ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Thursday, March 14, 1985
Page 5
,. _ _
Youtt
By Hobey Echlin
F USING YOUTHFUL integrity and
brashness with veteran talent and
confidence, Crossed Wire awed a spar-
se crowd at Todd's bar last Friday
night with their nine-song set, drawing
from "older" material (they've only
been together 5 months) as well as
some brand new material, all written
by multi-talented lyricist/guitarist
Chris Moore.
After easing out pre-show jitters by
mocking along to the funk throb of the
PA behind them, Crossed Wire opened
with their new "For the Moment," one
of their strongest songs, featuring fan-
tastic high-hat riding drumming from
Bud Burcar and powerful vocal from
Chris Moore. Despite some sound
problems with mikes, the song came off
well, leading into "Unfollowed Savior"
a personal favorite of varying inten-
sities, from soft vocals and high bass
riffs to a crashing chorus.
"Unfollowed Savior" is a song
strongly characteristic of the band,
with its spiritual theme and emotionalt
vocals. Its soft opening and soon-
frenzied chorus embody the dynamic-
ness and emotional variance that so
characterizes the band. Rob Mc-
Culloch's guitar and Kurtis' bass
providing a hearty exclamation point to
Moore's emotional vocals, with Bud
experience
Burcar's drumming anchoring the Moore and a harsher guitar from Mc
whole thing with its ordered chaos and Culloch, and featuring a sharply ascen
power. ding and descending chorus, bounde
"A Purpose to Wonder" followed, a by emotion, so perfectly characteristic
testament of Crossed Wire's spon- of the post-adolescent pain an
taneous and updating talent. Incor- frustration it conveys, both lyrically
porating harmonic guitar riffs, up- and musically.
dating the U2 style, answered by a Bud Burcar's somewhat dominan
weighty bass line and solid drumming, drumming, echoing Keith Moon':
made "A Purpose to Wonder" an in- brand of . disordered precision
stant showvhighlight. especially on the show-climaxini
Enough of dry reporting, now for the "Climb" shows his influence or
band. All very easy-going and good- Crossed Wire's sound. Master of high
natured, Crossed Wire's members are hat riding drumming (cf. U2's "Sun
some of the most accessibile people I've day, Bloody Sunday"), Burcar'
ever met. Bass player Kurtis, a sort of drumming provides the precision an(
unintentional Bono look-alike, has an brashness that fuses with the varies
immediately likable nature, a subtle guitar riffs, from the staccato chords o
but omnipresent character that shows "Climb" to the R.E.M.-like not
in his bass playing, as on "Unfollowed picking of "Sound Salvation." A sort o
Savior": - mellow but integral. He Manson-esque-looking character, Bur
names Amadeus his favorite film, more car sheds his laid-back mannerism
out of awe of Mozart than anything else. and reveals a more intense and com
Guitarist Rob McCulloch looks a bit mitted side in his drumming than hi
more post-hardcore than the rest of the off-stage manner. But when you drur
band with grown out bleached hair, but like he does, who has time for "laid
again his cleaner, more exacted guitar back?"
work, much more suited to his per- Lyricist and guitarist Chris Moore i
sonality than the barking chords of his easily the most intriguing of Crosse
Negative Approach days, provided an Wire's line-up. His extremely youthfu
unintimidating but highly audible pun- appearance, earning him the nicknam
cuation to Moore's lyrical drive and "Opie" (of "Andy Griffith" fame
lighter riffs. This was especially seen belies a much deeper side. Moore'
in "Crying Curtain," the slower, more lyrics reflect a spiritual commitmen
melancholy side of Crossed Wire, with and overt talent in contributing t
hauntingly emotional vocals from Crossed Wire's intensity that is onli
c-
d
is
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r-
is
a-
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s
nt
to
y
fused
apparent from a deeper study.
Titles like "Sound Salvation," "Un-
followed Saviour" and the love
nostalgia of "Soul We Share," a post-
adolescent romp of honest spirit that I
challenge any Prince of Frankie to
match, show the religious quality
Moore puts forth in his writing. What's
more incredible is that over the last
year and especially in the last five mon-
ths, he has displaced the "drummer of
Negative Approach" image he had with
being the spiritual leader and creative
impetus of Crossed Wire. The youthful
voice, a sort of baritone, more. honest
Gordon Gano, reminds me of an
American Billy Bragg. Not bad for a
nineteen-year-old. Moore avoids
political themes in writing, though he
admits political interpretation is
possible, and instead draws from ex-
periences with parents and friends. Its
kind of pre-adulthood set to music-like
the Violent Femmes without the sex.
And so, after a fantastic hour-long set
and about another hour backstage,
Crossed Wire had proved to me that
fusing personality and talent with in-
novativeness, and spiritual commit-
ment, and veteran experience with a
youthful confidence was possible if not
manifest in what they are doing. With
plans in the making for a Halfway Inn
show in Ann Arbor and another Todd's
show April 19 with the Necros, they will
keep on proving it.
A netent treasures found
A defense
against cancer can be
cooked up in your kitchen.
Call us.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
By Neil Galanter
H OGWOOD MAY have previously
been an archeologist or an ar-
chitect. But after becoming bored with
those studies, he decided against, and
now is a musician. I'm speaking of
Christopher Hogwood and he's one of
Britian's brightest conductors.
Hogwood performs at Hill Auditorium
-~tonight with The Academy of Ancient
Music, beginning at 8:30 p.m.
The Academy of Ancient Music is
regarded as one of the finest ensembles
anywhere that performs on original
period instruments, which is exactly
what they will be doing this evening.
Hogwood will be assisted by soprano
Emma Kirkby and bassist David
Thomas in performances of the music
of George Freidrich Handel. His
celebrated Water Music and a seldom
heard Cantata entitled Apollo and
Daphne will be featured on tonight's
program, in celebration of yet another
birthday-Handel's 300th.
Hogwood approaches performances
of ancient music with understandable
reasoning. Not only is he a conductor,
but he has also earned himself an inter-
national reputation as a harpsichordist
of music of the 17th and 18th centuries,
performing on original instruments
_ usually relegated to musuems. His
major interest is of authenticity in the
presentation of baroque and classical
music, though he has also been ex-
tremely successful as a popular broad-
caster on a wide range of musical topics.
This year, Hogwood will be moving
around at a hectic pace as a conductor.
Two weeks each with major orchestras
of Los Angeles, Washington DC,
Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, 'and New
York will give him a chance to get to
know the ensembles of these cities bet-
ter, and he will also be priviledged with
conducting some of his favorite music,
the Berlin Opera's performance of
Handel's Messiah. Hogwood is curren-
tly on tour with the Academy of Ancient
Music, travelling for three weeks to
various cities in the United States and
Canada. They will repeat this series of
performances when they tour again
later this year in Europe and then again
in Japan.
The philosophy of this man is that
concerts should not bea stuffy thing.
Hogwood would like to take all the car-
dboard and starch out of a concert's
atmosphere, and feels that at concerts
which are smaller and more intimate
"there's no reason why you shouldn't
just talk to the audience." Program-
ming different and unconventional
combinations of pieces and music at a
concert is a crafty device that Hogwood
believes will help air things out.
The atmosphere will be created in
Hill Auditorium this evening at 8:30
p.m. when Hogwood walks on stage
with Kirkby, Thomas, and all those
origi'nal baroque music-making
vehicles. Tickets, still available at Bur-
ton Tower today during business hours
or at the door, are priced between $8
and $18. Stuffy it should not be-at-
mospheric with uniquity, yes! Call 665-
3717 to find out more.
Photo by DIANE UEA
Clockwise from top left: Rob McCulloch, Kurtis, Bud Burcar, and Chris
Moore form Crossed Wire.
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