ARTS
Friars finish era in style
By JESSIE HALLADAY and
MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO
There are many ways to say good-
bye: Aurevoir, adios, ciao, laterdude.
But Friday night the Friars said good-
bye their own way, with a smashing
38th Annual Best Concert ever.
Five of the eight-member a
The Friars
Rackham Auditorium
April 15, 1994
cappella group performed their last
concert to apacked house at Rackham.
Bob, Roy, Aaron, Paul and Ayal spent
their last two hours as Friars enter-
taining and dazzling 1200 eager fans.
The Friars presented an evening
of new routines and old favorites.
After a rocky opening skit ("What
would you do for love") and a slow
first song ("Anything For Love"), they
quickly shifted gears into a snappy
original Friars introduction to the tune
of the Flintstones theme.
The new pieces were well-
intentioned but fell a little short in
their performance. An arrangement
of Sting's "Fields of Gold" showed
off Ayal nicely but suffered from
tempo problems. In the ballads -
"So Much in Love" and "Time in a
Bottle" - going flat was a small
problem, but the rest of the group
usually covered it admirably well.
And Dan's solo couldn't cover the
rough spots in "Walk on the Ocean."
Not all of the new pieces faltered;
Men At Work's "Down Under" with
Jason's engaging solo and the Friars'
standby "Silhouettes" were both fun.
The Friar favorites proved to be the
most successful pieces of the evening.
Surely we will always remember
"River of Dreams" - this time inter-
rupted by some cryptic recorded mu-
sic - and Bob's solo (where does he
get those high notes, anyway?). And
despite Ayal's pleas for us to shut our
eyes, we did watch the "Two Princes"
choreography. You needn't have wor-
ried, guys - we don't expect you to
be the Alvin Ailey dance troupe; you
wouldn't be the Friars if you were.
Note: It's too bad the laughter cov-
ered up Dan's solo.
Other notables were "Da Beatles"
(Matt's arrangement, of course), "My
I'm Large" (another Bob trademark)
and Roy's "Graduate on Time." But
the biggest standout of the evening
was "Allison." The Friars arrange-
ment far surpasses Elvis Costello's,
and Jason's strong, clear solo led this
number. Usually slow songs are not
the Friars' forte, but "Allison" was
the tightest we have ever heard it.
And it wouldn't be a Friars con-
cert without some wacky stunt. This
time they got creative with special'
effects. They killed the lights, ran out
into the audience, and shined a spot-
light on a bale of hay to the crowd-
riling music played at basketball
games. (Can you tell we don't fre-
quent sporting events?) "Hey," they
shouted, but farmers in the audience
knew that it was really straw.
The Friars even shared the top six
stupid jokes they had heard over the
past few days. It's no surprise that the
jokes were pretty darn stupid, but
devoted fans laughed anyway. What
did the elephant say to the naked
man? "My God! How do you breathe
through that thing?"
But through the dumb jokes and
Frame this one - Paul, Jason, Roy, Aaron, Ayal, Dan, Bob and Matt (in no particular order) - the Friars.
special effects, the focus of the evening
was clearly the departure of five dedi-
cated Friars. As the concert came to a
close, it was visible that the Friars
were getting sentimental. After "clos-
ing" with "Love Potion No. 9," they
responded to tumultuous applause
with an encore.
These eight guys are renowned for
their rendition of "Mysterious Ways,"
so it was only fitting that they chose to
perform it one last time. Led by Ayal
and his red socks, the Friars finally
got some choreography right. (Though
they've done it so much, they have no
excuse not to do it well.)
The second encore song was a
traditional Friars ending - "Wim-o-
Weh." Joined by former and future
Friars, it brought the show to an emo-
tional close. Entranced by this swan
song, the audience was reluctant to
accept the end of the evening and the
end of an era.
Poetic
By KIRK MILLER
Jeff "Jaffe" Massoll rea
involved with his work.
"There's this one piece
tially have to do naked," he ex
Massoll and Antoine Dub
go to these extremes as the or
of the multimedia event Inq
der, a student-run group tha
brings together some of Ann
most diverse artistic talent
mishmash of bizarre perform
poetry, and music. Think of
artistic equivalent of Ogden D
P-Funk All-Stars and the Ji
Circus colliding in a dark al
The collective result isc
and unique every time. In on
performance the members oft
were covered in body paint,
rounded by black lights, t
things at the audience during
formance. Massoll has also
himself in tin foil and set hir
fire, all in the name of art.
"Antoine and I call it I
Massoll said. "It stands fo
Impact Poetic Performance.'
talent makes '
my confused look about the acronym, have with
ally gets he added, "That's with the last 'o' "I gav
taken from the o in poetic." ever peop
I essen- Although several members are next thin
Kplained. working on book titles, Antoine is the appearing
eauclard only one to publish anything so far. preciate i
ganizers The book "Beer Pressure" is a collec- this is tw
stant Ci- tion of short stories and poetry on its "Beer
t loosely second printing, sold through local of-consci
Arbor's bookstores Shaman Drum and Kalei- everyday
s into a doscope. He hopes the low price of in a coffe
ance art, the book and the unique collabora- the confus
it as the tions find a new audience. The absu
Mash, the "There is a bad perception about level with
im Rose poetry," he explained. "For me there the Run,"
ley. is a fine line between poetry and bab- collection
different bling. My main problem is I babble a One stan
ie recent lot; sometimes it works really well." "Electrici
hegroup The graduating Comparative Lit- entirety:
and sur- erature /Creative Writing major pub- "I had
hrowing lished and printed the works himself plugs apa
the per- with the help of the computer centers The tv
covered and a lot of time. verse inte
mself on "I spend a few minutes putting out zational f
each copy," he said. However, he has ing all of t
HIPPO," kept the publishing cost down low which he
r High- enough to offer the books for a dollar ing the bu
" Noting and four stamps, or whatever people "Anto
h
Vf
P
q
9
it
Ic
r:
.li
rl
7e
S
ul
h
n
d
d
al
w
I
f{
'ti
u
A
Instant Cider'
h them. led to the pseudonym of 'Jaffe."'
'e out half of them for what- Dubeauclard and Massoll origi-
)le had," he explained. "The nally met in a poetry class, and started
g I know dollar bills were Instant Cider this term with some
g under my door. People ap- performances and Antoine's books.
t more than if I said, 'Here, The group, with its different mem-
o dollars."' bers and guest stars, has performed
Pressure" is full of stream- frequently in the Halfway Inn in East
ousness poetry exploring Quad, Rendezvous Cafe and the
life, from the looks received Heidelberg.
ee shop to narratives about The wide variety of interests and
sion between cows and tanks. styles has made some interesting cre-
irdity is raised to another ations with local talent.
his new project, "Poems on They have worked with members
a new (and free) ruler-sized of Gangster Fun and the Friars, and
of sentence-length poems. plan to incorporate more people into
dout is the raw emotion of future shows.
ty," excerpted here in its Both artists plan to work more
with the project this summer when
I a friend. She tried to pry they have more time. Beyond that,
in with a spoon." both are unsure of the future of Instant
No group members have di- Cider.
rests. Antoine is the organi- "I like writing books,"
orce behind the group, do- Dubeauclard said. "But I don't know
:he printing (on PageMaker, what kind of living you can make
taught himself) and work- writing books like 'Beer Pressure.'"
isiness side of the group. "We're getting Ann Arbor aware
ine is amazing," Massoll that there are talented people out
has connections with the there," Massoll said. "We want to
the business school ... and make it available, or have others get
ll been very supportive. He motivation from it."
ertising genius." And how did this diverse collec-
all, a sophomore, is also tion of talent choose the epithet "In-
on a book, but destroyed his stant Cider"? Massoll shrugged off
k. "There was a revolution- any bizarre origin.
t in my life," he explained. "It just happened to be what we
led my previous stuff. That were drinking at the time."
CORRINA, CORRINA
I U
said. "He
RC office
they've a
is an adv
Mass
working c
older wor
ary aspec
"I disown
} ". rr:Svr
s "A r ri: -
'2
at the University Club
in the Michigan Union
Saturday, April 30
9am-4pm
Adults $13.95
Children 10 & under $5.95
Reservations recommended
(313)763-4648
Call 8:30am-4:30pm,
Monday-Friday
WEEKEND ETC. IS NOW ACCEPTING
SUBMISSIONS FOR A NEW CARTOONIST
THIS FALL.
PLEASE SUBMIT 2-3 SAMPLES TO JOHN
IN THE ARTS OFFICE AT 420 MAYNARD.
QUESTIONS? CALL 763-0379.
p Umm
Donald S. Lpez, Jr.
Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures
ThBe Lifle of the
Dalai..Lama. S
A special background presentation in
advance of the visit of the Dalai Lama
Featuring a brief lecture, video, and Q&A on the history of the
institution of the Dalai Lama and biographical information about
His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama of Tibet
Presented twice:
Tuesdav. Anril 19 at 4:30 n.m.
No, this is not "Made in America 2," that's due out later. This, however, is
"Corrina, Corrina," a new film coming to the Michigan Theater first and
foremost. Remember "The Player" and "Shortcuts"? Well, this is yet another
in the hopefully long line of Premieres at The Michigan Theater.
"Corrina, Corrina" tells the story of an offbeat housekeeper, played by
Whoopi Goldberg, who helps a widowed father, Ray Liotta, and his daughter
as they try to fit into their new lives.
On top of Whoipi the Singing Nun and Ray the Goodfella, the film also
features the last performance of the great Don Ameche.
And this isn't a typical sneak preview either. Usually you get to see the film
a week or two in advance. But with this one, you are going to be four
months ahead of everybody else. Yeah, you can feel just like an important
Hollywood person! Cool!
The film is a Benefit Premiere of The Program in Film and Video Studies
through the courtesy of Bob Shaye, CEO of New Line Cinema, a University
graduate. So don't waste your time, get down there. You don't have finals
on the weekend and it's not like you're going to study anyway.
The big event takes place Saturday, April 23 at 7:00 at the glorious
Michigan Theater.
r mm m m mmmmm-m--
5th AVE. AT LIBERTY 761-9700
SIRENS (R) - Mon, Thurs: 5:00, 7:05, 9:15, Wed: 5:00, 9:15
Tues:1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:05, 9:15 I
4 WEDDINGS & A FUNERAL (R) - Mon, Wed, Thurs: 4:50, 7:20, 9:50
Tues:12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7:20,9:50
BARGAIN MATINEES $3.50 BEFORE 6 PM STUDENTS WITH ID $4.00 EVENINGS
~eF R E E 32 oz. D RINK
wit h purc hase o f'a lrg po pcorn j$.5vle
Presen thIs coupon with purchased ticket thru 5/15/94
Sh erut c aZ'am
C
GC)
I
I
I