I ARTS2 The Michigan Daily Wednesday, November 12, 1980 Page 7 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK HAROLD T. SHAPIRO SAUL H. HYW THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13 MICHIGAN ROOM, PATON CENTER BUSINESS SCHOOL 5:00 p.m. AAQ M1ANS ~ST'ENT AMkWY The Slits: You had to be there By RJ SMITH AAAKKA SOOM CHOOO EEE MUMBA OOEEEEEEEE!! may not mean much to most of you, but if you were at the Slits concert Monday night at Second Chance, it probably sounds like an invitation to dance. It's an in- cantation, really, one meant to be hollered at the top of one's lungs. What it is is a sort of nonsense, gobbledygook meant to sound "tribal," that Slit singer Ari Up explodes with oc- casionally before a song (and it does sound tribal, the way Ari caterwauls it). The point is simple. Like most other parts of the Slits presentation, such shrieks help construct a unified, ethnicized clan that unites audience and performer. Most everything with the Slits is a gesture of community; the infectious Jamaican rhythms, the way Ari tried to explain to the audience that just because the band had stopped playing "the songs don't ever stop" as long as there is an audience responding to them, the way people were regularly invited up on the stage. All this made for an audience at least approaching an unnatural level of good will. And it made for an evening of music punched through with gaping holes, empty sound there for the audience to fill (for silence is a rhythm too, as one of their songs puts it). But most of all, it made for an evening which the body supremely responded to-especially the feet. A TRIO of British women that banded in 1977, the Slits consist of singer Ari Up, guitarist (sometimes) Viv Alber- tine, and bassist (sometimes) Tessa. As they have, they say, had trouble fin- ding a good female drummer, they were supplemented by a male drum- mer, as well as one who played guitar and another who played keyboards, flugel horn, euphonium, and .assorted percussion things. It was exciting, watching the Slits in- vite the audience into the charmed cir- cle they create when they play; it was even more exciting, I think, to watch the nervous faces of the Second Chance bouncers, they who have caused such carnage in the past, passively watching as the group invited any and all to share to stage with them. What keeps the Slits invitation to rush the stage from being a cheesy, hollow statement is the power and friendliness of their music. It is a sound tough and physical-the thick bass sound of reggae music and the ethereality of dub, where layers of sound are constantly in motion, sculp- ting a rich but hazy presence. Perhaps the most important component of their music is their inspired use of space. As do almost nonwhites who take off from Jamaican music, the Slits opt to leave wide swathes of emptiness in their songs, often having guitars and vocals drop in and out seemingly randomly. IT HAS BEEN written that the vestiges of punk are to be found in all- women groups such as the Slits and the Raincoats-groups in which a genuinely amateurish, unpolished ap- proach 'is taken to matters of in- strumental ability. And definitely, it's a crude sound the Slits have got-that use of space isn't just a capturing of the hypnotic sparseness of reggae and dub, it's a reflection of the Slits' musician- ship. Yeah, they don't play as well as, oh, Supertramp. But to these ears, their music is democracy in action, noise caught up in drama where the musician strains against the limits of her proficiency. "Say, she sounds like a banshee pterodactyl," someone suggested of Ari's singing. That's about it. Although Tessa mostly remains implacably solemn throughout, Ari (and oc- casionally Viv) erupts with fingernails- on-blackboard cackles, full of glee, that challenge the audience to howl back. Save when Viv took the mike for a remarkable loping, Ubu-oid flight of fantasy, the singing was basically relaxed. The Slits are caught up in free rhythms and free singing, but whatever intensity expended to achieve such freedom came off as extraordinarily in- fectious fun. And that's a little bit odd-for such a liberating unit with such a unique drive for communion with their audience, the Slits sound strangely non-intense. BUT THEN, there are many ways to sell an important approach. "In Africa, music tends to be tied tightly to the sociocultural events for which it is created; without the events, the music is not produced. . . While Westerners tend to stress composer and song title, Africans stress the type of song and situation of which it is a part," writes afro musicologist Alan Merriam. The ways the Slits try to shut the gap bet- ween audience and performer are nothing new. But what's new is the con- text-neo-tribalism-and the audien- ce-young punks. Like the aforemen- tioned African music, one gets the feeling the Slits were interested in creating an event, not music. And they managed to make one-one not par- ticularly meaty, but one eminently memorable. The Slits aren't sure about a lot of the things they do: they straddle political material without any real fervor, they play some non-Rasta arty stuff, they. have a wierd pop song sensibility that intrudes on some of the more rhythmic music. But what they do know is that they want to move their listener-in both senses of the phrase. And they do. I'll take the Slits vision of the African aesthetic over Talking Heads' any day-there's a lot less manipulation in- volved and less gimmickry. A week ago Ann Arbor saw another trio of women take a stage, when the Roches appeared at Power Center. Both the Roches and the Slits wear fun- ny clothes, they both have six legs, but that's where the similarity ends. I'll take the Slits' stage demeanor over the Roches, too. When I saw the Roches, I was seeing three suburban cutie pies, asserting their cutie-pieness by insult- ing the audience, wiggling their bot- toms, babbling Steve Martinish non sequiters, doing anything to endear themselves to their audience. Mon- day night at Second Chance was dif- ferent. There was a certain'high point of the end of a song, a moment long af- ter a large contingent of the audience had begun dancing on the stage. The show was over, and there was applause from the peopleton the dance floor, and applause from those onstage, too. Ari just looked at everybody who was clap- ping as she left the stage, smiled widely, and said, "don't clap, don't clap!" "We should be applauding you" was a part she didn't have to say. Even during a pretty good term for concerts, such moments are rare. MVI.L." WEyr I - ---- - °' edpse RAY CHARLES THE RAELETTS and the RAY CHARLES ORCHESTRA Special Guest: Ernie Krivda Quartet November 12 Wed. 8:00 p.m. Hill Auditorium Tickets on Sale Box Office Michigan Union $8.50 7.50 6.50 reserved seats Tickets on Sale in Ann Arbor Discount Records Schoolkids Records in Ysilanti: Wherehouse Records in E. Lan~inds Discount Reco and all CTC outlets. For information Call: (313) 763-2071 Management: Joe Adams direction: Smada Artist Management International L.A. Calif. (213)T734-3113 design by/Jane Goldfarb -, IEMMO HELP THE MEN'S GLEE CLUB LAUNCH A 25th ANKIV. CONCERT FOR THEFRARS SAT., NOV. 15 8PM Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY No, not Maggie, Terre and Suzzy. Devoted Buddhists all, Ari, Viv and Tessa, the people who are the Slits, prepare for their show Monday night at Second Chance. The question is, ultimately, where is Tessa's other foot? A heated seareh later revealed it was in the small plaid valise., Bream By JANE CARL The balding, portly figure -onstage looked more like a factory worker than a highly respected concert artist, and yet when Julian Bream's fingers began their craft every ear in the audience was commanded to listen. Hunched over his guitar, his totally absorbed demeanor made it clear that the audience rarely existed for this man. Only at the end of a piece would he glance up and seem to be surprised by the sudeen materialization of thousands of cheering fans. Indeed, the over- whelming impression that dominated the first half of the concert was this all- consuming concentration, the intensely communal relationship that Julian Bream shared with his instrument. His first piece was the Passacaille and Gigue in D by Weiss. Both sections were thoughtful and tender, presented with no discrepancies in inter- pretation, intonation or technique. The piece was more than well received by the audience, but Bream's acknowledgement of the appaluse was stiff and formal, as if the audience were only a very superficial part of this concert. BREAM'S SECOND selection was the Bach Sonata No. 1, originally for Violino senza Basso. Here Bream displayed a characteristic trait: There is no frivolity in this man's playing, every note is placed with careful Sprecision. The adagio was full of emotional impact, the ravages of which were clear on Bream's face when it was not almost buried in the neck of the guitar. The agonies and ecstacies of every piece were evident on Bream's most expressive countenance. The fuga was an especially exciting work to listen to: A repeated bass pattern guitar built and built until it culminated in a fervent, arpeggiated climax. In a wry moment, Bream glanced up at the audience; but this was only a brief acknowledgement of Bach's humor. He then diligently returned to his work. The siciliano was the only section at which a prist might have been offended. It was given a rather Spanish flavor that was totally un- characteristic, but very effective nevertheless. The presto was im- pressive if a little too controlled. Bream's fingers flew flawlessly over the strings with the much-sought-after quality of effortlessness, but the urgen- cy of the piece was obscured by the con- stantly enforced control. The first half of the concert ended with the Fantasia, Op. 30, by Sor. It began with a reiterated note surroun- 1lastery ded by various choral structures, which evolved into a rather martial theme. This was then elaborated upon in a number of ways ranging from simple block chordal treatment to brilliant figurations and some amazing stac- catissimo runs. In a sudden capricious moment during a carnival-like section, Bream elicited laughter from the audience with the rhythmical weaving and bobbing of his head. Even he per- mitted himself a small smile here. THE CONCERT resumed with Tonadilla: La Maja de Goya by Granados, which began with a minor- keyed, Halloweenish type df waltz. The piece contained a great diffusity of things to interest the ear, from the strange tonalities to the charming, See BREAM, Page 5 HILL AUD. student 1.50. 2.50, 3.50, 4.50 4 HILL AUD. BOX OFFICE OPENS NOV. 10, 9-5 _ .. _, UAD VIEWPOINT LECTURES PRESENTS "An Evening with Abbie Hoffman" NOV. 12 Michigan Theatre 8:00 P.M. Abbie's back from the underground to speak on "The River."