ARTS The Michigan Daily Page 5 Monday, April 7, 1986 ---- _ i Replacements rock' ' reel Baez performs, praises activism By John Logie A lot of people were upset by a lack of professionalism on the part of Bob Stinson, lead guitarist for The Replacements, Saturday night. Bob, it seems, went to the State Theatre to see a movie, and wasn't back when the other band members were ready to start the show. But the response to Bob's absence on the part of the remainig Replacements showed them to be a bar band, pure and simple. The band took the stage, and announced that they were auditioning for a new lead guitarist, and then welcomed the guitarist from the opening act, The Skyscrapers, aboard for rollicking renditions of "Color Me Impressed," and "Johnny B. Goode." The band had launced another song when Bob came bounding down an aisle. A tempestuous reunion followed, in which every member of the band got drenched with beer. For those audience members who had never seen the band before, or heard Replacements records other than Tim, Saturday night's show was probably a disappointment. The show was not the type of show one would expect in a theater for $12.50. But for longtime fans of the band, Saturday night's show was a clear demonstration that while you can take The Replacements out of the bar, you can't take the bar out of The Replacements, and that's somewhat comforting. The band is now a reasonably successful major-label act, and musically they reflect that. The band sounded terrific, playing a huge chunk of their repertoire in- cluding both old and new with more fire and energy than had been cap- tured on vinyl. But, more importan- tly, The Replacements still possess an attitude. The Replacements haven't lost the obnoxiousness they started out with. Bob is still spouting beer like a foun- tain, and breaking guitars. Monkeyshines line a full moon from Bob, and Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson leaving the stage, while still playing their instruments, when Bob elbowed his way to the microphone for a cover of "Takin' Care of Business," are charac- teristic. While some fans feel that it's time for the band to grow up, one has to wonder whether maturity would destroy an element of the band's basic appeal. Bob Stinson is, as of a week ago, a married man, but he's still screwing up, and sucking down beer like a baby sucks down formula. The rest of the band is still hell-bent too. This may eventually kill the band. There were on-stage rumblings that this might be the band's last tour, but it's hard to know when to take these guys seriously. For now, its enough rock'n'reel with this bun- ch of dressing room destroyers, and hope that they manage to pump out their brand of music without hurting themselves in the process. By Joseph Kraus oan Baez is an artist almost trap- ped behind her own superstar- dom. In a Saturday night show at Hill Auditorium, Baez attracted 2700 fans largely on the strength of a reputation established in the heydey of the '60s folk revival, but won three standing ovations from them with a mixture of, old hits, open patter, and contem- porary songs. "What I do this evening is try to condense 27 years into an hour and a half," Baez quipped from stage; and for somebody who hasn't put out a domestic album since 1979 the of- ferings from the most recent seven years were surpisingly strong. Praising the audience as "in- telligent," she served up such con- temporary offerings as "M.L.K.", by U2, "The Queen and the Soldier" by Suzanne Vega, and "Hold on to Your Dreams" by Pink Floyd. Aware, though, that the bulk of her audience was there to hear the songs she made famous in the '60s she teased, "Then occasionally I do one of the songs that you hoped I would do this evening," as she led into "Farewell, Angelina." Before the evening was through, she managed to fit in a smattering of her most famous hits like Phil Och's "There But for Fortune," The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie :Down," "Diamonds and Rust," and "Amazing Grace." Sustaining her long career as a progressive political activist, she cited and praised such Ann Arbor initiatives as the anti-apartheid mar- ch last Friday and Proposal A, which articulates city-wide dppostiion to the Reagan Administration's policies in Central America in today's city elec- tion. With most of her audiences expec- ting her to perform the material that made her most famous, Baez acknowledged her difficulty incor- porating changes into her act. Noting that audiences at her concerts are "mostly people my age" she said, "It's pointless to try to force a 'new me' on them." Explaining that she wouldn't feel comfortable performing in a drastically new style without first working on a recording, she talked about her frustration with record labels. Independent labels have pitiful distribution for an artist of her stature, but major labels demand a "plan" as the price for their marketing. Laughing, she said she wasn't ready to don "sunglasses and spandex pants" to make it in the "fast lane." She did say, however, that she has several possibilities for recording contracts in the works. Her accom- panist Cesar Cancino said he was composing themes that she and he might record. Joking on stage, Baez alluded to her famous affair with Bob Dylan by mimicking his distinctive nasal twang. "That was a voice from a folk singer in the '60s," she said. On a more serious note, she praised recent student activism as an in- dication that "the silence and the ashes of the '70s" were coming to an end. The most remarkable aspect of Baez's concert is that she was able to condense so many of her varied suc- cesses into the show. Her triumph has been the protest music of the '60s and early '70s that made her famous, but she remains a gifted singer capable of interpreting contemporary music in ways unlike anybody else. Striking a difficult balance between the expectations placed on her by her early success and the impetus to work with new material in new ways, she proved she still has much to say and that she will not be constricted by her past successes. A defense against cancer can be cooked up in your kitchen. Call us. AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY' Daily Photo by JAE KIM The Replacements lead singer, Paul Westerberg, tears into a song Satur- day night during their controversial shorn at The Michigan Theatre. r R.C. Players offer vigne ttes By Phillip Barnhart f you're not a member of the cast, a I cast party can be a mildly voyeuristic sensation. Friends, acquaintances or just faces that you've seen around take on new light as they break in and out of their evening's characters. High energy and wired voices prevail and Friday night's cast party for the opening of R.C. Players Presents: An Evening of One-Acts was no different. In the air was also a sense of accomplish- ment and pride; well, there should have been for each of the pieces was, indeed, very good. The first piece, Sandra and the Janitor, a one act "garage theater" play by William Packard, starred Maura Troester as an emotionally needy and neurotically driven Sandra who is desperately attempting to befriend a down-and-out basement dwelling custodian (Gary Sobotla). Troester's vivd performance com- plemented the slow stumble-bum character of Sobotla's janitor on a stage set with stacked newspapers and trash. The next three pieces, done in "Open Theater," a style of theater based on ensemble rhythm and tran- sforming character roles,. were markedly different from the first. Calm Down Mother, by Megan Terry, starred Kimberly Hoedeman, Elizabeth Edelman and Johanna Borman, three black-clad women on a minimal stage evolving from un- dulating protazoa to young women, old women, mother-sister-daughter, prostitutes and finally personifying the symbolism of the ovary. Very strong performances by all three women created a beautiful depiction of the cycles of self-perception. Nancy Bishop, director of two of the open theater pieces said that the play exposes women's issues from a pro- humanity vantage exploring the frustrations and aloneness of being-a eight actors by Jean-Claude van Itallie. Also through transformation, eight actors on a minimalist stage demonstrate the effects of mechanization on the people whom it surrounds. A collection of whirring, buzzing, and clanking gave way to a stream of surrealistic vignettes ranging from job interviews, cocktail parties, and political rallies to a par- ticularly moving subway ride, all made effective by the textual rhyth- ms and sounds of the actors them- selves. The final piece, another Jean- Claude van Itallie play entitled Motel-a masque, though short, was the perfect way to end the night of theater. The three actors, grotesquely masked and costumed, circled around the destruction of a motel room while the broadcasted voice of the narrator broke under the increasing volume of the Black Flag album, Damaged. It left the audience electrified and wishing for more, in spite of themselves. The pieces flowed together giving validity to the Yeats quote in the program guide: "..after all our subtle colour and nervous rhythm, after the faint mixed tines of condor, what more is possible? After us a Savage God." The plays will beperformedfor a second weekend April 11 and 12, in the Residential College Auditorium at East Quadrangle. Curtain time is 8:00p. m. Juniors,Seniors & Grads.. d woman but also the same feelings r dgender non-specific. The second of the open theater pieces was Interview-a fugue for Dancing Hoods - Twelve Jealous Roses (Relativity) Twelve Jealous Roses is the first full-length album from Dancing Hoods and it is bound to win over more than a few listeners for the Long Island-based band. The eleven-track album is a goldmine of fresh, catchy tunes, almost all of which have a savory southern rock sound. The distinct rockabilly sound on cuts like "Build a House" and "Blue Letter" is so strong that they could have easily been recorded by the likes of Marshall Crenshaw, or even Buddy Holly. The lyrics and topics of the songs are nothing special. They tend to focus on the typical rock standbys - girls, relationships, and broken hearts. However, the sound of Dan- cing Hoods doesn't require any deeper accompaniment than this. This band just makes good, fun rock and roll and they do it in a straight- forward, energetic way that makes them instantly likeable. Simply put, the music is great - both for listening and dancing - and Twelve Jealous Roses is a fine album from a band that shows a lot of promise. -fichael Race FIGHT RACISM come to the WASHOUT RALLY Wed., April 9, 12 Noon on the DIAG GRADUATE LIBRARY CLEANUP Sunday, April 13, 9:00-1:00 UCARe United Community Against Racism VETERINARY MEDICINE: AN OPTION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS * Just bring a copy of your school I.D. - No cosigner required APPLY NOW ON CAMPUS! SCIENCE o MEDICINE 0 ANIMALS .,fTERIN,~r r .7 .. . .. . illIt vE7ER11gRr kCA Date: Time: April 7 through 11 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. I STATE J' .V v .AE.. ' -~ A veterinarian can combine these interests to tailor a career selected from a wide ranna of onnortunities that include biomedical research, private RA;nh;nnn 11n;nn [Innlifefnrn I