12 - The Michigan Daily -Friday, September 26, 1997
Long Bowie show
mixes old with new
Author Agee reads
her 'Resurrection'
.
s
By Colin Bartos
Daily Arts Writer
When you think of musical artists
that have been around for more than
25 years, you most likely think of
bands like the Rolling Stones and
Aerosmith. People forget about
David Bowie, who started back in the
late '60s, and is going much, much
longer and stronger now than ever
(and I emphasize LONGER), as evi-
denced by his two sold-out epics at
the State Theater in Detroit this past
weekend.
Bowie turned the rock world upside
down in the early '70s with his androg-
ynous glam-meets-
folk-meets-punk- _ _
meets-outer space 14
approach to music.
Albums like "Space
Oddity," "Hunky
Dory" and "Ziggy State
Stardust" established
Bowie as a strange
and experimental visionary, with the
ability to tell an amazing story through
song. Bowie continued to re-invent
himself again and again, with the live
rock crunch of the mid-'70s "Diamond
Dogs," the experimental new-wave kick
of "Low" and "Scary Monsters," the
industrial garbage of "Outside" and his
newest techno/drum-and-bass adven-
ture, "Earthling."
The crowd at the David Bowie show
was expectedly older - I mean, he
obviously was going to play some older
stuff, right? Bowie took the stage about
8:15 to a tremendous roar. With a wave
and strapped with his 12-string
acoustic, Bowie and his four-piece band
launched into 1971's "Quicksand,"
which surprised many of the long-time
die-hard fans. Everyone knew this
would be a performance to remember.
Bowie explained he'd be playing some
"songs we would like, and some songs
we would NOT like." This couldn't
have been more accurate.
Bowie continued his obscure set with
"Always Crashing
In The Same
E V I E W Car," from "Low"
and then the
David Bowie catchy "Queen
Bitch," from
Theater, Detroit "Hunky Dory."
Sept. 22, 1997 Added keyboards
and simulated
background drum programming made
the song sound fresh and new, yet true
to the original. Diving deeper into his
grab bag, Bowie continued with "The
Supermen" and "My Death," both from
the 1971-1972 era. The acoustic "My
Death" was particularly haunting and
interesting - a quiet moment amongst
a loud, driving set.
"Panic in Detroit" and "Jean Genie"
followed, and got the crowd up and
dancing, longing for days passed. From
there, Bowie announced, "And sudden-
ly, it was the '90s," as he started into
"I'm Afraid of Americans" from his lat-
est album.
Welcome ch-ch-chchanges: David Bowie mixed old with new on Monday night.
By Sarah Beldo
For the Daily
In contrast to many University pro-
fessors who write novels set in upper-
middle-class academia, English profes-
sor Jonis Agee writes of places further
afield, where women drive pick-ups
cross-country and hog farms abound.
"South of Resurrection" is the third
in Agee's trilogy
of novels, cen-
tered around PR
three states in
which she spent
time growing up.
"I wanted to
take on the bor-
derlands of the
The crowd, somewhat unfamiliar
with the newer material, surprisingly
didn't seem to mind a bit. The light
show and stage set were very inventive.
with various flashing images and colors
and lasers bouncing to and fro, as well
as giant eyeball balloons on either side
of the stage and three skeletons with
projection screen heads. The set went
well with the next group of songs,
which were newer and more electronic
in nature.
The new "Seven Years In Tibet"
was an interesting addition, as was an
updated techno version of "The Man
Who Sold The World." The set started
to wear thin, though, as Bowie
seemed to indulge himself more and
more in his latest drum and bass
experiments. The only listenable
material presented for the next hour
was a stunning version of "Under
Pressure," the driving industrial hue
of "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" and
the hit "Little Wonder," during which
Bowie launched the eyeballs into the
crowd to be eaten up by them.
It had been 22 songs and over two
hours, and Bowie and company were
now saying goodbye. Five minutes later,
they returned for the encore. The encore
was eight more songs! Oh, the legs
started to wobble. Staying was a wise
investment as it turned out, though. The
three hour set wound up with the '70s
classic "All The Young Dudes," (which
Bowie had written for and was recorded
by Mott the Hoople, whose album he
was producing) and an amazing and
thorough version of the classic
"Moonage Daydream" from "Ziggy
Stardust."
Overall, the show was much too long
and involved, but it seemed the high-
lights made up for the long periods of
techno and industrial drone which
David seems to enjoy so much now. As
a fan of the older material, the nature of
the newer Bowie-brand of watered
down electronica did nothing forme but
take up lots of time. The light shows
and driving thump of the bass were
interesting, but hopefully next time,
Bowie will shorten the set.
Still, it's great to see that a longtime
music star and innovator can still come
up with ways of making his old and new
music fresh and exciting.
EVIEW
Jonis Agee
Saturday at 8 p.m.
Shaman Drum
Free
"It's a social
drama," said Agee.
"And a love story.
Along the way,
Moline gets mixed
up with .her ex-
boyfriend,-vho hav
somehow ended up
Midwest," Agee said. Having previous-
ly tackled Nebraska and Iowa, she set
this novel in the middle of Missouri,
near the edge of the Ozarks. Agee's
family spent much of their lives in this
region.
"South of Resurrection" tells the
story of a middle-aged woman, Moline
Bedwell, who returns to the home she
abandoned when she was 16. In the
meantime, she has worked to put her-
self through college, married a baseball
player and settled in Minneapolis for
more then 20 years. After her husband
dies and leaves her nearly penniless,
she must try and sell her parents' house
in Missouri to get money.
Yet, as Thomas Wolfe and anyone
else who has tried to return home after
a large chunk of time knows, it's really
not that easy. Moline must face the
question of how to remake her life and
come to terms with the disparity
between her Southern Methodist roots
and her former husband's pristine
Catholicism. In addition, she becomes
entangled in the current town politics
towards an invading factory hog farm@
which are divided between those who
value economic prosperity and those
who value environmental quality of
life.
in jail."
"It's a love story about two &haracters
who should have gotten together but
never did?'
Much of Agee's work seems to be
influenced by the landscape and culture
in which she's lived. She acknowledged
travel as a hobby, and as a way to gath-
er material for stories. In fact, she orig-
inally wanted to write "South o@
Resurrection" as a road novel, to make
up for the lack of female travel narra-
tives on the bookshelf.
"There are no road books for women
like Kerouac's 'On the Road,' and I
think there should be:' she said.
In fact, it was her own move to Ann
Arbor that influenced "South of
Resurrection" the most.
"It changed the way I thought about
it. I moved here in the middle of th
first draft, so I lost about a year."
Agee will read from her new novel
Saturday at 8 p.m. at Shaman Drum.
N-'p
1
'Peanuts' pianist Winston
performs benefit tonight
01
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By Curtis Zimmermann
For the Daily
In his 25 years of recording and pro-
ducing, George Winston has become
one of the most accomplished pianists
in America. He is currently touring to
promote his most recent release, "Linus
and Lucy - The Music of Vince
Guaraldi," a recording of works by the
legendary "Peanuts"
composer. On PR
Friday evening he
comes to Ann Arbor Ge
to perform his
Summer Show, a
benefit for Arbor
Haven/The
Salvation Army. All in attendance are
encouraged to bring non-perishable
Winston is best known for his sea-
sonal albums, including "Autumn,"
"December," "Winter into Spring" and
the 1995 Grammy Award-winning
"Forest." The Summer Show includes
works from his seasonal albums as well
as songs from the Guaraldi recording.
"l grew up with the seasons in
Montana,' Winston said. "Four seasons
Like Charlie Brown, George Winston is a good man - and a great pianist to boot..
EVIEW
orge Winston
Tonight at 8 p.m.
Michigan Theater
Tickets: $18.50-$30
lives."
Winston also
and four different
ways of living,
much like here in
Michigan. I'm just
trying to put a
soundtrack to the
seasons. They're
the fabric of our
plays Hawaiian slack
food donations. key guitar, a type of music that his
label, Dancing Cat, has been committed
to recording. Since starting in 1983, his
label has worked with over twenty
artists, giving exposure to their obscure
sounds. "I want to help the music of
those players be more available," said
Winston. "I think its the least well
known of the world's great guitar tradi-
tions. When I first heard it, it reminded
me of my childhood in Montana,
springtime. There wasn't a Montana
guitar tradition, so it became the way I
expressed myself on guitar."
On piano, Winston utilizes three dif-
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ferent styles of play. "The way4'm best
known for is the rural folk; you could
call it pop instrumental, you ctould call
it country folk, but I think rural is more
accurate." He also incorporates 'stride'
piano, which he described as 'a jazzy
outgrowth of ragtime," as well as
rhythm & blues. But he also added that
"categories pretty much tell you what
music is not, like 'rhythm & blues is no
country.' If you say that Garth Brooks i
country, all you're saying is that he's not
be-bop or jazz, or that he's not opera."
The "Linus and Lucy" album-offers a
deviation from his usual recordings.
"I'd say that it's almost a rhythm &
blues album," said Winston. itfeatures
Guaraldi's 1965 jazz hit "Cast Your Fate
to the Wind," which spent 18 weeks on
the pop charts and won a Grimy for
Best Original Jazz Composition. (It was
after hearing this song that "Peanuts'
creator Charles Schulz asked Guaraldi
to score "A Charlie Brown Christmas").
The album also includes works from
numerous other "Peanuts"- scores,
including the title track, "Ltnus and
Lucy," "Treat Street" and "The Great
Pumpkin Waltz." "I've always'played
Vince's music, and I thought of the
album in '76 when he passed away,"
said Winston, who first .recorded
Guaraldi's works for the 1988 T4K
Special "This is America, Charlie
Brown - The Birth of The
Constitution.
"I like to let everybody have their
own experience," concluded- Winston
about his music His shor at the
Michigan Theater will providea look at
one of the finest composers in America
and his many styles of music-
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