RTS
Crypt blows the roof off
*By MATT CARLSON
When San Diego's Rocket From The Crypt formed in
1990, the post-punk rock band pledged to never play a
place that had a stage. They quickly had to abandon that
idea as the group found themselves playing in larger and
larger venues. But tonight at the Michigan Union Ball-
room, you can see Rocket live out their dream, lost in the
exhaust of MTV promotion and an exploding legion of
fans.
Although Rocket's last album, "Circa: Now!," was
released in 1992, the band has recently received additional
boosters from major label Interscope, one of many com-
panies zeroing in on San Diego as the next Seattle.
"That whole thing is kind of weird," said Rocket's sax
player extraordinaire Apollo 9, "just in the fact that we're
(as a band) pretty away from all that. For some reason, I
kind of feel like old hat in San Diego now, and the
backlash has kind of begun against it.
"Actually, I just got in a fist fight with Jon Wurster
There has been, however, a recent
uproar among punk-rock purists
who accuse Rocket From The Crypt
...of selling out for quick cash.
from Superchunk because he's claiming that Chapel Hill
(N.C.) is still the reigning champion for the new Seattle."
Certainly, corporate-rock life has not hardened Rocket's
approach of having as much fun as possible in creating and
splaying their music.
! "We're still doing the same thing we've always done,"
said Apollo 9, "just trying to have fun and put out good
records and play a good show.
"My lifestyle hasn't changed that much. I still borrow
money every two weeks to make up for the next month."
There has been, however, a recent uproar among punk-
rock purists who accuse Rocket From The Crypt and other
punk bands, like recent Atlantic addition Bad Religion, of
selling out for quick cash.
"Fuck 'em," replied Apollo 9. "You want to get the
music out there. That's the main thing with going with the
major. People writing to you saying 'I live in Bumfuck,
Ohio, and I can't get your record anywhere.' It's frustrat-
ing.
"If anybody has a problem (with Rocket not being
punk-rock enough), they can come see us live, and they
can see that we're still a punk band."
Indeed they are, but with so many more fireworks.
"Circa: Now!" not only blazes with the intensity of, say,
the Sex Pistols "Never Mind The Bollocks," but also
includes more subtle aspects such as razor-sharp lead-
guitar hooks, harmonies reminiscent of the Beatles circa
"Hard Days Night," and, of course, the saxophone. These
all blend together to form a wall of sound that is sonically
sharp and tight.
Ask about influences and Apollo 9 remains as elusive
as a heat-seeking missile. "We all want to have a good
time," he said, "so you get the good-time rock bands like
the Didjits and The 'Stones.
"To be honest with you, I really think you're pretty
much influenced by everything. If you can take in as many
influences as possible, I think it's the best thing to do.
We're all trying to lift things from all these different
people, throw it in the pot and it comes out Rocket From
The Crypt."
Will one of Rocket's ingredients ever be a saxophone
solo?
"Never. I hate sax solos. They're the most god-awful
sounding things in the world, especially when I'm doing
them."
Of course, the guys in Rocket From The Crypt don't
want their music to stagnate, so they continually attempt
to change or add some rocket-fuel to the mix.
Tonight, you can see the latest addition as the band
unleashes its brand new secret weapon. This writer is
sworn to secrecy as to the design and purpose of the secret
weapon, but it's sure to surprise quite a few people in
attendance.
The secret weapon joins a band already known for
their intensity in a live setting. Or, as Apollo 9 puts it,
"Secure the roof - it's going to be blown off."
ICKT FROM THE CRYPT plays at the Michigan
Union Ballroom tonight with Rodan and '68
Comeback. Doors open at 7p.m., show begins at 8 p.m.
Tickets are available at the Union. Non-students must
buy tickets in advance. Call 763-TKTS.
Voigt steer
By ANNA GOODRICH
Ellen Bryant Voigt is not going to
give a performance at her reading on
Thursday afternoon. She does not like
*performances, which she described
as involving drama, audience and
audience response, and weaving it
together to form an artistic experi-
ence.
What audiences can expect from
Voigt is a duplication of the sounds
the poet heard when she composed
her work. She compares the reading
- of poems to the performance of mu-
*sic, explaining that it does not matter
how a musical piece is written or has
been performed before. "Music has to
be made again," she said.
Voigt feels there is nothing more
that she can do for her poems when
she reads them. She can not make
them better or worse; they are already
complete. "A poem is written. A poem
is done," she added.
Voigt's aversion to performance
may be traced back to her study of
music during college. While an un-
dergraduate, she was studying music
and intended to become a high school
band director.
During her studies, Voigt found
parts of music training incompatible
for her. Most of the training was in
preparation for performance and, as
she makes clear, she is not eager to
Operform.
At about the same time, when
Voigt was 20-years-old, someone
showed her some contemporary po-
etry. These were the first poems Voigt
ever read that were written by living
people. She was amazed by these po-
ems.
Up to this point, Voigt had taken'
almost all music classes and only one
9-asic English class. Seeing these po-
sclear of performing
ems inspired Voigt to enroll in her Voigt currently teaches at t
second English class, entitled "Sur- "low-residency" MFA Writing Pr
vey of English Literature." gram at Warren Wilson College
She became intrigued and started Swannanoa, North Carolina. Throu
writing some of her own poems. She this program, the students and facul
had wanted to enroll in the Masters of attend Warren Wilson's writing wor
Fine Arts program at Vanderbilt Uni- shops for two periods of 10 days ea
versity in Tennessee. However, at the every year. The rest is done throu
time the school did not give money correspondence. When Voigt isn't
for fellowships to women. In 1964 Swannanoa, she lives in Cabot, V
Voigt entered the MFA graduate pro- mont.
gram at the University of Iowa. "I Voigt has published four books
went to the University of Iowa on poetry. Hermost recent, "Two Trees
accident," she said. was published in 1992. Her oth
Voigt's musical history returns books are "Claiming Kin"(1976
to her in her poems and essays. When "The Forces of Plenty"(1983), ar
she writes, she usually begins with a "The Lotus Flowers"(1987). Her p
fragment of sound, emphasizing the etry has been included in many a
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An-
Erin Dilly and Clinton Bond Jr. perfo
Shaw 's'
By MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO
With years of successful produc-
tions behind them, the Department of
Theatre and Drama is keeping with
their tradition of presenting new and
challenging works.
This Thursday they tackle George
Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara," by
no means an easy or oft-produced
work. But visiting director Pam Hunt
is tackling it with an ardor and a
sincere self-professed love for Shaw's
drama.
"Ijust think it's wonderful to work
with something that's got some ideas
behind it, something that's making a
point," Hunt said with a sigh of relief.
"Making several points," she cor-
rected.
It is true that's Shaw's drama is
full of those "points."
One of the "Sensational Six" of
Modern Drama (among Henrik Ibsen,
August Strindberg, Anton Chekov,
Bertolt Brecht and Luigi Pirandello),
Shaw was a playwright with an
agenda. An established Socialist,
Shaw structured his plays to cut
through the hypocrisy of bourgeois
life with biting humor and unre-
strained societal criticisms. Hunt de-
scribes his plays as "drama, with so-
cial commentary."
And since Shaw has so much to
say about society and its evils, his
dramas can be, well, talky - a char-
acteristic which Hunt recognizes, and
embraces.
"It is wordy, so our task has been
to make the piece with its verbosity
come to life," she said. However; Hunt
firmly believes (as do many Shaw
IEAD DAMLY ARTS
IMajor' (
the language on top of that ... (I think
today) we've lost the joy of language,
and I think that's one of the lovely
things for the audience, is to hear
something like this with wonderful
dialogue," she said. "But it's not some-
thing you can sit and let wash over
you-you have to listen," she warned.
Participating in Shaw's drama is
An established
Socialist, Shaw
structured his plays to
cut through the
hypocrisy of bourgeois
life.
no difficult task, since his subjects are
so contemporary. For example, the
basic premise of "Major Barbara" is
poverty.
While numerous plot lines exist
and cross each other, the main tug-of-
war is between Barbara (Erin Dilly),
who is a major in the Salvation Army,
and her father Andrew Undershaft
(John Neville-Andrews). Barbara is
saving souls in the army, and her
father is making money selling muni-
tions. When Undershaft wants to make
a sizable donation to the Salvation
Army, Barbara is horrified because of
his "dirty" money.
"It has to do with 'What does
mankind the most good?"' Hunt sum-
marized. "What Barbara says at the
end of the play is that it is all'one -
you can't have one without the other.
rm in George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara."
~hleng
You can't expect people to go on the
right path if they're starving."
Hunt sees in "Major Barbara" nu-
merous parallels to our 20th-century
society. "This is the message that
Clinton is trying to get across ... You
need social programs, you need edu-
cation for people. You can't expect
people not to be violent if they haven't
had any advantages," she explained.
Despite its contemporary reso-
nance, Hunt has chosen to keep the
show in its turn-of-the-century pe-
riod.
"The turn of the century was a
very exciting time in the United States
... as well as England," Hunt said.
"And I also think it's good for the
students to work on a period piece."
"Major Barbara" is not produced
very often in the United States. If a
Shaw play is done, it is usually "Heart-
break House," "Too True to Be Good"
or "Pygmalion" (the predecessor to
"My Fair Lady").
"A lot of professional companies
don't have the wear-with-all to do it.
It's a big cast, and a lot of theaters
(can't) do that anymore for budgetary
concerns."
Hunt stated, "I think the joy of it is
to see something you don't see every-
day."
(Voigt) suggested that
writers endeavor to
read at a ratio of 10 to
one to what they write.
music in the poem.
This musical quality can be heard
in the beginning of the poem "The
Letters" which appears in her book
"Two Trees."She writes, "The drawer
is full of letters / They rustle and sigh
/ Sometimes, when he leaves the
drawer ajar / their muffled conversa-
tion / leaks out like spices from a
lifted lid."
When asked about her writing
schedule, Voigt emphasized indi-
vidual temperament. She said that over
time one tends to find their own rou-
tine and schedule. Voigt sets aside
time for reading and writing in the
morning, when she has the house to
herself. "Life does not want us to
create art," Voigt said. "You have to
arrange for it."
thologies and has appeared in "The
New Yorker," "The Atlantic," "The
New Republic," "The Nation" and
other literary journals.
When asked what one piece of
advice she would give to an aspiring
writer, Voigt did not hesitate with her
answer. "Read," she advised.
She suggested that writers en-
deavor to read at a ratio of 10 to one to
what they write. Voigt believes that,
because literature is so subjective,
there is no prescription for what a
poem is or must be. Through reading,
Voigt claimed, one can learn "what
poems can be."
ELLENBRYANT VOIGT will be
reading from her work on February
10 at Sp.m. at Rackham
Amphitheatre. Admission is free.
F
i
MAJOR BARBARA will be
presented Thursday through Sunday
at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
Performances are Thursday
through Saturday at 8p.m. and
Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14,
$10 ($6 students). Call 764-0450.
-- -- --
ECONO-CAR
OF ANN ARBmo
Weekend etc. is looking for models for the
Spring Fashion issue. Attend the mass
meeting this Sunday at 8:30 p.m. in the Arts
office of the Daily. Bring along a photo.
Call John at
763-0379 for more info.
Open 7 days a week
*Rentals available to those 19 years of age and older
438 W. Huron, Ann Arbor, 761-8845
Department of Recreational
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