The Michigan Daily-Weekend etc.-January 21, 1993- Page 5
Burn
by Karen Lee
At the bottom of one of the p
his manuscript for his nevi
Lanford Wilson, the authort
works as "The Rimers ofEldrit
"The Fifth of July," had wri
words "Burn this." With that
director Jan Koengeter said,
captured the "essential truth
situation" - that once an ar
shown his work, it should bet
because it can never be repeat
"Burn This," to be perfo:
the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
kind of character-driven pl
Once an artist has
shown his work, it
should be burned,
because it can nev
repeated.
Koengeter, a former actress, i
to. After seeing a productioni
that starred Eric Roberts and
winner Joan Allen, she knewt
wanted to try her hand at dire
And there is indeed a g
singular characters for Koen
direct. Anna (Mary Anne Nem
dancer-choreographer whose
baby burn says
ma andycollaborator, Robbie, has
pages of just been killed in a drowning acci-
w play, dent. Burton (TimMorley) is her well-
of such meaning boyfriend, yet somehow Anna
ch" and cannot bring herself to accept his pro-
tten the posals ofmarriage. Complicating mat-
phrase, ters is Pale (Steve Memran), Robbie's
Wilson terrifying yet fascinating older brother,
of the with whom Anna finds herself falling
tist has in love. All of these people are from
burned, completely different positions, says
ted. Koengeter, and they all evolve in dif-
rmed at ferent ways by the end.
w, is the The main issue of the play is the
ay that developing romance between Anna
and Pale and their efforts to restrain
themselves in their attraction to each
other. The two characters, at opposite
poles, try to emotionally take the easy
way out by sparing themselves the
er be pain of falling in love, and ultimately
they cannot. Koengeter also makes
reference to a "double grief' that
Robbie's death inflicts on Pale and the
s drawn rest of his family. Not only must they
in 1988 face the death itself, but they must also
d Tony- deal with the last five years of silence,'Ai
that she after they shunned Robbie in the wake
cting it. of the revelation of his homosexuality. m
roup of The play, however, is also about R
geter to art, and about artists striving to do the G
Leth) is a best they can. In this vein, then, the it
room- production will incorporate original B
playwright Wilson
ausic by sound designer Deborah
usinski and dance by Gregory M.
eorge and Suzanne Willets, making
truly a synthesis of all the arts.
URN THIS will be performed at the
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre at 2275
Platt Road from January 21-
February 6, Thursday through
Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7;
Call 971-2228.
dada pop 'Puzzle'
by Andrew J Cahn
IRS's official press release for dada compared the trio to such notable
musicians as the Police and Simon and Garfunkel.
Enough with the cheesy, overexaggeratedcomparisons! Is IRS still lamenting
the loss of R.E.M. and Belinda Carlisle, and now excessively pushing dada's
"Puzzle" to bring the company back to the forefront?
Fortunately for everybody involved, "Puzzle" rocks. In many other alterna-'
tive bands, a guitarist's creativity is mostly evident in chord progressions and
unique tunings. dada guitarist Michael Gurley, however, takes that one step
further, and actually knows how to play a solo. He wastes no time to show us this
either; the first 45 seconds of the record's opening track "Dorina" showcases a
mellow, tasteful display of Gurley's finger picking. As the song gets more
aggressive towards the end, his guitar work remains consistent with the intensity
of the track.
A few of the tunes may remind the listeners of the danceable progressive pop
MTV showcased in the early to mid-'80s, but the group does not agree with this.-
"Our influences are more classic '60s influences," said drummer Phil Leavitt.
"Mainly British invasion and American '60s blues-rock that we've combined
with what's happening lately, like grunge and some louder types of music. Bring
that all together with a lot of other band we've all heard of, as far as harmonies
go, like Simon and Garfunkel, Beach Boys, and Mamas and the Papas."
"Mary Sunshine Rain" and "Timothy" are obviously rooted in mellow
psychedelia. Other tunes, like "Dog" and "Dim," have more in common with the'
Call than they do with the Turtles. "Dim" willbe the second single from the album
and it has the potential of being the "I Melt With You" of the '90s.
The band also succeeds by exuding significant energy on stage. When they
played the Blind Pig Monday night, their performance surprised some people
who were waiting for the headliner, Material Issue. The show's opener was -
"Posters," a Bo Diddley-beat rocker about a girl who gets guys in her room by
saying, "Let's go tomy room, I'll show you my posters." Their currenthit, "Dizz'
Knee Land" went over pretty well, though there was a certain population in the
audience that is already sick of that tune.
The band also played a few covers, but that was the low point of their show.
Technically, their version of "California Dreamin"' sounded good, but because
of how it was slowed down, it was just too damn sad and depressing. "Why Don't
We Do It In the Road" dragged on abit until it was ignited by the "Back In Black"
reference near the end. Had they stuck to more of their own material, which makes
"puzzle" an impressive debut disc, the show could have been greatly improved.
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Up and coming Charon does it their way
by Andy Dolan
Charon is a five-piece outfit from
Detroit that is quickly gaining popular-
ity after just two shows. The band con-
sists of Craig Badynee, vocals; Eric
Pieti, guitar; Dave Kesler, guitar; Ryan
Anderson, bass; and Jesse Rafferty,
drums. Having played together for six
months, they believe that they have
finally pinpointed a sound that is truly
their own. The band combines the am-
bient sideof guitar music ascapturedby
groups such as the Pale Saints, with the
harshness and rough edges of groups
such as Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement;
Augmented by Badynee's soft butpow-
erful vocals, which have been com-
pared to Smiths-era Morrissey and My
Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, the
result is a sound which drowns the
listener in a sea of emotion. The music
is simultaneously harsh as well as frag-
ile, unsettling as well as comforting,
with calming waves of atmospheric
guitars giving way to raw, hellish noise
and then back again.
While Charon has been likened to
the Boo Radleys and Verve, the band
tends to disagree with such compari-
sons. Badynee described their sound as
"More down to earth. We tend to be
more influenced by the underproduced,
raw sound of groups like The Breeders,
Pavement and other independent-label
groups. We like that 'garage' sound and
we want to keep it." Pieti also explained
that, "If you took all their effects off,
[their songs would] be very basic songs.
With our songs, we do add pedals, but
mainly what we're trying to do is come
up with unusual chords and chord pro-
gressions and to treat the music differ-
ently as a whole."
The band members listed several
groups as influences, such as the Cadillac
Kids, the Grateful Dead and Led Zep-
pelin, as well as more modern bands
such as Sonic Youth, Sebadoh and Mer-
cury Rev. The band felt that this wide
range of influences adds to their sound.
As Pieti explained, "An important part
of the sound that we have is that every-
body [in the band] is into different mu-
sic, and I think that helps create a sound
that is unique."
Despite having formed only a short
time ago, Charon members have set
some high goals for themselves. "Our
goal is to create our own sound," said
Pieti. "We've past the stage of imitation
- it's time for us to move on and form
our own sound and feeling," added
Badynee. They also feel that itis impor-
tant to transmit this energy to the audi-
ence. "We want to draw the audience
into our world, and to feel what we feel,
whether that feeling is happiness, fear,
sadness or anything else," said Badynee.
The band is very pleased with their
quick acceptance into the Detroit musi-
cal scene, although they hesitate to call
itatrue "scene."As Badynee explained,
"Hopefully, there will never be a Se-
attle-type scene in Detroit where all the
bands feel that they have to conform to
one sound. Hopefully, bands will feel
free to create sounds that are theirown."
Charon listed Detroit's Majesty Crush
and Thirsty Forest Animals and
Ypsilanti's Veronica Lakeas local bands
for whom they have a mutual respect.
At present, Charon is very ex-
cited about the recording of their first
single, "The Part", which will probably
be released in April on the "Audrey's
Diary" label, home to bands such as
Veronica Lake and Black Tambourine.
Charon is a band that has a clear
idea of where it wants to go from this
point on. The band members are com-
mitted to their ambitious goals, and they
feel that there is no limit to how far they
can take their sound. Catch them now
while you can still see them for under
ten bucks.
Charon appears Friday, January 22
with Veronica Lake at The Gallery in
Warren at 9 mile and Van Dyke. Call
757-6060 for more information.
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