ARTS The Michigan Daily Tuesday, April 23, 1985 Page 7 Tubes hollow but unforgettable By Dennis Harvey here have been plenty of musically superior T shows this year, but for sheer perversity the. Utopia/Tubes double bill at Hill Auditorium last Saturday deserves an award of some sort. The pairing was a canny move, and it paid off with an evening as satisfying as seeing a double feature of not particularly promising grade-B movies that turn out to be better or at least more peculiar, than expected. Utopia is usually thought of as Todd Rundgren's pet project band, the thing he does when he's not doing solo work (16 albums!) or producing other bands (like the Psychedelic Furs' near-classic Forever Now or the Tubes' rather dismal latest, Love Bomb). Actually, Utopia in its current lineup is more truly democratic than most bands; vocals and, to an extent, composition duty are evenly divided between all four members. But let's face it-nobody in the lobby was saying, "Yeah, can't wait to see Utopia;".they were saying, "Yeah, I came to see Todd." Rundgren is... well, as he put it himself, a wizard, a true star. His track record as a solo per- former, Utopia member and producer is wildly uneven, but the guy's a minor genius of sorts, with an absolutely gorgeous sense of pop melodies and a love of playing with the studio's resources. In concert at Hill, Rundgren was typically self- effacing, claiming the spotlight only when singing lead or playing a guitar solo. But he was unusually the center of attention anyway-how can you ignore someone who, fearfully gaunt in black leather pants and (dyed?) black spiky haircut, looks like a vampire in a biker movie? Though bassist Kasim Sulton is an excellent singer, and the other two are O.K., Rundgren is a great singer, with all that tremulous sincerity and agreeable hey-I'm-in-a-rock-band-and-it's-so- cool! roughness. Utopia's problem is that it lacks focus much of the time, so one gets a grab-bag of lots of different things (AOR rock, Something/Anything? pop whimsy, jazz/rock/art noodling) that never adds up to a coherent whole. Their Hill set was predictably entertaining and varied, but not a wow. The Tubes, on the other hand, left everybody feeling gorged, and a bit stunned as well. To say that their show can't be very different from Liberace's is not really stretching the point. An alarming but undeniably entertaining bizarre mix-mastering of rock-show theatrics with Las Vegas glitz, their current tour package is one of the most curious things I've ever seen. Description is bound to fall short, but here we go. Eight piece band enters in muu-muu-like floor-. length smocks with big faces printed on them. Suddenly two va-voom-type dancing girls (no, pointedly not women) appear in the first of many skimpy outfits jiggling up and down, simulated anal sex, and act out various little scenarios. At last-MTV drooling sexist moronism lives! Yah. A giant inflatable Tube sumbol is blown up. The singer wears a big TV tube on his heat. He throws a nerf-football, a baseball, and basketball around the auditorium for the sports number, and invites a lot of rather predictable hysteria by donning a Michigan T-shirt. After the mermaid extravagan- za, clips are shown on screen from an early '60s jungle amazon women flick prior to "In the Congo," which has male dancers in loincloths and a miniature missile that the lead singer straddles and swings around like a you-know-what. Then, knowing no shame, the band shows a promo clip advertising their new LP. The song "Night People" features trenchcoats and group dance routines, and during "Muscle Girls" the blond girl wears a leotard that makes her look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then for a little while the band plays straightforwardly without any gim- micks, and the audience falls asleep. But soon af- terward there's a new high in the unbeatably ob- scure reasoning as the anthem for suburban kids who can't tell the joke is on them, "White Punks on Dope," is costumed in Louis XIV style with two- foot Pinball Wizard heels for the singer. Then he tears off the brocade vest to reveal black spandex pants and= enough trendy new-wave fasion ac- cessories to keep Briarwood Mall in business for a year. The singer and two girls get in a giant cloth sock of sorts and writhe around for a while before the singer chases everybody around with a chainsaw. The finale involves punk duds, the two men in loincloths, and a third woman in a Playboy Bunny outfit. Don't ask me for an explanation. The en- core features last year's FM rock hit "She's a Beauty" and this year's "Piece by Piece." The singers shakes the hands of everyone within ten feet of the stage. It's over. My world will never be the same. The only things missing from the Tubes show were the kitchen sink and interesting music. The few times there wasn't some outrage of logic and taste going on visually, it was yawnsville. The musicians are perfectly competent, but the Tubes have been mediocre songwriters from the mild eccentricity of their early LPs to the FM rock posturing of their recent releases. Oh, well, it's the video age anyway, man, forget about this music nonsense. The Tubes may sound like yer run-of-the-mill REO/Styx/et al welter- weight rockers for most of the time, but all those guys do theatrically is say "Put ya hands togethah !" etc. These guys give you mad raunchy spectacle for your money. If the Tubes ever stop being a band, they can certainly stage touring companies of Oh, calcutta! or Racquel Welch shows. This concert was either the best or worst thing ever, or more likely a completely perverse combination of both. Good? Dunno. Unforgettable? Absolutely. The Tubes ... stretch for flamboyance Black theatre survives at the 'U' By Mike Fisch " LACK theatre is a reflection of the life endured by black people," said black theatre workshop TA Deana Thomas. "It is performed so that people do not forget their past, but learn from it, and become proud of it. It's like a storybook coming to life - each year a chapter is added as dif- ferent black dramatists come into focus." For the first time in 16 years the theatre department will not present a full-scale black theatrical production. There. will be a chapter added to the storybook, however, because Thomas and her students will perform Black Theatre on Parade. Their performance will go on without the money and publicity full-scale productions nor- mally receive, but, assuredly, with all of the hard w7ork. Parade consists of selections from black playwrights such as James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and Pulitzer Prize winners Charles Fuller and Charles Gordone. But, it is more than that. Thomas' students have made the selections their own by creating modern choreography (which includes one student breakdancing) and music (the students created a black theatre rap song), and by updating certain material to make the issues more relevant for the audience. All this extra work is done on the student's own time. Thomas is proud to be the director of the Parade because in her own words "We are making history. It's important for students to have a feeling of pride in their heritage, and that they have a chance to see plays that well represent that heritage. It was distressing for me as a student not to be able to see black theatrical productions on campus. I had to go out to Detroit to see black plays. Ours isn't a full-scale production We're doing it for ourselves, for our own sense of self-worth . .. There's a con- stant battle. to squelch the black stereotypes but this is a step in the right direction." Said Thomas in conclusion, "When my students learned that black people were the true source of the American theatrical artform (which was the min- strel show) it gave them a sense of pride, it was a new revelation. I want to get as many people there to experience my students' joy." The hearts and minds of Thomas' students are in the right place, and. you'll know that too if you can find time to watch the rich and proud 'tradition grow. Black Theatre on Parade will be per- formed one night only on Friday, April 26, at the Trueblood Theatre ( in the Frieze building). The show begins ath8 p.m. ; : i ::; : : t;. :%2 : # a it n* rO COUPON r.* i ir* Ii j'i5---oo--ow- v s vas - - ,.ir; with this entire ad $1.00 off any $4.00 admission. 1 or 2 tickets. Good all features thru 4/24/85. .r r r r r~ r r r r r rr- u ::z .................................,.. ca. +. td;.;:;7ji'v 1 .4hi2 : ':cr~itti "i ::{:'tii:} a+ L .r2 ..*.*.o.* :: <:z WE BASED ON A TU STORY , T.N ILLNG U$1.50 .K! UEDAY MASK E MsALL SHOWS SMLIO"TR EXCEPT and ERIC STOLTZ Fi DAILY 4:30, 7:00, 9:35 "FIELDS" DAILY 5:00, 7:20, 9:40 q kkh. .*;r". .v: .......****~**. ":"{}.":7:"::{7r; {7v:":"{ ..- ::...":.:":{. . .1:1":t .1.-: :. ."'r:{::";:;" : ": :<{ TU IED D 23 I 9 11 Horns in the street LF ESD .24 . - By arwulf arwulf I MARCHED when I was twelve; Ahere in Ann Arbor, and in Detroit. An active young boy, I suppose. We chanted BIG FIRMS GET RICH, G.I.'S DIE! This had a nice ring to it and lent itself nicely to loud repetition. A chant must be simp'le and to the point. Saturday, April 20th, 1985. In down- town Washington, D.C. there were dozens of chants all going at once. Reagan and the CIA have given us so very many things over-which to offer up complaints, we fairly bristled with signs and slogans. Rhetoric gushed and the sun beat down through the humidity. Balanced on my head I carried a white suitcase full of tapes. We'd ridden the bus for twelve hours, the tapes plugged into our skulls. Now the suitcase had white placards stapled to both sides. My suitcase said myself.) Then there was the "Go-Go Band", a dozen young black men making rhythm and rapping peace and justice. I danced myself dizzy. They came upon us, a procession of street musicians, wearing surrealistic costumes with big banners on their shoulders, towering abominable quotes from Reagan's career (He's been saying rude things all his life, you know). These folk carried mass percussion; military and circus drums, shakers, rattles and bells. And tin whistles. And a tuba. And the saxophones. When I saw the baritone player, I thought I was witnessing a visitation. he was large and black and wore Roland Kirk sunglasses, a brightly- colored head-dress of furs and racoon tails and leather, big viking antler tusks jutting up from his skull. He would initiate simple melodies, and the band would pick it up and hold it high as we trailed after them through the streets, cheering. Imagaine marching down Pen- nsylvania Avenue, alongside a troupe of joyous lunatics, the bright day of a mass statement, the American at work. The sun was almost mur- derously intense. We staggered and eventually made it to the shade. We waltzed around in front of the Capitol building, the sun long set and Vi s AR __. / -A t I+f-- at _ 000 7 Ford is back on campus with FORD GREAT START DAY! Come see, kick, and feel the latest cars and trucks from Ford Divi- sion and ask about the special values available to your campus community. rte' A v Wina Sa ilboard Fill out the entry form below and d t it off at FORD GREAT STAR * - DAY The winninp enrrr will1 " " NO U.S. WAR IN CENTRAL everyone gone home. AMERICA! We listened to Albert Ayler mar- There were a hundred thousand of ches on the walkman headphones, us occupying the streets of the sharing a pipe and seeing again the nation's capital; the president has baritone player with the horns coming been lying to us again. He wasn't in out of his head, playing too the Albert town that day. Camp David was Ayler marches in his own way, music surely much quieter, Six stages in the street where it really belongs. I strung out across the ellipse competed would live those hours again and for our attention. Simultaneously, again, just to ask that brute his name, there was poetry, theater, rhetoric so lovely was he. But the best and countless feminist bands. musicians, sometimes, remain (Sisterhood Is Ubiquitous, thought I to anonymous. MADISON STREET ENTERTAINMENT * presents THE! LAST DAY OF CLASS PARTY ' i 1984 M & FM INC. o e S 13c - N "TT..SV F rop T be K- . r, /i y- < O " f °o . fl . 0 ;' CO-SPONSORED BY UAC ED ATRICS I IWIN (ComI Name I Addr Phone AA: ** ~ l g i wlllir i~ y Wl drawn at the end of your school's GREAT START DAYevent! i - m - -mm m A SAILBOARD FROM FORD! plete this form for a chance to win. Please print.) V ess (home) FORD DEALER LOCATION/ TIME e Number ( )