Kiss gimmicks By TIM YAGLE E VERYTHING previously said about the things the outrageous rock band Kiss does on stage is true - these guys are mad! Kiss displayed its spectacular yet bizzare stageshow to a packed Olympia Stadium Friday night. I was prepared for a crazy show, but geez! Detroit's Rockets launched the eager crowd into the evening with some heavy and loud rock'n'roll, which got the Kiss fanatics ready for their band. Then the moment came. The lights went off and one of the stagehands came out and gave the familiar intro- duction from the album Kiss Alive II. The sanity ended there.. RHYTHM GUITARIST Paul Stanley and lead guitarist Ace Frehley boarded{ the elevated platform stage left, and the ghoulish bassist Gene Simmons did the same stage right. They were low- ered to the stage amidst flashing lights and explosions, beginning their choreo- graphed assault with "I Stole Your Love." This was a bit of a surprise, sin- ce we assumed they would open with their testimonial to the rock'n'roll capital of the world, "Detroit Rock City." The gruesome quartet, then flowed smoothly into "King of the Nighttime World." Aside from being occasionally unin- The Michigan Daily- aptivate telligible, the overall quality of the music was good. Solmetimes, as in the driving "Rock and Roll All Nite," the overly-present bass made it difficult to immediate discern which song they were blasting at us. The band played "Firehouse" (a great live tune), during which Stanley donned a fireman's hat while smoke (what else?) slithered from back and side stage. "Love Gun" continued to captivate the audience. BEFORE EACH TUNE, Stanley (the most energetic performer of the group) would talk to his fans, giving a brief in- troduction to each song. Then all hell would break loose. "Christine Sixteen" and "Makin' Love" ensued before the more passive Ace Frehley took over with "Shock Me." Dung his long solo his guitar began smoking, as if he couldn't control it. During most of the songs, Stanley and Simmons would stand at the mikes while Frehley wandered around, assaulting our ears with piercing but decent guitar licks. During "I Want You," Stanley got the crowd into the act, with the band yelling "I Want" and the people answering "YOU! ". SIMMONS' GAVE his famous ser- e ~L 'V/V V%1A pent-like tongue a breather when he' pelted out "Dr. Love," probably the" best-played tune all evening. Immediately after "Shout It Out Loud," the lights were dimmed and, in his only solo effort, Simmons stalked to the center of the empty stage. With a green spotlight on him, he "suffered through" his blood-vomiting act. As if that wasn't enough to keep your2. eyes wide open, the platform on which- Peter Criss' tremendous drum set was mounted slid forward, lights flashing and all. Criss mechanically went-, through his drum solo, while his set and platform virtually exploded with Roman candles and sparklers. STANLEY SMASHED his guitar, and the band left the stage only to be sum moned back for what the audience had waited all night - "Detroit Rock City" With Criss on his stool and taped music flowing gently through the speakers, "Beth" was the evening's only mellow moment. "Black Diamond" ended the display of good hard rock, although the concert wasn't as loud as I expected. As Gene Simmons observed, "What a way to make a living." -Tuesday, January 24, 1978-Page 7 ,. crowud Is it San or Laz? Duo doubly delightful By JOSEPH ROSEVEAR T HE AUDIENCE clapped, hooted, and sang along with Sandor and Laszlo Slomovitz at the Pendleton room in the Michigan Union Sunday after- noon. The Slomovitz twins - they call themselves Gemini - are a local folk music group. Having lived in Ann Arbor for the past four years, they are well known here. The twins have played a number of times at the Ark and at Mr. Flood's. Gemini was well received. Although, requiring a certain amount of warming up, the audience soon was clapping, singing, and having a good time. From the beginning, the concert was ar- ranged to encourage audience partici- pation. Their opening number was en- tirely vocal. Laz and San sang very well. Their diction was good, their style was com- fortable and appealing. Their years of vocal experience were evident in the appropriateness of their pronoun- ciation, the beauty of their harmony, and the accuracy of their intonation. Their unaccpmpanied vocal numbers were very nice. THE MOST ENJOYABLE aspect of the performance, however, was the great variety of instruments and songs presented. Together they played guitar, violin, panpipe, penny whistle, mando- lin, limber-jack, fiddle sticks, and the bones. Edmund and Quentin, a South American folk music team, plus Sheri and Helen, friends of Laz and San, also performed. The six dd two South American songs together. The first, the most unusual number that afternoon, used six panpipes and a cowhide-cov- ered drum called a bombo. Edmund played the bombo and his panpipe si- multaneously. The others accompanied him on panpipes. The weird, command- ing intonations of the panpipes mixed in interwoven harmony and melody punc- tuated by the resonant beatings of the bombo. The result was, strange and moving. The other number in which all six performed included two South American instruments, a type of flute described as a notched flute - two of these were used, and the South Ameri- can charando, a small ten-stringed in- strument which is played like a guitar or a mandolin. In one number, Laz played the violin while San drummed on the upper part of the strings with fiddle sticks. It was an interesting maneuver. The limber- 00 NEWS FROM THE MAJOR EVENTS OFFICE jack and the bones are percussion in- struments. The bones, San explains, "... are as much a dance as a rhythm instrument." Yet, says San, *'it's not a rhythm instrument that does a lot of 'oom-pa-pa,' it's a solo instrument in its own right." Laszlo and Sandor are skilled music- ians. And they should be. "We've been singing since we were tiny," remarked Laszlo after the performance. "We've been playing this kind of music and writing our own songs, things like that, about six or seven years." Laz did apologize, however, for his playing. He explained that he had played violin for a length of time when he was very young and took it up again only a few years ago. HIS VIOLIN playing, although not virtuoso, was fair. His intonation and rhythm were accurate. He played, how- ever, with a heavy bow arm and made at times loud and squawking sounds in- stead of music. He did one number with a mute on the violin and another involv- ing pizzacato, both of which were pleas- ant and well performed. Gemini will be playing at a newly opened coffee house in Detroit this Sat- urday and at Mr. Flood's on Tuesday, January thirty-first. And it is likely they will continue to appear frequently in Ann Arbor. "I'm hoping to make this into ... a series of sorts - have concerts here five or six times a year; probably in this region, possibly elsewhere," San commented. "That's really nice when people come back," remarked Laz upon seeing a number of familiar faces. Certainly it's no wonder that they do. Birth defects are forever. U less you help. TO PROTECT THE UNBORN AND THE NEWBORN March of Dimes THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY THE PUBUSHER Sergei Esenstein's 1943 Ivan The Terrible I Many consider this film to be the Russian director's master- piece. Intense, yet impeccably orchestrated story of the first czar to unite Russia. In Russian with subtitles. Wed.: McCabe & Mrs. Miller Thurs.: Ivan the Terrible I1 Cinema Guild Tonight at 7:00 & 9:05 Old Arch. Aud. 'Bridegroom impotent By SUSAN BARRY continually trying to steal the sh Franks is consistently abrasive and A T TIMES PTPS The Robber Bride- scene as the stepmother, but not ina groom, presented at the Power way that is interesting. She stri Center last Sunday, was imaginative, poses and often recites her lines q energetic, and thoroughly enjoyable. cleverly, but her performance se Unfortunately, most of the time it was stale and calculated. none of these. It was not, by any means, The same is true of Marineau's Ro through lack of effort; the arm-wrench- mund. When fresh, her animated ing, head-bobbing cast seemed all too pressions must have been delightf eager to dive into each new number. inventive. Sunday afternoon shev They just seemed to have been on the merely muging. Her often lov ow. ob- any ikes uite ems osa- ex- ully was vely CINEMA IIML3 Tuesday, January 24 EXPERIMENTAL FILMS A selection of independent films by the true masters of the medium: LADY OF THE SPHERE-Larry Jordan TO PARCIFAL-Bruce Baille MY NAME IS OONA-Gunvor Nelson GULLS AND BUOYS-Robert Breer SAUGUS SERIES-Pat O'Neill NEW, IMPROVED INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY-George Landlow 78 9 P.M. $1.50 Cinema 11lis now accepting new-member applications. Application forms will be available at all Cinema i showings. The Robber Bridegroom Pd wer Center January 22, 1978 Jamie Lockhart ..................... George Deloy Clemment Musgrove ............... Jared Matesky Rosamund ................ Barbara Marineau Salome ........................ Laurie Franks Choreographed by Dennis Grimaldi Composed and arranged by Robert Waldman road too long. The story, based loosely on an old Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, concerns the daughter of a wealthy landowner who falls in love with a robber. The robber Jamie Lockhart (George Deloy) has met the lovely Rosamund (Barbara Marineau) in the woods and stolen her clothing, divesting her of all her char- ms except those she is most anxious to bequeath. Although ruthless in his proficiency, Lockhart finds himself to be somewhat affected by the girl. They set up a household inthe woods while Lockhart contracts to marry the lovely daughter- of a wealthy landowner who, unknown to any of them, is the lovely Rosamund herself. OBVIOUSLY the plot retains many of the fantastic conventions of the fairy tale, complete with the selfish wit- ch/stepmother (Laurie Franks) who is voice, at least, added some element of warmth to her performance. George Deloy began, to give some depth to his character. His rendition of "Love Stolen" was original and amus- ing. But he took the charm of his admit- tedly beguiling face for granted. ONLY TWO PERFORMERS, both minor characters, were particularly noteworthy. Penny Leone was effec- tively bird-like as the raven, achieving by slight jerks of her head and a craggy voice a striking impersonation of the evil precursor. And Michaelan Sisti as the simpleton "Goat" was convincingly limber in his oafishness. His disshev- eled hair and tattered costume was an astute study in penury. Where Bridegroom fails is in sin- cerity. While the dancers on stage are whirling and slapping their thighs they somehow fail to project their enthusi- asm onto the audience. This is further complicated by the fact that the music is not particularly memorable and the lyrics sometimes seem slightly out of kilter with the melody. Both acts open with rousing dance reels as though to remind the audience that they're supposed to be having fun. Unfortunately, the Sunday afternoon crowd was, for the most part, uncon- vinced. .THS WEEK i--- -- -- ------- ------------[1 I I the go# arbor film cooperativ ! TONIGHT! Tuesday, Jan. 24 i I I Artists & Craftsmen Guild presents: Collaborative Winter Art & Craft Classes Registration The classes run for 8 weeks (beginning the week of January 30), are taught by professional artists and craftspeople, and in- clude basic as well as more advanced training in weaving, batik, jewelry, photography, woodblock printing, and clay workshop. Call 763-4430 or visit the Guild on 2nd floor of Michigan Union. MEAN STREETS (Martin Scorsese, 1973) 7 & 9:15-AUD. A A virtuoso work of such explosive originality, intensity, and power that it stands out as THE film of the 70's. The underside of New York's Little Italy is seen through the eyes of Charley (HARVEY KEITEL), whose ascension in the Mafia is hindered by the depth of his Catholic upbringing and his faith in his reckless friend Johnny Boy (a brilliant ROBERT DeNIRO). "You don't pay for sins in church. You pay for them on the street."-Charley. A "must see" film. "Exquisite, savage, compassionate and brilliant."--Joseph Gelmis. "Everything that is said or done has the sense of being absolutely right. It is evident that Scorsese was a born filmmaker . . . MEAN STREETS is an unqualified success." -Kevin Thomas, L.A. Times. Plus Short: THE BIG SHAVE (Martin Scorsese) Eclipse Jazz presents: Chick Corea Herbie & Hancock Acoustic piano solos and duets Thursday, January 26, 8 p.m. Hill Auditorium SOLD OUT! SINGLE ADMISSION $1.50 1 1 1 The AAFC is now accepting entries for the 8th Annual 8mm Film Festival. Stop by one of our showings for details. UAC Mediatrics presents: THE STING Friday, January 27, 7 & 9:30 p.m. Nat. Sci. Aud. M*AS.H. Saturday, January 28, 7 & 9:15 p.m. Nat. Sci. Aud. L -- - ---- - - - - - - -- - --- ------- I The big song breaking out across the na- tion, this week, is Art Garfunkel's "Wonderful World." All the excitement arises from his back-up singers-those being Paul Simon and James Taylor. With help also from David Crosby, Stephen Bishop and Jimmy Webb, the album notes look like a "whos who" in music. Now, if they'd only tour .. . Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson have just released a duo album that includes their top-40 single, "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys." Their brand of hard-driving country-rock showed through on last year's RCA release, "Wan- ted: The Outlaws." Willie Nelson will appear at Crisler Arena on Sunday, February 5, with Ann Arbor favorite son Jerry Walker and singer Katy Moffatt. The Doobie Brothers will appear on the ABC-TV show "What's Happening," this Saturday, January 28, and Saturday, February 4. The Doobies will perform six tunes, ranging from "Takin It To The .- ,.,an "d "R.I, Wnr" to "Tn Me In January 28, 1978 Party Union Programming Committee presents: New Year's Eve Dance A dance-party a la New Year's Eve with favors, streamers, balloons, etc. Live band "Cypress," Beer & Mixed Drinks. Saturday, January 28, 9 p.m.-Union Ballroom Admission $1. Viewpoint Lectures presents: ALLEN GINSBERG Reading his poetry (will answer questions afterward) Tuesday, January 24, 8 p.m., Rackham Auditorium $1.50, general admission, tickets available at Ticket Central UAC Ticket Central handles ticket sales for all UAC events. Located in the lobby of the Michigan Union, New Year's Eve I i -. ..