4 ARTS Page 6 Sunday, September 7, 1980 The Michigan Daily Jackson takes it easy live a By DENNIS HARVEY ' Jackson Browns offers the rare pleasures of articulateness-as the self- appointed spokesman for our generation's Everyman, he's consisten- tly been one of the best lyricists around. Browns was the fine-honed conscience of the early '70's singer-songwriter boom, and was among the few with the talent to survive its glutted peak and de- cline. Like Joni Mitchell-But with a more reassuring down-to- earth, less intellectual approach-he appealed to an audience anxious to sur- vey the wreckage left after the '60's and escape the depressing fall of main- stream rock and roll. With calmed, disarming straightforward intelligen- ce, his first four albums voiced everyone's regret over the past, shrugged over the dissatisfactions of the present, and cautiously hoped for something better than simple survival in the future. Concerned and rueful without pessimism, Jackson in these early years was a wise innocent-a clear-eyed observer, like a less mystical version of the title character in the first LP's "A Song for Adam." Brown's transition from a largely acoustic sound to more of a rock stance was tentatively managed by the hugely successful, live Running On Empty disc-a fine set of songs, but with the possible exception of "The Road's" exhausted melancholy, lacking the careful observation of the previous ef- forts. Jackson without depth was cat- chier-a party album (well, sort of), for the first time-but less interesting. The change still seems tentative on the new Hold Out album. The LP isn't exactly overproduced; it's just that as' the production gets bigger and slicker, the artist becomes increasingly like everyone else. He still has his signature sounds (the swelling- inspiration organs, David Lindley's violin and lap steel guitar), but Brown has never been regarded most highly for his compsoing skills-it was always his verbal outlook that seemed most distinctive and affecting-and now that the music is in the foreground, it's becoming apparent that it's still best suited to the background. SHOWCASE CoNCaCRT AT SECOND CHANCE 5f o EAT UlERry ANN ARBOR mo14DAV 5EPT. l3 7:00 $ 1:00 P0M RiSo FtE 1tIM4C A.TISTS 5 KinqBees WIT' Se'.4AL. WEST 'THE LOOK.' PAONAY £2FT 15 4100 PIA~ CAPvToL,. 96GcoaPMG A tSS ITA SPE4cAL- OG6sT 'NIKKIs 4, Twa CORVETrreS TIc MMs: 45. -a4d./4 ..S deer MoNDAY 56PT. Z.. ELrU.A R .sCPRS- A.TST WITH ISftc.IAL. GUES$T TMlE MAX-,4 MONt>AY wSEP. 2z' CAP T+'OI.-PAG~0PI#44 AR'"'S 4SHIRTST WITH SPOCIAL- L06S'T %AILT IN AME4SGacA' VIDEO SHORTS TUESDAY NIGHT'S concert at Crisler may not have been resolved the problem of where Jackson can go in the '80's, but at least it set the dilemna aside for a while. Browne isn't a very exciting live performer-the crowd stayed politely seated furing even the strong encore and the emotional peak of the inevitable "Doctor My Eyes"-but he puts on a thoroughly professional show of finely crafted music. That may not be quite enough, but it's a good deal nevertheless. The set was pretty much the usual greatest-hits-live assortment, though Browne has an advantage in that his most popular songs are often his most detailed and ambitious. The occasional trite tune came off well, because a routine piece of upbeat pop-rock wallpaper like "You Love the Thunder" has a basic appeal than can be more easily exploited in concert than more complex, reflective songs. The new material-virtually every cut on Hold Out-was dutifully trotted out, to variably effect. Browne's facility with rock is still severely limited. "That Girl Could Sing" starts off with a strong riff, but having accomplished that, it goes no further and stumbles into driving monotony. He doesn't know how to build on his foundations, how to take a good idea to its logical peak. "Boulevard," probably the hookiest song in Browne's catelogue, manages to work up a fair head of steam and hold. on to it, and as a result came off well in concert, as did the depressingly titled "Disco Apocalypse," which can't quite escape pretentiousness on record but thumped through loudly and suc- cessively on stage. THE BAND-Russ Kunkel on drums, bassist Bob Glaub, pianist Craig Doerge, David Lindley, Bill Payne of Little Feat on organ-was a superb unit, delivering the expected series of standards without a whit of musical flab. While Jackson held the spotlight rather limpidly, all the intensive moments of playing were provided by band members. Doerge, in particular, provided a dazzling solo during "Before the Deluge," without the sort of Liberace theatrics that most pop-rock bands (Pablo Cruise's keyboardist-the Bruce Jenner of the ivories-is only the worst I can think of) would indulge in. The sole note of unnecessary (but forgiveable) musical flash came from backup singer Rosemary Butler, who shook her goods like Chaka Khan, and sang with a lot more heat than this generally mellowed evening could Daily Classifieds* Get Results! Call 764-0557 4 Jackson Browne and his seven-member band appeared at Crisler Arena Friday night, playing all of the new material off his current "Hold Out" album, along with the expected list of older hits, including "Fountain of Sorrow," "Everyman" and "The Pretender." easily allow. Her admittedly enjoyable excesses only made the flaccid disin- terest of male backup Doug Haywood more disconcerting. The evening's most welcome event was^ its opening-the Pretender album's masterpiece, "The Fuse," a whirling, circular meditation on The State of Everything, and one of the few Jackson Browne compositions with a truly exhilerating tune to back up its typically thoughtful lyrics. The most disappointing was the lack of any significant acoustic interlude-all we got was Jackson on guitar and Lindley on violin for the totally unnecessary but acceptably amusing "Cocaine," and entertaining throwaway song (with a nice deadpan vocal) but hardly worth the rapturous response it got-and why this over all of the fine acoustic ballads in Browne's repertoir? There was also a note of embaras- sment in this otherwise respectable night. Browne is to be commended for trying to liven up what must be, by now, a thoroughly predictable evening for his band with some visual aids, but the efforts that are currently onview leave much to be desired. Some rather tackey backdrops are unveiled at various poin- ts during the set-a highway-into-in- finity during "Running on Empty," that sort of thing-but the worst was a triple-screen set-up that jerked down from above several times. The concert version of "Before the Deluge" was fine, and Jackson's anti-nuke intro. managed to be casual enough to avoid preachiness, but what didn't pass muster was the faintly ludicrous slide show of nuke plants, protestors, politicians, mushroom clouds and (gulp) beaming, innocent children's faces, all intended to make our hearts swell with concern. Leni Riefenstahl, Jackson ain't. This misguided interlude failed to rise above the standard of the usual pseudo-stirring pictorial cliches that accompany the national anthem on TV at 3 a.m. Later, during "Boulevard," another Montage appeared, this time showing a succession of punkers, con- sumers, haunted faces. Modern decadence? Our lost brothers and sisters? Whatever the effect was inten- ded to be, it failed to come off. The screens were finally used to introduce each band member, with accom- panying cute pictures of each-too much like the glossy chic clowning of those Saturday Night Live opening: credits, and inappropriate in the con' text of a concert by Jackson Browne-his sincerity has usually seemed to place him beyond this kind of frivolouscommerical foolery. Yes-TONIGHT ONLY at Old A&D Aud. BEACH BONANZA DOUBLE BILL AT 7:00 ONLY. IT'S SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROCK with FATS DOMINO and JOE TURNER and ROCK COOL CATS out to convert squares. And IT'S A BIKINI WORLD 9:00 only. Join TOMMY KIRK and THE ANIMALS as they muscle their way through the surf. Wear your 60's beach garb. CINEMA GUILD MOVIES FOR 30 YEARS AND STILL AT OUR PEAK I 0 0 40 I.