold Rush tonight, Arch Aud, 7, 9:05; New World Film Coop shows Raga tonight MLB, 7:30, 9:30; Residential College Astronomical Film Festival shows Assignment: Shoot the Moon; Exploration of the Plan- ets; Apollo 9, tonight, RC Aud. 9. MUSIC-Saxophone Quartet performs tonight at 8, SM Re- cital Hall. By PAUL TRAVIS Associate Managing Editor A lot of people missed a killer concert Saturday night. In the mirrored, concert park- ing structure-like Power Center less than 1,000 gathered to listen to, dance to, and clap for Luther Allison's Blues Band and Ann Ann Arbor's own Mojo Boogie Band. Both gave fine, high-energy performances but the small turn-out made this concert one that UAC-Daystar lost money on. The concert had bad luck to begin with. Two of the acts, Junior Walker and the All-Stars and Bobby Blue Bland, cancelled out. Becausekof that and very low advance ticketdsales, UAC-Day- star was forced to move out of Hill Aud. to the smaller Power Center. But to the amazement of most, The Power Center proved to be a fine place for the concert. And it was a fine concert. Up first was the Mojo Boogie Band. Five bearded young men, determined to make your foot start tapping and your ass start shaking. No frills, just raucous boogie-woogie. The two mainstays of the band were the lead singer who played guitar and harmonica and an in- credible saxaphone player. The two of them provided the drive and energy so essential for boogie blues. Two of them switched off playing leads while the rest of the band (bass, rhythm, and drums) filled in the background. The five combined to produce a nice mixture on some Otis Rush and Slim Harpo songs. They were a fine act and they got the crowdup and ready for the main attraction of the night. The Luther Allison Blues Band. Luther's brand of blues is excit- ing. His loud, Chicago-style, bar- blues is really something dif- (WABX-Airwaves)-Singer Pat- rick Sky is having major hassles with his new album. According to Crawdaddy Magazine, the al- bum Songs that Made America Famous. shocked United Artists so badly that they demanded their name be disassociated with the LP. Pressing plants for both Columbia and United Artists have refused to press the album, which is said to attack every- thing, including Pope Paul. ferent for Ann Arbor. And it's Luther who provides most of the excitement. His prancing around, his fast finger work on electric guitar, his sometimes weird some- times funny sounds he coaxes out of his guitar all fit into the act. Luther was once billed as "The next Jimi Hendrix" but the title is not accurate. He is much more basic than Hendrix ever was. Luther's musical roots are much more into traditional blues. The band is aptly named. It's Luther's show all the way. Bouncing out on stage asking "Do you feel alright?" he had the crowd under .his thumb throughout the entire show. In fact, the show was mostly Luther. For almost a full third of the act, Luther was playing alone with no backup from the rest of the band, which was very tight and seemed to fit in with Luther's act with no clashes. Luther showed, as he has in past appearances in Ann Arbor, his energy, his fine sense of stopping the music and starting up again slowly, and his total command of his guitar. His songs are all carefully planned to get the most excite- ment from what are sometimes very old tunes. He ran through "Little Red Rooster" and "Let Your Love Light Shine" but they didn't seem like those old blues numbers that you have heard so often. Luther made those old tunes come alive. His energy was in- fectious. The crowd was on its feet during most of the evening, pleading, begging, demanding more. My only complaint about the whole evening was that, while blues has a variety of styles, the two bands didn't show much ver- satility. Both have their own stylized brand of blues which they didn't veer too far from. None-the-less, I was up on my feet with the rest of the crowd asking for more and more and more. It was a fine concert. ARTS to I ...-I N EW MORN I(N G PRESENTS tonight 6:00 2 4 7 News 9 Courtship of Eddie's Father 50 Flintstones 56 How Do Your Children Grow? 6:30 2 CBC News 7 ABC News 9 I Dream of Jeannie 50 Gilligan's Island 56 Your Right To Say It 7:00 2 Truth or Consequences 4 News 7 To Tell the Truth 9 Beverly Hilibilhie 50 I Love Lucy 56 French Chef 7:30 2 What's My Line? 4 You Asked for It 7 Parent Game 9 Protectors 56 Evening at Pops 50 Hogan's Heroes 8:00 2 Maude 4 The Incredible Flight of the Snow Geese 7 Marcus Welby, M.D. 9 All Outdoors 50 NHL Hockey 8:30 2 Hawaii Five-O 9 Pig and Whistle 56 Bill Moyers' Journal 9:00 4 America 7 NBA All-Star Game 9 News 56 Common Ground 9:30 2 Entertainer of the Year Awards 9 Front Page Challenge 56 Black Journal 10:00 4 NBC Reports 9 Tuesday Night 56 Detroit Black Journal 10:30 50 Perry Mason 56 360 Degrees 11:00 2 4 News 9 CBC News 11:20 9 News 11:30 2 Movie 4 Johnny Carson 7 News 50 Movie "Operation Pacific" (65) 12:00 7 Dick Cavett 9 Movie "Trial Run." (68) 1:00 4 News 1:20 2 Movie 2:50 2 News 1:30 7 News 2:50 2 News 7 & 9:05 $1 Chester Himes' Ossie Davis' A GREAT HUMAN DOCUMENT I Cotton Comes to Harlem directed by OSSIE DAVIS Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques star as Chester Himes' Harlem detectives "Coffin Ed" Johnson and "Gravedigger" Jones, hilariously pur- suing a fortune of the people's money, "stolen" from a Back-to-Africa rally held by the glamorous Rev. Duke O'Malley. At the climax, the money turns up under a bale of cotton used as the central prop in a new striptease num- ber, but not before devastating spoofs of the police, mock-insurrections, car-chases, and the funniest sex scene in modern filmmaking. Great! II one day only $1.25 CONT. WEDNESDAY 7:00-8:40-10:20 January 24 FRIENDS OF NEWSREEL SUBSCRIBE NOW Call 764-0558 -- iI I111 G a 0 nndl K plHa i : ::: i I