The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, March 25, 1980-Page 5 1 JIMMY BUFFETT A T HILL: Surviving the hard knocks By STEVE HOOK Few musicians touring today have roused such a passionate love-hate following than Jimmy Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band. Their adversaries call them gratuitous, untalented and obnoxious. Their supporters regard their music as a refreshing diver- sion-good honest fun with no strings attached. " Onstage at Hill Auditorium Saturday night, Buffett and his crew managed to fectively defend the latter argument displaying their unique, well- blended chemistry and showing that they do have talent and musical in- tegrity, however gratuitous. Buffett was preceded Saturday night by J.D. Souther and his band, who came through with some very enjoyable, Southern California style rock. For most of his appearance, he kept up a lively guitar exhibition, with Waddy Wachtel playing lead and Kenny Ed- wards on base. Souther's style is very similar to Buffett's, which comes as no surprise: no frills, just steady; fine music. WHEN THE Coral Reefers did ap- pear, minus Buffett, they charged into a brand.new song entitled "Too'Late," which brought harpist Greg "Fingers" Taylor into the spotlight. The tune also accentuated the instrumental talents of lead guitarist Barry Chase, bassist Harry Dailey and Fender Rhodes specialist Andy McMahon-talents they. kept comparatively restrained while backing fp Buffett's vocals later on. Buffett came onstage amidst the exhuberant response from "Too Late," greeted his audiece and led the band into "Manana," "Pencil Thin Moustache," "Son of a Son of a Sailor," and "Come Monday," before catching his breath, making some brief com- ments, and beginning the irreverent standard; "Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw)." Overall, Buffett's show provided a fine balance of old and new works, yet there are some prevailing reservations about this most recent appearance, mainly involving it's relatively short length-about ninety minutes. What tends to occur during such a brief set is that you only hear the 1.) newest songs from the newest album(s), and 2.) the most familiar, most "popular", and the most stage-suited songs from the ar- tists's repertoire. This formula was used by Buffett: songs from his latest album, "Volcano," were prominantly featured (among them: the title song, "Fins," "Dreamsicle," "Treat Her Like a Lady," and "Survive"). In ad- dition, the most familiar works from past albums were performed (among them: "God's Own Drunk," "Come Monday," "A Pirate Looks at Forty," and (gasp) "Margaritaville."). FOR THE DIE-HARD Buffett flan, however, for those aware of all his works, not just the more commercial ones-there was a conspicuous absence of what they know are his BEST works, his most heartfelt, sincere and creative songs,(like "Migration," "The Captain and the Kid.," "Railroad Lady," and "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season"). Onstage, Buffett has been known to kick out with the old classics; he has been known to abandon the set agenda and play for hours on end. In addition (as his live album shows), he has been known to spontaneously in- teract with his audience, to tell a few stories that serve to increase the audience's familiarity with him and his songs, and make the evening somewhat more complete. Saturday night, however, he appeared more business like, charging from one song to the next without attempting to get to know his audience. Even his Coral Reefers managed to stay on track the entire evening-mouth harpist Greg "Fingers" Taylor and lead guitarist Barry Chance have been known to steal the spotlight with passionate, im- provisational solos onstage, but not Saturday night. Again, these are the reservations of a seasoned listener-apparently not of the majority of the audience at Hill, who brought the group back for two en- cores, and who expressed almost universal satisfaction with their per- formance in the lobby afterwards. Overall, the Choral Reefers delivered and delivered well. With the kind of chemistry they possess onstage together, a comparitively average show for them goes beyond the most inspired performances by many other rock bands touring today. TheAmArbor Fpm Ceope "a. Presentstatt. S.:$1.s0 TUESDAY, MARCH 25 RED DESERT (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1965) 7:00-NAT. SCI. Antonioni's first color film stunningly depicts both the beauty and grotesque- ness of modern industrial society. Monica Vitti and Richard Harris star as two lovers adrift in a world of alienation and existential ennui. "It is the best use of.a color I have ever seen in a film."-Stanely Kauffman. Italian with subtitles. BLOW UP (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966) 9:00-NAT. SCI. A mod and modish London photographer (DAVID HEMMINGS) realizes after the fact that he may have photographed a murder, and his search for killers takes him through a hell of betrayal, decadence, and hallucination. Vanessa Red- grave is superbly sensuous as the woman who may have set up the hit. Winner of many top awards, with Sarah Miles. Music by Herbie Hancock, featuring the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Tomorrow: Ingmar Bergman's HOUR OF THE WOLF at MLB k Michigan Student Assembly is now accepting applications for the Central Student Judiciary (C.S.J.) Interested students should apply by March 27, 1980-5:00 p.m. 3909 Michigan Union Daily Photo by JOHN HAGEN Jimmy Buffett returned to Ann Arbor Saturday night at hill Auditorium. playing a relatively short but slick set that left the crowd flicking their fics for two encores. Leading off the evening was mellowed-out Southern California popper .J. D. Souther, of "You're Only Lonely" fame. MAROONED IN MICHIGAN THEATRE Hiroshima draws praise, but fewfans By LEE LEVINE The cultural significance of contem- porary music in American society has been profound. As multifarious ethnicities have evolved assimilated and separated, so have their various derivative music forms in our culture. The popular black music idiom is a Wradigm example of changes inherent in black-American culture. The popularity of Dixieland over the traditional slave hymnal marked the emancipation and migration of blacks' from the soutbern plantation to the southern city.. :tie popularity of the' blues and jazz grew as blacks migrated north to such cities as Chicago and New York. And finally, as the black population in other major metropolitan areas burgeoned, musical forms such R soul and funk came to the fore. oreover, the Latino-Funk-Rock fusion of a group such as Santana exemplifies the partial assimilation of latino, black, and anglo-saxon communities in American culture. Lastly, the white suburban rock typified by the group Boston. signifies this genre of rock's separation from its black rhythm and blues roots, as the group appeals to a largely white, middle class subculture. 0SO IT is both unique and fascinating examine the cultural significance of a new west coast band called Hiroshima. Hailing from the streets of Los Angelos,the group consists of seven first generation Japanese-Americans, one Latino-American and one WASP. Growing up together, the nine members come from a poor and integrated area, with white, Latino, Black and Asian- American populations. Hence the group attempts to incor- rate a traditional Japanese musical ncept into that of a Latin-funk-rock- jazz musical hybrid. The music of Hiroshima provides an inimitable departure from native Japanese fusion such as that of Ryo Kawasaki, which merely attempts to emulate an American-type fusion concept. Curiously, the fusion of the disparate elements of Hiroshima evolved ac- cidentally rather than as a purposeful attempt at a novel musical approach. he group was able to build an avid West Coast following as it gradually developed a delicate and proper balan- ce of its various musical traditions. The band's maturation culminated in its "discovery" by Wayne "Big Daddy" Henderson (formerly of the Crusaders), one of the- leading producers in Hollywood. Hiroshima's debut album ensued in November of last year; and has had very respectable record sales. Moreover, initial record company reluctance to promote, the album was overcome by "the popular requests of fans on the West Coast, and enthusiastic airplay in both black and progressive jazz-fusion markets. THE GROUP'S first national tour and Ann Arbor appearance comes on the heels of this sudden and meteoric rise to national visability. Appearing Saturday evening at the Michigan Theater, Hiroshima's performance exhibited the strengths that typify the band's sudden success. But overnight recognition has at the same time ham- pered the band's overall effectiveness. On its tour, with ,Ann Arbor as the final stop, Hiroshima has been playing medium sized concert halls as an opening act for the popular .recording artist, Phyllis Hyman; or else headlining club gigs. Inexplicably, however, the band was signed as a solo performer in the small to medium sized Michigan Theater. WHILE the airplay and word of mouth were able to fill a large club the night before in Chicago, there just wasn't enough of that kind of support to fill more than three hundred seats in the spacious Michigan Theater. Not only was the size of the audience disconcerting to the musicians, but also to the Ann Arbor audience not used to a' half-empty concert hall. Furthermore, not only does the group's newness present an inhibition in its drawing power but also in its song selection and format. Hiroshima played every song in its repertoire Saturday night until they ran out, a mere one hour and fif- teen minutes after they began. Despite exceptional writing ability a full reper- toire of eleven songs is just not enough to put'on anything more than a club or opening act. Particularly when expan- sive and creative soloing is not one of the group's strengths. In addition, this lack of compelling soloing for a jazz oriented fusion group using a selection of new and basically unfamiliar compositions, can lead to a disastrous performance. So it is no wonder that the band in its unassuming naivete nearly had to coax the audien- ce out of their seats for a standing ovation, let alone an encore. As leader and reed player Dan Kuramoto told the audience "We're still growing, and we want you to grow with us." While this is an understandable remark from a group as young as Hiroshima, it ia also indicative of the problems that beset the group Saturday evening. ACOUSTICS for the performance were generally pretty good but distor- tion of the electric keyboards ruined the only extensive solo Richard "Arms" Matthews attempted all evening. When one considers that on the basis of the album, Matthews is probably the best soloist in the group, the poor acoustics are particularly frustrating. The band's vocals were muffled and partially inaudible throughout the concert, which is not unusual for a predominantly in- strumental band. Inexperience on the part of the group's vocalists further exacerbated the problem. Yet for the most part the before-mentioned problems were the only negative aspects of the concert. Most importantly. none of these failings can be attributed to inherent weaknesses in the band itself; but the weaknesses are simply a manifestation of any inexperienced band. And it is not impossible to believe that in another year many of these problems will be eradicated. The group's strengths on the other hand are positively invigorating. The band on the basis of their background understandably is close-knit. And the youthful ebullience exuded by the nine rhythms, proved infectious, as the crowd became increasingly receptive as the concert wore on. The group often using a niaty as six percussionists at See IIIROSIIIMA, Page 10 The Friars in concert with Harmony Renaissance March 29, 1980-8:00 p.m. Rackham Auditorium Tickets $2.50, $3 at the door Contact ticket central for more information Daily Classifieds Get Results THE Alaskan King Crab ONLY $7.95 THE DAVID BROMBE RG BAND April 16 Michigan Theatre with special quests Dick Siegel and the Ministers of Melody INCRD Complete Alaskan King Crab Leg Dinner Served with a crisp green salad, vegetable, bread and your choice of baked potato, French fries, or long grain and wild rice. .-2-..T,MOUNTAINi