ARTS

the Michigan Daily

Wedresday, November 24, 1982
Ant attack provokes h

By Melissia Bryan
A DAM ANT can do no wrong. Case
point; Adam had the crowd eating
out of his hand Monday night at the
Royal Oak Music Theater.
Adam generated bona fide hysteria
every time he moved a muscle or bat-
ted an eye. A friend commented that
the crowd's never ending screaming
was reminiscent of a Beatle's concert. I
can't verify that analogy, but I did find
it difficult to hear the music because
everyone was screaming so looudly.
The audience comprised of high
schoolers who's mean age was around
16. They stood precariously on the arms
of the chairs, waved their arms around
and screamed for nearly two hours.
The only sedate people to be found were
the parents of the junior high kids who
presumably were dragged to the show
by their children.
Adam's show does instill panic. It
begins as the 7 member band crouch
together onstage, establishing a mind
set to the taped fanfare from the soun-
dtrack of Rocky. Pritt-eee cool, huh?
Adam then leaps out from behind the
second drum kit, does a few dance steps
and starts the set. (Crowd goes wild).
Unfortunately, the relative size of
Adam's band to the size of the stage

restricts Adams' movements, but that
doesn't prevent Adam from leaping and
jumping.
Adam can fit a leap, a kick, a spin,
and several spasmotic hand movemen-
ts into one measure of music. (I coun-
ted.)
Although confined in their color co-
ordinated outfits, the band (guitar,
bass, wind section, and both drum-
mers) put out for the cause of An-
tmusic. The two drummers work well
together and sound tight and crisp. No
small task to coordinate two drum sets,
mind you. Their finesse is especially
evident when they perform "An-
tmusic" and "Kings of the Wild Fron-
tier."
The wind section (varying com-
binations of trumpet, trombone, tenor
and alto sax) play on every song, and
quite frequently this heavy-handed ap-
proach bogs down the older, originally
uncomplicated numbers. They were off
pitch roughly half the time, not
glaringly out of tune, but just enough to
make the music sound dense and a bit
muddled.
Marco Pirroni, Amad's co-writer and
producer, has retired from live perfor-
ming, and his presence is sorely
missed. Adam's lead guitarist plays
every song quite competently, and
while his performance was neither half

hearted not mediocre, it didn't have
that, um, je ne sais quoi, y'know?
The show started with a near un-
believable amount of energy. The girls
in the audience went beserk when
Adam chanted the words to "Goody
Two Shoes", "Don't drink don't
smoke-what do you do? Subtle in-
nuendoes follow. There must be
something inside he's hiding". Those
perky adolescents let loose with some
gut busting bellows at that! WOOWEE.
The band's energy dwindled slightly
during "Crackpot History," "Ant In-
vasion," and "Human Beings."
The fever pitch returned as Adam
called out, "Let there be drums!", and
the band played an updated version of
"Dog eat Dog." It was followed by
"And Music" and "Los Rancheros." At
this point the crew's enthusiasm was
fast approaching hysteria. Everytime
adam came close to the edge of the
stage he was greeted by clamoring
fans, who depending on their reserve,
threw flowers or tried to shake his
hand. Picture a girl with a newly
bought Adam Ant t-shirt saying, "But
Mom, All I wanted to do is touch him!"
Adam has at least as much pep as the
Michigan Cheerleaders. Who knows,
maybe more. He never stands-still; he
is either running to and fro or doing
some kind of gymnastic feat such as a

Page 7
ysteria
leap/kick/spin. Adam didn't display his,
prowess just once or twice, no, he did.
these crazy controtions about 10 times
during each song. I won't say that his
dancing got the best of him, but he did
miss a few lyrics due to excessive pan-
ting. But even if he paused to catch his
breath, the crowd redoubled its
screaming.
Adam could do no wrong.,
This concert was fun. It was enter-
taining. The histronics that could be
construed as pretentious can simple be
written off doe to the raw physical ef-
fort with which they were delivered.
The concert was topped off during the
second encore when Marco made a sur-
prise appearance. He played "Man
called Marco" and helped Adam finish
the concert with "You're so Physical."
Adam played a full set, and didn't deny
anyone his or her favorite hit.
Fortunately, he finished the show
early enough for everyone to get their
parent's cars home before curfew.

oily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT
Destroy All Monsters' crooner Niagra scratches it out at Second Chance last
Monday night.
Local band fests
.State the Truth

By Joe Hoppe
THERE WAS a glut of, good local
noise around Ann Arbor last
Sunday and Monday. Ground Zero,
Scooter and the Worms, The State, and
the Truth played in the Union ballroom
Sunday. The Truth, Latin Dogs (from
Battle Creek) and Destroy All Monsters
played a JFK assassination anniver-
sary party at the Second Chance Mon-
day.
The show at the Union, a benefit for
PIRGIM, was open to all ages. It was
nice to see all the high school skinheads
stomping around in their combat boots.
Made ya feel like something was being
done around here for the true youth of
Amerika. Young kids made up about
half the crowd, the rest were the
diehards you see all over. The ballroom
*survived.
I got there in time for The State,
which consists of guitar, bass and
drums with a singer who doesn't play
anything because his entire being goes
out through the mike. Their thrashing
wall of hardcore sound banged through
the high-ceilinged ballroom like
Napalm on Detroit and never went
away. At points the music could have
been considered too loud and fast,
*because no one could really understand
what the singer was trying to say, even
though he politely announced what each
song was about before launching into it.
Fun thrash dance music.
The Truth played last at the Union
and first at the Second Chance. They're
running with the wrong crowd. They
always get linked up with some har-
deore or at least more energetic rock
band and come off looking real bad. The
Truth played basically the same sets
both shows, with rockabilly,
psychedelia, blues, and slight new wave
influences.
What they did they did well, but you
expect something different; not
longhaired pseudo hippies with a fon-
dness for Grateful Dead-like solos and
political lyrics. Truth would be a good
alternative to a rock cover band, but
not much else.
The Latin Dogs were the middle band
Monday night. I began to think they
might be good when I saw one of the
roadies was a biker. (The Reapers.)
The lead guitar also looked like a
rotorcycle cultist, Harley eagle tattoo
on, one arm, (presumably Latin) dog on
the other, cut-off "colors" and lots of
patches.
The Dogs fulfilled all expectations
and blew The Truth off the stage with a
46-minute set of one and two minute
songs; midwest thrash traditional. The
singer could slide from gasoline down
*hroat growl to honey sweet purity in
rnidphrase and had a fine amusing rap

between songs to give the club hand
guitars (lead, bass) and bashing
drummer a rest. The Dogs sang about
"small animals getting crushed to
death by cars" and "Stoopid Teenage
Music." They won my heart when the
singer read Allen Ginsberg's Howl as
the guitarist replaced a broken string.
The big name band of the evening,
Destroy All Monsters, followed after a
short stage change. They opened with
the old sixties feminist standby, "These
Boots Were Made for Walking"; Niagra
shoving pointed feet into faces of
drunken fools clamoring over the stage
too eager to get at her.
She is beautiful, growlspitting ala
catperson then yelping like a doggie,
taking up a foetal position as others
sing or solo, tugging at her Frederick's
type peekaboo thing and black
plastic/leather panties to keep herself
together, and screeching high into the
night.
But there are others in the band too:
former Stooge Ron Asheton is right
there for anyone who cares with his
guitar. Former MC5 bassist Michael
Davis sets down a good line and does an
occasional vocal-Niagra isn't the only
one who can sing. DAM has a new
drummer. I don't know what his name
is.
The Monsters were tight, but became
an impenetrable wall of rock and roll
barbed wire when the brothers Miller,
Ben and Larry on guitar and sax, joined
them. After a musically talented James
Bond spymusic intro, Niagra launched
into an intriguing, but not as good as it
could have been "Goldfinger."
After a cover of Iggy's "I Got a
Right" they went on to do all the old
DAM-famous stuff. "You're Gonna
Die" was incredibly intense for this
dimbulb reviewer; it sent people
screaming down E. Liberty.
But why was anyone there? "Novem-
ber 22," a celebration of DAM's begin-
nings and something else that happened
that day too. It began with a ghost
sa'xophone and ended with drums being
kicked across the stage, Niagra hud-
dled in/behind the big one, white noise
enveloping the free world.
4-1 \
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C n

KILLER KLAN MUST BE STOPPED!
LABOR/BLACK MOBILIZATION
TO STOP KKK MARCH IN
r WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 271