UlbeSicfiganDauj

Catch the hot local band Baked Potato today on the Diag.
Overflowing with rocking goodness, this Potato will stuff you with
cuts off their recently released CD "Bapo Tatoked," available at your
finer Ann Arbor record retail shops. So skip class, bring a friend, pack
a lunch - just see Baked Potato perform on the steps of the Grad
library at noon. Free.

Wednesday
September 24, 1997

5


No More's Mr. Nice Guy: Bordin talks of great 'Year'

By Ted Watts
raily Arts Writer
If you were a very positive thinking band, what would you
name your newest album? Maybe you'd do what Faith No
More did and name it "Album of the Year." Of course they
might have more reason to be positive than you, what with
their fairly popular single "Last Cup of Sorrow" and new gui-
tarist Jon Hudson. "We wanted a guitar player that could con-
*bute creatively in some vague form of something like we do
rather than being totally at odds all the time with the guitar
player and what he wanted to con- _
tribute," explained drummer Mike R
"Puffy" Bordin, alluding to the fact that
Hudson is Faith No More's fourth gui- Fai
tarist in the last five years. "He's fit it.
He's taken us, expanded in some way,
down a street that maybe we wouldn't be
without him, but it totally still fits with
e overall plan. I'm real grateful for that. It took awhile to
d him, but I'm glad we did. Sometimes you never do."
But despite the upbeat title and the new boy on the wax,
Faith No More are playing venues half the size of their last
tour, which doesn't exactly strike one as confident.
"It's a time to, I dunno, not get too ambitious? It's time to
play for the people that know us and want to see us. To be
honest, promoters didn't think we could fill these and they're
all selling out. Nobody knows what to expect with this band

E
ith

in this country. We haven't done a lot of work here .... We do
what's appropriate. This is appropriate. It's that simple ....
There's no need to juggle food on the plate to cover more, or
comb the bald spot over on your hair. I'm happy with it."
Bordin might have an even better reason for wanting to
return to relatively smaller clubs, considering that he was
drumming for Ozzy Osbourne in cavernous arenas over the
last couple years. You get the sense that he was nevertheless
deeply satisfied by the experience. "I feel it was not a Sunset
Strip, hair-twiddler, stupid-ass rock band or session player
band. The band had some humanity to it.
We played some Ozzy songs and classics
and all that, but it was a good band. And
h No More that is important to me. I don't really need
Tonight at 7:30 to do that. I'm not out starving for work
St. Andrew's Hall and I wanted to make sure that if I did it,
Limp Bizkit opens it'd be something I'd be proud of. And it
was. I don't know if it'll happen in the
future, but I'd be happy to do it."
"Album of the Year" is nevertheless a far cry from Ozzy-
type crunch.
The album has struck many as a slightly new direction for
the band, with a more electronic sound to it, not that the elec-
tronica kids would ever glom onto them.
"In a way that's the absolute good point and the absolute
frustrating point that's been with Faith No More forever.
We've still got the same instrumentation, we've still got the

same people playing, and back in the day when hard rock
ruled the roost, people said 'yeah they're kinda hard rock but
they're kinda new wave, too' Or 'they're kinda funk-rap too,'
or 'they've got samples too so they're not really a rock band.'
Then alternative rules the roost in the late '80s early '90s and
'they're kinda alternative because they're not like every other
band but they're not alternative because they don't have Pearl
Jam type guitars or flannel shirts or they don't have that kind
of singing style or they're not dirgy.' Yeah, we're a little bit
something. We're also a little bit of other things," said Bordin.
"The point is," he continued, "over the 15 years we've been
together, at every turn, at every trend, at every passing fancy
we've been usually unflatteringly compared to whatever's
been going on at that time. Faith No More has a little elec-
tronic sound. Midlife Crisis was 1991 and that had a fuckin'
Simon and Garfunkel sample in it for god's sake. So can I say
we're trying to sound like Republica or something? I hope
not. Are we taking advantage of the medium that is there any-
ways? I hope so. I dunno. That's up to you:'
Of course, public perception is not the only frustrating part
of life for a band; Bordin recently became a father.
"We make records and we tour. That's our job. Our lives
have grown around that. We've been doing this for a long
time and this is what we do, this is us, this who we are .... The
ante goes up. Before it's that you miss your girlfriend, or you
miss your dog or cat, or you miss being out with your family
or your friends, but over time your life grows up around you

Have a little Faith: Drummer Mike Bordin and Faith No More
play St. Andrews tonight.
and all of a sudden it's you miss your wife, you miss youi
family, you miss your kids."
There is still always the future.
"Maybe after this is over ..., I'll just become a butcher,
laughed Bordin. "Or sell fruit. It's funny, that's what the guy
from Oasis said to me. We were in Japan and saw them a cou-
ple times. This was '94/'95. And he was all pissed off one day
and so he went 'Fuck this, I'm gonna go be a green grocer.
Sell bananas. I don't need this shit.' They'd just finished
'Morning Glory,' it wasn't even near coming out yet. We've
all got our fantasy."

tdustard
plugs in at
Cross St.
By Gabe Fajuri
For The Daily
* The acknowledged grand master of
Trand Rapids ska made a stop in
Ypsilanti a couple weeks ago, gracing
the stage of Cross St. Station with its
presence for a little more than a hour.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The
opening band, The Dangerville
Wildcats, did a fabulous job of warm-
ing up the crowd. A three-piece rocka-
billy band also hailing from Grand
Rapids, the Wildcats received a good
sponse with its Reverend Horton
4eat-esque
stylings. Covers R E
of the Clash.
classic "Should I X
Stay or Should I M
Go?" and the Cross St. Sta
always pleasing
"Welcome to the
Jungle," (yes, by
Guns n' Roses) amused and animated
crowd.
Mustard Plug took the stage some
time after midnight, and from the outset
had the sold-out crowd whipped into a
frenzy. Of course, we're talking about a
small crowd, estimated at about 150
people. This number is due to the fact
that Cross St. Station is, after all, a bar,
replete with Dukes of Hazard trays
nailed to the wall, adding to the already
charming "ambiance."
Unfortunately for the band, a terrible
&ibby the fool running the soundboard
ept the horns and vocals in the back-
ground of the mix for most of the
evening. Occasional moments of clari-
ty highlighted the veritable retrospec-
tive of Mustard Plug classics, including
"Mr. Smiley" "Skank By Numbers"
and "Thigh High Nylons," all from the
ensemble's first release, "Big Daddy
Multitude."
From the group's latest release on
ipeless Records, "Evildoers,
Beware," came the soon to be timeless
"Box" and "Miss Michigan." The show .
ended on a high note, with most every-
one in the bar singing along to "Beer
Song," another track on the "Evildoers"
album.
Included in the set that night were a
number of cover songs, most notably
The Verve Pipe's radio hit, "The
Freshman," complete with horn section
*olvement. Of course, not Mustard
lug show could be considered com-
plete without a performance of the
Young M.C. hit "Bust a Move."
Covering up for a beer run to the bar,
the band included the first single from
Weezer's last album "El Scorcho" in

Though cheesy, 'Party' is still worth crashing

u
ti

The guys of Mustard Plug get totally
rocked out.
their show. What really turned off the
crowd was an attempted performance
of the well-known Danzig tune
"Mother." Dedicated to Mother Teresa
by lead singer Dave Kirchgessner, play-
ing a song by a self-proclaimed devil-
worshiping band in tribute to one of the
holiest women of this
V I E W century was a major
turn-off for most con-
stard Plug cert goers.
Sacreligious dedi-
on, Ypsilanti cations aside, the
Sept. 12., 1997 crowd sang along to
each and every song,
dancing the night
away till well after two o' clock in the
morning. Wild cheers at the set's con-
clusion brought Mustard Plug back to
the stage for a three-song encore to
appease the ska-starved crowd.
Mustard Plug was in its element, and
a certain intimacy between band and
crowd made the show much more
enjoyable. A $7 cover charge made the
18-plus show affordable. This was yet
another enjoyable evening spent with
one of the state's most talented ska
bands.

By Melanie Cohen
Daily Arts Writer
Although we remain loyal addicts, regular "Party of
Five" viewers witnessed the transformation of a
touching prime time drama to a cheesy soap opera in
the show's season premiere last Wednesday. They may
have great looks, but it seems the entire cast is suffer-
ing from major personality disorders lately.
Poor baby Owen. This is one
episode he will not proudly look
back on. Throughout the show, R
Owen is playing dress-up - in
women's' clothes. These shenani-
gans cause macho Charlie to
worry that his kid brother may be
a homosexual. Thus, Charlie goes
to Owen's teacher for advice. Owen's teacher informs
Charlie that it is only a case of"transgender behavior"
stemming from the lack of a female caretaker in the
Salinger household.
It seems Charlie needs a wife to correct little
Owen's behavior. Historically, Charlie cannot main-
tain a meaningful relationship with a woman. Will
cool boy Charlie finally commit to save his little
brother?
For those who are not regular "Party" watchers,
Bailey got into a car accident that put his ex-girlfriend,
Sarah, into the hospital last season. As usual, Bailey
was drunk. Sarah's parents were furious with Bailey
for putting their daughter's life in jeopardy and had
forbidden her to see Bailey.
The new "Party" season began with Bailey and
Sarah getting back from a camping trip unknown to
her parents. As they unloaded Bailey's car, Sarah's
angry parents ran into them outside of their home.
Although Bailey is slow, he finally realized that
Sarah's parents don't like him and were unaware that

EVIEW
Party of Five
Fox
Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

the two had been camping together.
After being caught with Bailey, Sarah, who is 18
years old, was told if she ever saw Bailey again, she
could not live on her own at Berkeley. What a conve-
nient way to keep Sarah on the show. Although she is
a babe, she is irritating - why can't "Party" just get
rid of Sarah?
Little sister Claude is in high school now. She wants

a new image. By dressing like a
tramp and trying out for the
cheerleading squad, Claude
believes she will achieve popular-
ity.
She is setting a great example
for teen-age girls all across the
country. When Charlie asked her

why she was not trying out for the orchestra, Claude
answered, "orchestra doesn't make you popular."
Claude did make the cheerleading squad. She was
"like totally" made the Possum, the team mascot.
Claude seemed pretty disappointed with her new
position until a hot upperclassman told her it was cool.
Not only did this attractive male assure Claude that it
was good to be the Possum, he switched lockers with
her and actually let her write her old locker combina-
tion on his hand. Now, all the doors are open for
Claude to date and perhaps be taken advantage of by
an older boy. There could be some interesting devel-
opments with the new, cool, short hairdo cheerleading
Claude.
That brings us to Mrs. Halbrooke, Julia's new mar-
ried name. Griffin and Julia got married last season.
They haven't seen each other since the wedding and
they are pretty young. The new, sexy, Paris Julia
appeared rather insecure about her marriage. She was
sad that she no longer lived with her family. She told
Charlie that she is still a part of the family. Charlie,

who was preoccupied by Bailey's arrest, Owen's
cross-dressing and Claude's quest for popularity, told
Julia, "there's nothing you can do here, so go home."
Julia did go home. She sat by the window and
looked as if she were in deep thought. Married life
confused the young Julia. She told her husband, "I
guess we're just kind of figuring this out as we go
along ... maybe I need to ease into this a little more so
I can figure out where I belong." "Party of Five" may
join the ranks of "Melrose Place" with potential
divorce and a group of characters that need to be
sedated.
Although fans constantly want to tell members of
the Salinger family - and Sarah - to relax, the
drama's opener has drawn us in. We really want to find
out if Julia can get along with her new husband, ,if
Owen will start to play baseball or if Charlie will ever
find a girl. Whether we watch the show tonight or tape
it so we can fast forward the commercials, we need to
find out what will happen to our "Party of Five"

Matthew Fox, Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf and Lacey
Chabert are the complicated, whiny Salinger clan.


TISCH SPORTS SEMINAR
Managing Professional Sports
a conversation between Bob Tisch
and his friends
Bob Tisch - N.Y. Giants
Fred Wilpon- N.Y. Mets
Bob Nederlander - N.Y. Yankees
Denise Illitch-Lites - Detroit Tigers/Red Wings
moderator
Bernie Smilovitz - WDIV-TV channel 4
Friday 26 September 1997
3:00 pm
Hale Auditorium - corner of Hill &Tappan
Q&A follows - Free and open to the public
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN