ARTS
Page 6
Saturday, September 6, 1980
The Michigan Daily
Heatwave: Hot fun in the summertime
By JIM ROBINS
Moneymen, the paunchy lawyers, ac-
countants and insurance underwriters,'
are smoking cigars, drinking double
shots of Remy in the bar of the Oshawa
Holiday Inn, while they discuss percen-
tages on movie rights, groupies and the
moose that collided into somebody's
Datsun 2802. This is the alligator shirt
crowd who've put up the money for
IIEATWAVE where Elvis Costello, the
B-52s, the Pretenders, Talking Heads
and many more will perform tomorrow
at Mossport Park twenty-five miles
away. They are hoping that tens of
thousands of fans, all of whom have
forked over twenty bucks will be on
hand to witness what a festival publicist
hias promised to be "a moment in rock
h' roll history."
4
Milling around the hotel lobby are a
variety of people associated with the
festival; performers, technicians,
managers and the media. The Holiday
inn staff is a bit taken about (these
aren't salesmen from Ottawa, after all)
but the cash registers keep ringing and
the night manager is smiling, shaking
his head in silent amusement. Things
are low-key tonight. No one has driven
a Cadillac into the pool. Tomorrow is a
work day. Rock 'n' roll begins at 9:00
a.m.
At 2:00 a.m., the Esso service center
outside Oshawa already has them lined
up at the pumps. Cars, vans, and
motorcycles sporting plates from
several states and provinces are filling
up with gas, bags of ice and munchies.
A local cop eyes the activity from a
professional distance by the side of his
patrol car. "For the Canada Jam they
tore this place up," he says. "People
drunk, breaking things, doing*
everything imaginable. Then this last
week they had all that trouble at that
Alice Cooper concert in Toronto. Don't
know what to expect this time. So far all
these folks have been real polite. We
don't want to arrest anybody unless it's
for something serious. Hell, if it's just
somebody with a couple of joints we
take 'em and throw 'em away."'
On the exit ramp off the highway
leading to Mossport stand three girls
from Hamilton, Ontario trying to catch
a ride. Someone stops to pick them up.
They stumble into the car oblivious to
oncoming traffic, screeching breaks,
cursing and honking horns. Loaded,
they are carrying several pints of
whiskey, rum and gin, which they plan
to tape to their legs underneath their
jeans, and to pass undetected by the
festival security. They are also
carrying enough fresh cut Ontario
reefer to roll a box full of cigars. "I quit
my job to come here," offers one of the
girls.
"Did you come more to party or see
the bands," inquires the driver
whose car now smells like the
Segrams brewery.
"To party!" all exclaim gleefully in
unison.
By 3 a.m., several thousand would-be
party and concert goers are already on
the festival site, camped out in front of
the stage. It's time to catch a few hours
of shuteye and hope no one interrupts
your rock dreams tripping over you in
the dark.
By the time the sun comes up a small
crowd has swelled into teeming
masses. It's going to be a blisteringly
hot day. The ice cream vendors are
doing a brisk breakfast trade.
Local bands Vladimir Rogov and
Teenage Head are the first acts to take
the stage. They are followed by the
Rumour, sadly minus Graham Parker.
All three sets are unoriginal and unin-
spired. So far the most interesting
music is the tapes played between sets;
everything from Gruppo Sportivo to
"Popeye the Sailorman". The audience
is rightly non-plussed with the perfor-
mances, but is content to cop some
rays, greet old friends and make some
new ones.
Now as Nick Lowe and Dave Edmun-
ds' Rockpile take the stage with music
reminiscent of old friends meeting new
ones. Rockpile's early afternoon per-
formance is a tight mix of rock classics
and smart pop tunes. For the first time
all day there is cause to dance on the in-
field and to say it like you mean it this
time: "Hey Harry, pass me another
cold one, I'm beginning to enjoy the
heat."
The Pretenders look like they've been
enjoying their fair share of heat,
Canadian ale and other treats as they
launch into their first number, to an ap-
preciative roar from the crowd. It's
basically the same set they performed
in Detroit last spring, only a little
tighter and friendlier. Vocalist Chrissie
Hynde, alternately belting and sneering
out her compositions of love, pain,
power and terror, is the crowd pleaser
today. The Pretenders create the first
real signs of real excitement heard all
day. The sun is on the wane, but the,
temperature is just beginning to rise.
Twilight with the B-52s. Now things
are really getting hot. A keyboardist
and a vocalist with bouffant hairdos, on
top of stick- figures clothed in pastel
mini-dresses. A lead vocalist who looks
like a gigolo happily lost at sea on an
ocean cruise. This is a band with style.
And they can play! It's Gidget-goes-
See EXPANDED, Page 7
DID YOU WORK ON YOUR
HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK?
If the answer is YES, we want you.
If the answer is NO, we still want you.
We're the MICHIGANENSIAN, U-M's yearbook, and we're looking for
people willing to work (a lot or a little) on the 1980 MICHIGANENSIAN
-graphics, writing, photography or business.
Come to
our NEW STAFF MEET-
ING on Monday,
Sept.
+8 at 420
Wv,
3I
Maynard St. or call 764-0561 for
more info.
I U
In
TASTE THE BEER THAT OUTSELLS
ALL THE OTHERS IN CANADA:.
LABATI'S.
Good news
Labatt's, Canada's No.1 selling beer, is now imported to the U. S.
So, now it's easier to try our Labatt's-and understand the secret
of its popularity
We think you'll discover a taste that's crisp, clean and natural-
truly; the beer that tastes as good as the country it comes from.
Daily Photo by MAUREEN OMALLEY
More than 50,000 fans of "new wave" rock gathered.at the Mossport Speed-
way outside of Toronto this august to witness the "Heatwave", one of the
biggest musical festivals of any kind in recent years.
"sleep in late
1~~
* have a leisurely brunch
* forget about the library
(at least till 2)
" and relax with
She Attbtigan UatIl
a
I I