4 ARTS rageo It The Michigan Daily Tuesday, March 26, 1985 Page 6 Ferron fuses music message in perfect show By Andy Weine Ferron is a sensation: just ask anyone who stood' waiting for a half hour in a drizzle outside the Ark Satur- day night. Ferron herself summed it up well, saying, "I know some of you out there got dragged here by someone, and you're thinking, my god, is all this really worth it? .. . And then you come here, and this person's asking you to sing, too... I mean, Jeez!" Rain, line, and all, they came, and boy was it worth it, and boy did they sing. The air was contagiously giddy, receptive, and jubilant, and Ferron made it even more so. Her warm per- sonable style bore no inklings of the egomaniasm too common on stage (but then, not so common on the Ark stage). It's hard, almost impossible, not to warm up to someone like Ferron, who easily talks about subjects varying from can't-get-out-of-your-room depression ("... in the early twenties, you know what that's like"), and her beautiful cabin on a Canadian lake. Late in the show she said, "Y'know, sometimes I worry that I'm gonna go through life and miss the whole point!" From giddy and hair-shaking wild to totally sincere and open, Ferron strikes one as a strong feminist, the folk singer's folk singer, a different sort of revolutionary, and above all, a very real person. From her opening song, "Light of my light," she bid an uninhibited audience to sing along with her. Her voice had a wholesome, breathy quality that finds little parallel among other singers today. And her lyrics are as poetic as those of the poet she invokes on her latest album, W.B. Yeats. For example, the haunting title tune, "Shadows on a Dime," goes, I sing to you to feed the dream / I call to you though it's a The National Bureau ofiStandards, Department of Commerce has one of the world's largest laboratories for research in ROBOTICS There are currently senior positions available at grades 1 3, 1 4, and 15 in Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, and Me- chanical Engineering. Salaries are competitive and based on pro- fessional experience and accomplishments. ($37,599 - $67,940). These positions are part of the NBS team working to implement in- telligent and flexible robots for a wide variety of applications. muted scream / We are one-on-one projected beams / Translucent future be our sage. And from her wonderful womanist anthem, "Testimony": By our lives be we spirit / By our hearts be we women / By our eyes be we open / By our hands be we whole. Songs like "Bellybowl" and "It Won't Take Long" showed Ferron to be as lively'and rowdy as she could be sin- cerely introspective. "Bellybowl" and other songs had the audience singing and yelping, pounding their hands and feet, and knocking the tables and floor. Such enamored participation, though, brings to question the designation of audience and performer, for then the so-called performer is more a facilitator of musical activity and en- joyment, rather than a deliverer of it, and isn't that what concerts should be all about? Even further, Ferron shows how music can and should spark growthand change. For in her music, Ferron strives to discard conventional gender roles, sensitize one to people and en- virons, portray despair as necessarily human, and empower people for social change. That, to me, is what Ferron's music is all about, and what music, in its essence, should be. Ferron hits the mark, and the soul. DIRECTORS WANTED University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society accepting petitions for fall show either: "Grand Duke" or "Ruddigore" Call 761-7855 leave message POSITIONS INCLUDE: -Dramatic -Set Design and -Music Interviews this week 4 Daily Photo by DARRIAN SMITH Ferron put on a sensational performance last Saturday at the Ark. Her amazing ability to fuse music and poetry was obvious to the oft-participating audience. 0 U 0 w I U2 devastating at Joe Louis SOME SPECIFIC TASKS ARE: -design of new sensor systems -sensory processing systems -world modeling databases -world model interpretation -robot manipulators -robotic assembly -CAD directed assembly -real-time control systems -artificial intelligence alogorithms for robotics -robot programming languages -robot simulation including real-time graphics -specific robot applications including: military,i construction and space -robot performance enhancement -robot standards By Beth Fert ig Bono Vox, his long hair pushed behind his ears, and making im- passioned gestures with his hands, was a powerful figure as he told an audience of 14,060 people Saturday night, "This is a big place. But the people and the music are even bigger." And so went the performance given by U2 to a somewhat fanatical crowd at the Joe Louis Arena on March 23. The show was opened by Lone Justice, -a worthless act that was memorable only for the lead singer's incredibly loud voice; so loud, in fact (due to the sound mixing), that it was often accompanied by feedback. She tried to combine her best Janis Joplin- esque wailing and screaming with music that was part country/western and part heavy metal. Imagine Judas Priest fronted by an hysterical woman in a print dress. They were con- siderably better on the numbers where their country/western influences took over, but were still booed after every song because they were so inap- propriate for the U2 crowd. When next the lights were dimmed, a giganticwave of energy surged through the crowd. This culminated in a loud roar as the Irish band took stage. Kicking off with "Eleven O'clock Tick Tock", they took full control of the night, bringing an almost holy quality to every song performed. Live, Bono's beautiful tenor takes on an even more personal quality. He's an extremely gif- manufacturing, ted performer with a flare for cap- tivating his audience. Notorious in the past for inciting rather over-zealous 'audience par- ticipation,and even risking his lifeby climbing scaffolding, his act has calmed down considerably. However, he was still able to involve more than just the floor-seaters, although it was unfortunate that the band had to play such a large arena. Musically, U2's performance was almost flawless. Adam Clayton's steady, solid bass lines provide the per- fect springboard for the Edge's wailing lead guitar. Edge also evidenced a great deal of dexterity in switching from keyboards to lead guitar in the beautiful "New Year's Day." And Laryy Mullen proved to be a drummer with a great deal of stamina as he hammered through over ar. hour and a half of demanding material. The new, spacier songs from The Un- forgettable Fire album ended up being well incorporated into the set as the band covered about two thirds of the album's material. My only regret is that they didn't get to "Twq Hearts Beat As One", "Out of Control", or "Tomorrow". An extra half hour would have done the job, as the show was pretty short, anyway. There were three main themes which the band kept referring to over the course of their set. They were peace, "no drugs," and Martin Luthe King, Jr. Although there can be no doubt that all of these ideals were extremely hear- tfelt, every now and then they would be blown up to the point where the meaning was lost..It is understood that war and drugs, especially heroin abuse, are facts of life overseas. And the band was successful on these two counts; whether dedicating "Seconds" to Ronald Reagan, or merely through Bono's discussion of his friend's heroin overdose in relation to the song "Bad". "Sunday Bloody Sunday," was also an extremely well done number - the crowd shouting "No War!" again and again. U2 fell short on one piece dedicated to Martin Luther King however - last summer's hit, "Pride (In the name of love)." -At one point, a "prepared" member of the audience hopped up on- stage with a big poster of King. U2 was overdramatic in their effort as Bono reminded us of the unfortunate, although unrelated, deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley. It is often necessary to remind people of such heroes as King but this well meant number also becamg cheapened by the screams and whistles of the crowd. It was not quite authentic. U2 closed their second encore with the touching "40", from 83's release, War. It was then that one could feel the reverence that the crowd had for this band. Singing along, as they had been all evening, the crowd now began to sway and hold up lighters. One by one the band left the stage until Larr-4 Mullen was alone on a purple lit set with a white spot to himself. Pounding away on his drum-kit as though the song would never. end, he was accompanied by the audience as they sang, "How long to sing this" song?" When at last Mullen had ceased, the room was dark and the people were still going strong until the lights went on again. Stepping out into the wet, night air, one could still hear separate clusters of people as they continued singing th lyrics to "40". ' The big-arena a mosphere had finally shrunk down so that the show could touch each person separately. One guy approached me af- terwards, and touching my shoulder, said, "I feel like I've been saved." As Bono promised, the music had finally triumphed.. Our program in robotics already has had significant impact on the U.S. appli- cation of robots. We have the best equipment for research in robotics, includ- ing a full scale experimental factory dedicated to research in industrial auto- mation. If you would like to be part of this major effort to help revitalize U.S. INDUSTRY, PLEASE CONTACT Dr. Leonard S. Haynes for technical informa- tion at this number: 301-921-2381, or send a comprehensive resume to: ROSEMARY HORMUTH Room A-123, Admin. Bdg. - National Bureau of Standards GAITHERSBURG, MD 20899 ' (301) 921-3711 u.s. citizenship is required. The National Bureau of Standards is an Equal EmploymentlAffirmative Action Employer RESEARCH Send $2 for catalog of over 16,000 topics to assist your research ef- forts. For info., call toll- free 1800621-5745 (in I- linois cell 312-9220300). Authors' Research, Rm 600-N. 407 S. Dearborn. Chicago. IL 80605 I ,"- I 1:o get 10 toh i I, I ". I{ ;, 'I., rajo.r'.. GO b ael~evaOXa o" /~ 'e y, ° -t.- ee eX. 'o t hetOrl S OXo ona r°eO c~ idahep tteidn°O upew~lJ AW I"M -FWI FTT I M |111111a rtt A J