1 " ? iPftNcft-w U- Real music, real emotions, real life Catle Curtis will appear tomorrow at the Ark for two shows. Curtis, a former laid-off social worker, has a musical message very similar to that of Tracy Chapman - beautifully simplistic and surprisingly realistic. She will both delight you with her musical charm and challenge you with her call for a more caring humanity. The shows are at 7:30 and 9:30p.m. Friday March 1, 1996 5 I Little thing Brian A. Onatt aily Music Editor Bush is like a pile of doggie doodie the stinkier it is, the more flies it ttracts. This was the case at the surprisingly old-out show at the Palace of Auburn Hills Wednesday night, where the Brit- ish Nirvana rip-off Bush headlined over he 3oo Goo Dolls and No Doubt in wh t was an evening of utterly terrible nd tedious music. REVIEW Bush The Palace Feb. 28, 1996 As a music reviewer, I've had the opportunity to see hundreds of bands erform live. Some were great, and others, well, weren't. It is safe to say however, that Bush's Wednesday per- formance was the worst live musical concert this reviewer has ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Collective Soul was boring, Warrant was bad; and Candlebox even worse. But never, in all the shows I have seen, have I ever witnessed such a horrendous live band amush. The mere fact that this was the first rock concert I ever fell asleep at is a testament itself to the sense of boredom felt while having to watch Gavin Rossdale, vocalist and lead guitarist for Bush, sing and moan his meaningless dribble over a terribly long hour and a skill: Bush comes down half. As if they aren't bad enough on their record, hearing Bush's music live took me to a new level of hatred for the band. Kicking off the triple bill show was the quirky punk outfit No Doubt, who were in Detroit just a couple weeks ago opening for Everclear. The band played their big radio hit, "I'm Just A Girl," and a bunch of other tracks from their latest record, along with a few of their other oldies. Singer Gwen Stafani jumped around the stage quite happily, but her high-pitched vocals became a bit annoying. With hair flailing, the Goo Goo Dolls came out next, opening with their latest single, "Naked." The Goo Goos were definitely the highlight of the show, with their sweet poppy melodies and fun attitude. Bassist Robby Takac sang a number of tracks with his hoarse and not-so-melodic voice. But lead vocalist and guitarist Johnny Rzeznick saved the day with a rocking rendition of the group's recent breakthrough hit, "Name." With the disco ball shining and the crowd screaming, "Name" was the best sounding of the band's mate- rial. "This is one of the first few places where we've come and people gave a shit about us, so thanks," Rzeznick said as the band closed their set. Now it was time for the big guns - Bush. The house went black, with only blue spotlights shining through the smoke that was pouring off the stage. After five minutes of blue light and some terrible scraping noise sample being looped over the speakers, Gavin and his crew took the stage. They ran into one of the many generic grunge tracks off their debut, "Sixteen Stone," and then another, and then another. By this time, it was evident the band was there to be pompous and to pose for the mostly 16-year-old audience. Off- key and speaking incoherently, Rossdale screamed in his British ac- cent, "Hello Detroit, how you doing?" and broke into a lazy version of their MTV darling "Comedown." To prove he's more sex object than artist, between songs Rossdale pulled up his shirt to get a rise out of the ladies. The band continued on their long and boring trip through the filler that com- prises their record, dominated by Rossdale's less-than-perfect vocals and the rest of the band's loose and lacka- daisical approach to the songs. Besides the poor sound mix, Bush's performance of their music was ter- rible. Almost all of the songs were slowed with extra soloing and filler added to bore the audience, in what was obviously becoming a pitiful musical performance. Between his "Fuck yeah, Detroit"s and his growling screams, Rossdale went on to sing the band's hit "Little Things" in his grovely and whiny voice. By this point in the show, the singer's antics were getting old, the music tiresome, and prayers of a quick and painless end were being recited across the arena. A Finally the first set was over. But the best was yet to come. Bush Bush couldn't improve on its performance BR"'N". GNA"/d'i" hadn't played their two smash :hits "Glycerine" or "Everything's Zen," so the encore seemed a bit predictable. Rossdale came out solo to perform "Glycerin" and a new track he said he had written. Not able to write a decent song if his life depended on it. Rossdale performed both the old and new songs with his usual empty passion. Then the rest of the guys came back out, guitarist Nigel Pulsford, bassist Dave Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge, and played a terrible and slow dragged-out 10-minute version of "Everything's Zen." Just when I was sure the show was finally over, the band broke into an- other song. This one sounded familiar, but it wasn't a Bush song. It was being played with the same drum beat from "Little Things" (which Bush ripped off from the Offspring), like the rest of their songs, but there was something vaguely familiar about it. Yes, it must be the mandatory cover to wrap up the show, "But what is it?" I asked myself. When Rossdale began to sing the words, "This one goes out to the one I love / This one goes out to the one I left behind," I knew Bush had found the only thing that could spread the icing over their dog pie cake - they covered R.E.M. Bush trudged through an insult- ing and blasphemous version of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love," dragging out their sickening show for yet another 10 min- utes. When they finally left the stage and the lights came up, it was the first time all night that there was a huge smile plastered across my face. The smile not only signified my joy of surviving a Bush show, but that somehow I knew, this would be' the worst concert I will ever have to see in my entire life. Williams han~n conceit By Matthew Steinhauser For the Daily John Williams' effortless technical skill and artistry captivated all in at- tendance Tuesday night at Rackham Auditorium. Arguably the world's premier classical guitarist, the Aus- tralian-born musician performed a X derful range ofguitar music from ous periods. Williams requested that no notes about the composers or the musical selections be included in the program. Instead, he provided witty and quite lengthy explanations of many of the pieces. The guitarist eased the crowd into the spirit of the evening with the familiar melodies ofMichael Praetorius's "Three Dances From 'Terpischore."' The third IVolta was especially impressive., WVlliams maintained a delicate balance between various voices, releasing the clear, soaring melody over the lush lay- ers of the bass line. Williams selected mostly composi- tions based on dance and folk rhythms. Even the Baroque period's represen- tative, "Chaconne" from "Violin REVIEW John Williams Rackham Auditorium Feb. 27, 1996 Partita No. 2 in d minor" by Bach, borrowed popular dance forms from the period. In his composition, Bach on basic flamenco chord pro- gessions. Williams was able to cap- ture the subtle melancholic flavor of the flamenco folk tunes, while duti- fully, preserving the measured rich- ness of Bach's Baroque music. Four pieces by the Spanish com- poser Isaac Albeniz clearly high- MC5's Kramer comes home to Detroit k' One of the world's most popular classical guitarists, John Williams, gave a pleasing, beautiful solo concert Wednesday night at Rackham. By Brian A. Gnatt Daily Music Editor Wayne Kramer is one of the most innovative guys in music. As lead gui- tarist of Detroit's legendary MC5, and now in his solo project, Kramer has consistently pushed the boundaries of music. Released earlier this week, Kramer's second solo record, "Dangerous Mad- ness," combines imperative socio-po- litical issues with hard hitting rock'n'roll. "I feel like I've been redeemed," Kramer said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "I've come from the highs of the MC5, to the depths of depravity and between, and been able to come back and do this work, and ride through the neighborhood screaming the fundamen- talists are coming." Tackling issues of street violence, safe sex, the deserted streets of Detroit and numerous other pressing issues of the world today, "Dangerous Madness" continues Kramer's tradition of social protest through music. With songs remi- niscent of the MC5's political activism in the late '60s and early '70s, Kramer is one of the few products of that era who still has his mind set on changing the world. "Today, the situation is so out of control, I feel like somebody's got to say something about what's going on, and that might as well be me," Kramer said. "I've got a political history. I come from a political time and a political band, and this stuff really needed to be addressed. The situation in America is really going to hell in a hand basket. "The bad guys, these Phil Gramms, Newt Gingriches and Bob Dole and Pat Buchanan are basically running unop- posed," he continued. "There was a time when there was a counter culture that stood up against big business and big government that said we're not go- ing to go along with the program. To- day, these guys are running rampant and these guys are evil. They're scary guys, and they scare the shit out ofme." Since he grew up and began his ca- reer in music in Detroit, Kramer said the Motor City has had an enormous influence on him and his music. "Detroit's a great metaphor for what's happening in the entire na- tion," he said. "When I was growing up in Detroit, it was a Norman Rockwell and Converse sneaker wear- ing, all-American place. Everybody WAYNE KRAMERr Where: The Shelter. When: Saturday, March 9. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance. Attendees must be over age 18. worked, everybody could go shop- ping, everybody felt good about themselves and their community. It was really like a harmonious time. "But once the endless greed of the petroleum, auto and rubber interests sucked all the money there was to be made, and sucked a couple generations of workers dry, there's nothing left. It's kind ofwhat happened to the whole country." It was those desperate things that the MC5 began writing about in the '60s. Kramer claims that his was the first band to begin taking on politics in their music. "Politically, we were like the big bang. Before the MC5, people really didn't take an active roll in anything political," Kramer said. "If you were an entertainer, you were steered away from being controversial or talking about the war or drugs or fucking or anything that was real." Musically, the MC5 pioneered the musical boundaries of raw rock'n'roll that would.later be called punk rock. "Musically, there was a scene that developed in Detroit that was very strong and individualistic," Kramer said. "I think it had to do with it being a factory town and a blue-collar approach that they work hard, and they want their bands to work hard. The whole idea of 'Kick out the jams, or get off the stage.' It was this idea of high energy. Ifyou say rock'n'roll, it's the roll part. It's rock, that's the hard part, but it's rolling." After growing up and living in De- troit, the MC5 ran into problems liv- ing in the city. Because of problems with the Detroit police, the band set up camp in Ann Arbor, renting a house on Hill Street. Kramer said that today's youth need to get involved in solving the world's problems. "It seems like young people today think everything's fine, and it's all just going to work out by magic or some- thing, and it doesn't. You have to be involved on some level; you have to take a stand on things. Because if you don't stand for something, you'll stand for anything." lighted the performance. Four places in Spain - Asturias, Mallorca, Sevilla, and C6rdoba - inspired the creation of the four pieces and ulti- mately became their titles. Williams performed the composi- tions with a strong sense for the pieces' passionate, folky rhythms, never re- linquishing the images and spirits of Spanish landscapes that inspired Albeniz. The guitarist followed with an amaz- ing display of technical prowess firmly anchored in the classical forms ofNicolo Paganini's guitar compositions. Al- though Paganini primarily wrote solo music for the violin, he also tried his hand at composing for his second in- strument, the guitar. And his guitar pieces prove to offer a technical test similar to his infamously, difficult vio- lin solos. Williams awed the crowd, leaping with ease over the technical hurdles in Paganini's "Romanza and Caprice No. 24." After a piece by the 20th century British composer, Stephen Dodgson, Williams concluded the program by exploring some of the newly pub- lished material of the Paraguayan Agustin Barrios Mangore. Mangore lived in the first half of the 20th cen- tury, but the majority of his composi- tions only recently became available in published form. The guitarist beau- tifully rode the soft, musical waves, letting his guitar convince the audi- ence why Mangore has become one of the most important guitar composers of this century. The crowd voiced their admiration of the guitarist with an immediate standing ovation. Williams indulged the approving audience with two short encore pieces, performing a well- known Neapolitan 'folk song and a Mangore waltz. Williams arrived on the University campus with a difficult task: to please a crowd of music lovers expecting the world's finest guitarist. Williams aced every facet of the test. He performed with quiet assurance. His complete tech- nical mastery of the music amazed the audience. It was his charm, though, that truly won them over. Wayne Kramer plays at the Shelter on March 9. CAREER SEARCHING! GOOD SALARIES " GOOD BENEFITS 9 GOOD CAREER 7',SS '"" ax http://www.math.psu.edu/mass/ PENNSTATE I aoowa Are you a student seriously interested in mathematics who sees very few 11 1