OutKast packs
By Sam England
For the Daily
As a crowd formed in front of St. Andrew's Hall on
Thursday, the unseasonably warm temperatures were indica-
tive of the event everyone was waiting for. The Atlanta-based
OutKast, bringing its Southern-flavored rap to Detroit, had
apparently brought Southernweather, as well. And like the
eather, the rappers came in quickly,
ned up the Michigan masses, then
left under everyone's noses.
Supporting the August release of
"ATLiens," their second album, Andre
and Big Boi had come in from playing
in Canada, en route to several shows in
Southern states, and then back to their
hometown.
By the time doors opened promptly around 8 p.m., fans
wasted no time filling up the main floor, only to wait three
urs for OutKast to even appear. The scene wasn't pretty -
cramped venue provided minimal ventilation, and soon
audience members had grown tired of breathing each other's
body odor and listening to the same album five consecutive
times over the loudspeakers. Plastic cups were thrown onto
the stage, and a particularly good-natured group tried to pass
the time breakdancing.
When the curtains were
finally drawn, Andre and Big
Boi, backed by their DJ and
surrounded by telltale smoke,
greeted the fatigued crowd,
n leapt into a blazing intro-
Tuction. The monotonous wait
was all but forgotten and the
St. Andrew's floor shook from
the impact of hundreds of
energetic feet.
OutKast flew from song to
song, pausing only to converse
witlj the audience. Just as °.
comfortable performing
thoughtful testimonials from
*TLiens" as they were with
bouncing anthems from their
debut "Southernplayalisti-
cadillac-muzik," they kept it
lively throughout their set. OutKast shook up St. AndreM
Their immensely popular title - -
track from the first album, as well as crowd favorites "Ain't
No Thang" and "Crumblin' Erb" fed off the audience's high
energy, and the house was filled with the familiar chants from
OutKast standards.
They proved to be an amicable bunch; after apologizing for
wait, Andre was hit by a local crew's decal thrown on stage.
Winds strike up
By Anitha Chalam Mexican Hat Dan
For the Daily bly coincidental,
You gotta love classical music. I Austrian and pro
mean, it's cultured, it sounds pretty, and Mexico. All three
in the case of the University School of lated by their dis
usic Wind Ensemble, it's free! On tions of smaller ph
iday evening, 36 students and three percussion greatly
conductors all forwent the tiveness of the ma
Homecoming Pep Rally to bring an sense of the milita
eager audience the
delightful sounds REVIEW
of Wolfgang R
Anadeus Mozart Wind Ensemble
and friends.
Though the audi- Rackham Auditorium
ence also missed Oct. 18, 1996
the festivities of the
p Rally, the con-
it was well worth the sacrifice for all er 20th-century
in attendance. Francaix. This pie
The first piece of the evening was the "Sophia's Mischie
first four movements of Mozart's "Gran lar French childre
Partita," Serenade No. 10, K 361 (K. title. Each of the
370a), conducted by H. Robert the adventures of
Reynolds. The "Gran Partita" is one of Sophia. There are
Mozart's longest pieces, and one of his music included wi
most famous as well - the third move-
ment was used in Mozart's own wed-
ig. This is a piece of great musical
epth and is very demanding for the
instrumentalists. Its depth and complex-
ity can be appreciated by even the most
inexperienced of listeners. The only dis-
appointing part about the execution of
the piece was that it was cut short at the
end of the fourth movement, rather than
being played through all seven.
After a brief intermission, 13 new
students replaced the 13 previously on
age, and a new conductor, Kevin
datole, led them as they played Ernst
Krenek's "Three Merry Marches." As
the title suggests, the piece was com-
prised of three marches, which were
indeed quite merry, if brief. The first
march was loud and dissonant, with that
parade-like quality which we all know
and love. The second march also started
out'dissonant, and at one point sounded
remarkably like "Rhapsody in Blue," by
enek's contemporary, George
er shwin. The third march followed
suit in its initial dissonance and had a
passage which sounded not unlike the
[aft
Joyce Carol Oates reading
The prolific writer Is scheduled to appear at Borders tonight. Oates will
read from and sign copies of her latest prose work, "We Were the
Mulvaneys." The fun begins at 7:30 p.m. Borders Books and Music is
located at 612 E. Liberty. The event will surely be a blast, and best of
all ... it's free! For more information, call Borders at 66-7652.
Monday
October 21, 1996
potent punch
1
1
:a
Remarking that there were "some jokers in here tonight," he
praised the anonymous thrower for "representin' their thang."
The deeper, more methodical tone of newer material,
though, was often lost in the fray. "Ova Da Wudz" and
"Elevators (Me & You)" showing the group's growth and
maturity, were overpowered by the cramped, noisy atmosphere,
not to mention the poorly adjusted sound system. The chest-
rattling bass, while useful in bringing
the crowd to a frenzy, made Big Boi's
E V I E W quick, musical voice and Andre's deep
(1dK t lyrical flow sometimes inaudible!
Especially disappointing was the
St. Andrew's Hall brilliantly composed "Jazzy Belle," a
Oct. 17, 1996 highly emotional testimonial to all the
women in attendance. Ironically, those
women, along with everyone else there,
could barely make out the message of the song.
OutKast managed to ride the energy toward the end of their
set, chanting the chorus of their latest popular single, "Elevators
(Me & You)." They had the audience following right along,
then, to everyone's surprise, walked off the stage, after less than
an hour of playing. The house lights turned on, and stunned fans
filed out the door.
Minutes later, Big Boi, Andre and their small entourage
left through the back door and
drove to their hotel, unbe-
knownst even to St. Andrew's
security. Safely in their room
overlooking downtown
Detroit, they were ready to
lounge and chill.
Asked about the rushed
exit, a smiling Big Boi stated,
"We come in, do our thing,
and get on out." And the wait
that took more than twice as
long as the show itself? "We
was waitin' on them," he said,
referring to the St. Andrew's
management, who had appar-
ently held the group back-
stage until the din from a
show downstairs had ended.
As the conversation turned
to their growing appeal.
's on Thursday. Andre was quick to interject.
"We getting recognition,
finally, because before, there wasn't really no groups making
it, you know, past state lines," he explained, "so we finally got
it out there, and now it's like we're bein' accepted worldwide,
so it's a good feeling." Michigan accepted OutKast with great
anticipation, but the good feeling of their performance was
cut woefully short.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
George Clinton rouses the audience at Hill Auditorium on Friday.
ClnOtn dises out fu
wi"th too much jam at Hill
i
By James Miller
Daily Arts Writer
Despite the fuss made over the
Grateful Dead and Phish, P-Funk is the
original jam band. But unlike their hippie
counterparts, they're good at it. Friday's
show at the temporarily smoky Hill
Auditorium was a
monument to RE
free-form rhythm R
and blues and
monstrous, acid the P
.. ..
G
storm at concert
-F
ce, which was proba-
since Krenek was an
bably never went to
pieces were interre-
ssonance and repeti-
hrases. The use of the
enhanced the effec-
rch, imbuing it with a
.ry.
After another
brief intermission,
10 students took
the stage under the
direction of guest
conductor Tania
Miller and per-
formed "Sept
Danses," by anoth-
composer, Jean
ing funeral march, polka, allemande and
waltz. In fitting with the juvenile subject
of the piece, the work is composed in a
very childlike way, which Francaix him-
self described as "serious music without
solemnity." The piece is light with a
playful melody, quick and sing-songy at
times. At the same time, this appeared to-
be a very challenging piece, with its
scale runs, trills and tempo. Despite
there being seven separate dances, the
piece was surprisingly short, and over
much too quickly.,
The earlier disappointment with the
Mozart piece was assuaged at the end
of the evening, when the 13 performers
and Dr. Reynolds again came onto the
stage to finish the piece, to bring the
evening to a fitting close. As was the
first half, the final three movements
were beautiful and moving. The final
movement was majestic and brought
the piece, as well as the entire evening
to a remarkable finish. The concert as a
whole was fantastic; as I said, you gotta
love classical music.
guitar space jams.
I was disap-
pointed with theL
set list, however.
P-Funk is a deep band. With their first
hit record, 1966's "TestifV" they have a
wealth of music to draw upon. But you
probably wouldn't know it when you
hear them in concert. Songs like "Sexy
Ways,""You Can't Miss What You C'an't
Measure" and even the fairly well-
known "Mothership Connection" are
rarely played live. Instead, much of the
show was given over to long, sometimes
laborious, guitar jams, recalling the days
of "Maggot Brain."
Don't get me wrong. When the P-
Funk mob is tight and on the money,
there is nothing in the world powerful
enough to stop them, not even Sir Nose.
After a nameless instrumental intro,
Clinton took the stage and treated the
crowd to party anthems like "Shit,
Goddamn, Get Off Your Ass And Jam,"
"Flashlight" and "Wants To Get Funked
Up" as well as bits of "Atomic Dog"
and James Brown's "Open Up The
Door, I'll Get Myself." Featuring able
horns (the trombonist even going so far
as to play bits of "The Victors" in his
solo) and a tight rhythm section, it was
P-Funk at its finest. At the first key-
board riff of
v i E w "Flashlight," the
N Clinto crowd experi-
rge C on enced a moment
Funk All-Stars of collective
Hill Auditorium insanity, bringing
Oct. 18, 1996 forth the oblig
tory' flashlights
from their pock-
ets and screaming the words like back-
up singers on Dexedrine.
And there is something to be said
for that. P-Funk concerts are by far the
most integrated and diverse I've been
to, bar none. In my row alone there
was an entire family, complete with
middle-aged father and pre-pubescent
child, a couple of lost yuppies who
kept bumbling into me with their stiff
dancing and mid-life-crisis leather
jackets, and a personal favorite, a thir-
tyish gentleman with his white-haired,
Barbara Bush-esque mother. I swear.
There were the Detroit visitors with
their suits and hats, defining the word
debonair, as well as the drugged-out,
excessively pierced, poorly shaven hip-
pie freaks. The great melting pot it
wasn't. The great melting bong,
maybe.
But back to the show. One of the
great things about P-Funk is the fact
that they always have close to 20 or 25
musicians with them at all times. Each
song has a different line-up of singers,,
guitarists, bassists and drummers. It
was this kind of impressive bullpen
that was not utilized to its fullest
potential. The show could have used
more horns and more vocals and less
guitar catharses. Outside of the tunec
everybody knew, the parts of the con-
cert that got everyone the molt
pumped up were the call and respons-
es with King George himself. A show
in which the audience seems more
involved is always more enjoyable. But
stuff like that took a back seat to each
of the six or seven guitarists taking a
massive, ponderous solo, something
that a crowd that came to dance just
didn't want to hear.
I feel bad. I've heard P-Funk give
shows that would make a deaf man do
the Aquaboogie. And Friday night,
much of the performance did have that
dance-underwater-and-not-get-wet kind
of feeling. But even for a crowd as
pumped up to see Papa George as we
were, the jams were sometimes too
much for us. On the other hand, every-
one of every shade, shape, age and size
seemed to be having a good time
together. Racial and social harmony as
well as hard-core funking ? Well, that's
P-Funk.
Dig?
'ce is tied to a ballet,
fs," based on a popu-
n's story by the same
seven dances depicts
f the main character,
a variety of genres of
thin the piece, includ-
READ FALL OUTLOOK
A SPECIAL EMPLOYMENT AND GRADUATE SCHOOL GUIDE
THURSDAY IN THE DAILY.
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McKinsey&Company
MBA RECRUITING
Please meet with us to discuss case
interview techniques and to hear a
presentation about our Firm.
Case Interview Workshop
Tuesday, October 22, 1996
4:30 p.m. - Hale Auditorium
4 A
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rm Presentation and Reception
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