Ulbe Skltrgtmt&tflg Book reading and signing Jill Ker Conway will be reading and signing copies of her latest book, "Written by Herself, Volume ll: Women's Memoirs from Britain, Africa, Asia, and the United States." The fun begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Rackham Amphitheatre. And best of all ... it's free. For more information, call 668-7652. Monday September 30, 1996 cult hero Amos performs unique, captivating show Pretentious singer pleases crowd at passionate Hill concert Dave Snyder ly Arts Writer There's truly nothing like a Tori Amos concert. Merit aside, her performances are not like any other's: Baroque, melodramat- ic, cathartic, call them what you will. At least they're unique. Less unique on E Friday night was ning act Josh la yton-Felt, for- mer vocalist and H guitarist for School Of Fish. Clayton-Felt is a decent enough guitar player and is blessed with a great singing voice that effortlessly floats to a Jeff Buckley-esque falsetto, but his solo performance of songs from his new disc "Inarticulate Nature Boy" tended toward e monotonous side. He did have a few appreciative female fans in the audience, and his impromptu cover of "Raspberry Beret" was at least worth a laugh. But it's safe to say that no one came to see Josh Clayton-Felt. Amos, the main attraction, is some- what of an anomaly: A mainstream suc- cess with cult status. She's able to per- form at large venues like Hill without sacrificing too result was almost more of a diary recital than a concert. Older songs like "Mother" and "Winter" spoke of the innocence cov- ered on her debut, "Little Earthquakes." Self-indulgent and proud of it. The die-hards, many of which chose to bleat out "I love you, Tori" at various inappropriate moments, were treated to a handful of obscure b-sides, which EVIEW Tori Amos Fill Auditorium Sept. 27, 1996 even the second much intimacy, which is what makes her shows so different and captivating. She seemed d e t e r m i n e d Friday to draw balcony close to her The album's " P r e c i o u s Things" has be- come a highlight of Tori shows, and her version on Friday was no less than spec- tacular, with an improvised coda of guttural screams and a 28-second-long hold of the word "grrrrl." As usual, she rdelivered an }absolutely singular, undeniably passionate show. were often as good as the album tracks. In particular, the lesser-known "Honey" shone. The obligatory cover, Fleetwood Mac's "Land- slide," was stark and magnificent. As usual, she savagely personal songs, not so much playing the piano as making violent love to it as she dramatically tossed around her trademark flaming-red hair. Her set showcased songs from all three of her albums, each of which is a dis- tinct song cycle handling various emo- tional and developmental themes. The delivered an Tracks from her latest disc, "Boys For Pele," explored themes of feminini- ty; the pounding dance rhythms during "Talula" and a protracted "Caught A Lite Sneeze" were Amos at her best - absolutely sin- gular, undeniably passionate show on Friday. It's easy to accuse Tori Amos of excess and pretentiousness, and while it may all be true, none of her fans will care. That's where the fun is, and why Amos is selling out shows everywhere. Tori Amos tunes up for her big show at Hill Auditorium on Friday. W~~ARRN ZIN4N/LDily Barlow's Sebadoh rises to the top Springsteen proves worth at Hill show By Colin Bartos Daily Arts Writer What happens when you cross hard- core punk ideals with an acoustic guitar, a crooning, sensitive songwriter and musical taste that covers just about every base? You get Sebadoh, one of the most talented and respected indie bands to almost achieve commercial success in years. * Sebadoh was started by Lou Barlow in late 1989 as a side project while he was busy with P]; Dinosaur Jr. Barlow would record just about g every song that Tonight r ever came to his head onto a alkman or a four-track recorder, and wetty much created the genre we call "lo-fi." As a member of Dinosaur Jr., Barlow was never all that happy, and in 1989, lead singer J. Mascis kicked him out of the band. Barlow talked about the messy break-up in a telephone interview with The-Michigan Daily. "It was mostly just cause I was angry," Barlow said. "I'd been, for years, in (Dinosaur) and it was just a lot of miscommunication ... a lot frustrated communication going on. When I was kicked out, I just finally blew my stack. I'd just been holding so much in for so long; I just got really E at r at pissed off." The- result of the break was the proliferation of Sebadoh, and many songs written in hatred of Mascis. It all turned out for the best, though. "I think I knew that when it happened," Barlow said. "It was like ... 'You guys suck! I mean, you guys really suck as people!' I was just really mad. Being kicked out of the band wasn't so much a tragedy musically, you know. We just weren't enjoying what we were doing. It was so ritualistic, real- ly loud, and ... I was V I E W just real vindictive after that. Sebadoh Sebadoh became a the Magic stick. very hard band to pin- (810)645.6666. point - they were all over the place. After releasing three albums on Homestead Records which can be described best as random and experimental, Sebadoh started record- ing for Sub Pop. The band's 1992 release, "Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock," displayed a lot of Barlow's punk upbringing. "When I was first listening to hard- core, like Minor Threat and Black Flag ... that was the biggest influence on me," Barlow said. "That kind of music ... and I'm also really into '60s music, too." Later in 1992, Sebadoh released "Bubble and Scrape," which, like Sebadoh's previous recordings, didn't seem to hold together too well. It was By Dave Snyder Daily Arts Writer Bruce Springsteen's latest album, "The Ghost Of Tom Joad," which he showcased at Hill Auditorium on Thursday night to exhilarating results, might as well be called "The Ghost Of Woodie Guthrie." The Guthrie songs "Tom Joad" and "Deportee" bookended an intimate, mellow set filled with gritty folk narra- tives culled from the sparse, har- R E rowing "Joad" and its sister album, 1982's " "Nebraska," and H studded with older favorites , and stripped-down hits. Springsteen, with a reputation as one of the most thrilling live rock acts around, showed himself to be one of the most versatile, too. While he earned his status playing loud, sweaty marathon shows with his E Street Band, this tour finds him completely solo on stage, performing with a quiet intensity that's just as effective. The buzzing, sold-out audience, which included famed rock journalist Dave Marsh, looked on in awe as Bruce reinvented himself as a modern-day Guthrie. Introducing "Joad" tracks like "Sinaloa Cowboys" and "The Line" with stories of his travels West, Springsteen overcame his biggest S till career hurdle: Making the transition from rocker to folkie without losing credibility. He made the songs very real. This was a quiet show - Bruce requested it so - but a few howls of "Brooooce!" still managed to soar from the crowd, seemingly to remind us of where we were. Of course, the crowd wanted to hear the oldies, and they got what they want- ed: "Point Blank" VIEW was stunning, "Promised Land" Bruce a slow burner: pringsteen and "Darkness A uditorium On The Edge Of Sept. 26. 1996 Town," a rousing departure from the somber vibe that swallowed most of the show. He reworked "Born In The U.S.A." as a ballad, ending the song singing the chorus a cappella, save some percussive guitar-tapping. The audience also got lots to laugh about. Springsteen's between-song ban- ter was borderline stand-up comedy, and while we probably could have been spared an extended monologue on oral sex, the talk was as key to the show as the music. Hearing Bruce ramble on about his mother, and laugh at his own bad jokes, is the humanity missing from too many modern performers. Sure, it would have been great to hear The Boss in rousing, full-band glory, See BRUCE, Page 8A Sebadoh will be performing tonight at the Magic Stick. more like each of the band members throwing in some solo tracks and mak- ing a compilation out of it. In 1993, drummer Eric Gaffney left the band (kind of), and part-time drum- mer Bob Fay started to concentrate a lit- tIe more on Sebadoh. In 1994, Sebadoh released "Bakesale." a hugely success- ful album within the indie circle, and the first Sebadoh album without any real throw-away tracks. It was like the band was actually trying to make a record! The album featured the now core Sebadoh line-up, with bassist and vocalist Jason Lowenstein, drummer Bob Fay, and guitarist and vocalist Lou Barlow, along with some special guests. While Sebadoh gained some recogni- tion with the single "Rebound," Barlow achieved real commercial success in 1995 with his side project, Folk Implosion, and their hit single, "Natural One." This was something Barlow had never really seen before, and said he really enjoyed. "It's great," Barlow said. "I've been touring for ten years, so it's like, OK! Mainstream acceptance is fine with me - I got no problem with that." Long-time fans weren't so happy See SEBADOH, Page 8A 'V Only three more days 'til Weekend, etc. Magazine appears in Thursday's Daily. * Don't miss it! 7:00 p.m., October 1, 1996 in Tap Room of the Union. U .:.