Woody Allen's 1987 film "Radio Days" runs tonight at the
Michigan. Allen reminisces the glory of the era of radio in his film
that focuses on the lives of a Jewish family and a night club ciga-
rette girl. "Radio Days" stars Mia Farrow and begins at 7 p.m.
Admission is $5.
Urb$tdganmTg Jui
I.Weniat
TOorr rw in Daily Arts:
The Comic Opera Guild is celebrating its 25th Anniversary
with "Orpheus in the Underworld." Check out the Daily's pre-
view, which includes interviews with both the production's
managing director and one of its stars.
Tuesday
February 24, 1998
5
.Getaway cruises into Shelter
By Jason Birchmeier
For the Daily
Deep within the surreal urban landscapes of
downtown Detroit, a collection of hipsters con-
gregated Friday night to witness possibly the
- most engaging performance yet by Getaway
Cruiser. One show at a time, this ambitious Ann
:Arbor band is increasingly exhibiting its passion-
te multi-instrumental artistic vision.
Loud guitars, fuzzy bass, funky drumbeats and
diva vocals form the backbone to their audibly
cinematic songs. Breakbeats, turntable scratches,
drum loops, harmonica and accordion melodies
add layers of diverse experimentation and indi-
viduality.
In concert, the atmospheric soundscapes
sometimes can be eclipsed by the engaging visu-
als. Getaway Crusier band members possess
mmense stage presence and emanating person-
Pity from their photogenic and picturesque poses
to their stylish selection of shoes and shirts.
Seductive singer Dina Harrison demanded the
attention of the crowd with her sexy lyrics, soul-
ful voice and sensuous movements.
Musical mastermind Drew Peters, with his
long braids and flashy red socks, utilized his
arsenal of distortion pedals to dress his guitar
tones in colorful tones and textures.
Modest though stylish bass player Mark
Dundon kept the crowd's heads bobbing with
booming bass tones and cool collective looks in
hisblack turtleneck and shaggy haircut.
Funky drummer Dan Carroll simultaneously
expressed his hipness
while corrupted the crowd
lfl with his uncontrollably
danceable beats.
Getaway Multi-talented guitar
Cruiser god Chris Peters supplied
The Shelter women-killer looks, mind
Feb. 20, 1998 blowing guitar licks and
classic poses that would
put Eddie Van Halen to
shame.
Getaway Cruiser's set
consisted of 11 intense
rocking songs that spanned
the better part of an hour,
leaving fans begging in
desperation for an encore. There was no rock star
attitude or marketing commentary. The songs and
stage presence did the majority of the talking.
Memorable moments from the show included
the final song of the night, "No More Blue."
Structurally minimalistic, this song supplied an
overdose of electronically fueled adrenaline,
infectiously rhythmic drum beats, poetically
angelic vocals and mysteriously sublime guitar
effects.
Other highlights included the opening song
from their "Phones Calling" album. Titled "Bad
Time" the song's melodic chorus surrounded by
guitarist Drew Peters' man-made manipulation of
a flute sample mesmerized experienced Getaway
Cruiser fans into singing along.
Constantly keeping the crowd guessing, the
Peters brothers put down their guitars for the
song "Growing Out." Drew assembled a psyche-
delic accordion melody over which Chris Peters
demonstrated his talents on the turntables.
Dundon's dirty bass fuzz and Carroll's marching
beats also collaborated on the kaleidoscopic
soundtrack for Dina's epic poetic prophecy.
The short set included a sensuously rocking
Tony Toni Tone cover, "Let's Get Down," that
evoked even more dancing.
Fortunately for fans not adventurous enough to
venture into the inner city shadows of Detroit,
Getaway Cruiser plans to return to the peaceful
streets of'Ann Arbor soon for a show at the Blind
Pig.
Also look for Getaway Cruiser's self-titled
major label debut album scheduled to be released
in May.
ADRIANA YUGOVICH/ Daily
Dina Harrison and Drew Peters of Getaway Cruiser delivered an amazing performance Friday in Detroit.
CBS brings home disappointing coverage
By Dan Stillman
Daily Sports Editor
It's 12:45 a.m. (EST), 2:45 p.m. in
Nagano, Japan -- the middle of a full
day of Olympic action. I turn on CBS to
check out some live competition, only to
Wind a smarmy "Olympic Late Night" set
with two hosts sharing stupid comments
and questions with visibly embarrassed
guests.
In a climax of glitzy packaging for
those with short attention spans, CBS
offers "Rock °n' Roll Highlites" - snip-
pets of wow and a lot of not-so-wow
moments from the Games. Is this what
CBS truly believes the MTV generation
wants?
In response to the worst viewership fbr
Winter Games this decade, CBS attrib-
uted America's disinterest to a lack of
medals won by the United States, which
finished sixth in the medal count with 13
total. At one point during the Olympics, in
order to compensate for the low ratints,
the network threatened it would need to
run more commercials during its broad-
casts. Sure, go ahead. Blame the athletes
and punish the viewers - shoot yourself
in the foot while it's in your mouth.
Provingthat it believes image is more
important than content, CBS peppered
its coverage with graphically enhanced
highlights and moving athlete profiles
that would've been great -- if only they
were supplemented with actual events.
For starters. CBS' afternoon coverage
was nonexistent. Instead of skiing, speed
skating, luge - even ice dancing, view-
1998
Winter
Olympics
CBs
Feb. 6 " Feb. 22
ers were left to
watch CBS' regu-
lar daytime
schedule 01 svn-
dicated comedies
and soap operas.
Most of the
events we did see
were shown on
tape-delay, as
much as 12 to 24
hours after the
fact -- probably
so CBS could
insert even more
coveragc, CBC's nearly non-stop
Nagano left CBS in the dust. But hey, at
least Bold and the Beautiful didn't miss
a beat.
Even though CBC's announcers were
openly biased toward Canadian athletes,
which is to be expected considering its
audience is, well, Canadian, this was eas-
ily tempered by their fair, rational analy-
sis of the events. Their CBS counter-
parts, on the other hand, found it neces-
sary to sugarcoat critiques of even the
worst of performances. In another breath
of fresh air, the C'BC announcers knew
when to shut up and let the drama of the
sport speak for itself.
The shining beacon of ('13(-s cover-
age was lead anchor Brian Williams (not
the ubiquitous MSNBC frontman). The
silver-haired gent, who seemed to be
awake 24-seven. spread the word from
Nagano with grace and style. C'ounter
Williams with CBS' Nantz, and you sa\
the latter sitting awkwardly in an even
more awkward set, doing nothing more
than attempting to kill time betwvcel pre-
recorded events.
AP PHOTO
The disappointment of Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretsky rivals the disap-
pointment American viewers felt when they watched CBS' Nagano coverage.
blathering commentary. Do the CBS
executives not realize that we now live in
a world where CN N, [SPN, local news
and even the Web provide instant
updates on anything and everything? Did
they actually believe people would
patiently wait nearly a day for primetime
studio host Jim Nantz and his cohorts to
present the neatly packaged competi-
tions, the outcomes of which we already
knew'?
Is it that unreasonable to expect a sta-
tion to sacrifice its regularly scheduled
programming for an event that happens
just once every four years?
Evidently, Canada's CBC didn't think
so. In fact, CBC's Olympic coverage
was, in a word - phenomenal.
Granted, the Canadian superstation
has a hang-up for curling, a warped cross
between air hockey and pool -and
apparently a Canadian obsession.
Overall, however, CBC blew CBS out
of the water. With afternoon, prime time
and late-night - sometimes all-night -
While Nantz's primetime show provid-
ed meager coverage at best, "Olympic
Date Night" with Michele Tafoya and Al
Tra utw i g was a total embarrassment. The
show hit an Olympic-low when it pre-
empted coverage for an interview with
the nasal Fran Drescher, who - - ironical-
li draped in 'Team Canada clothing - -
shamelessly plugged the upcoming sea-
son of "The Nanny".
One of the few things CBS didn't
completely botch was its men's ice hock-
ey coverage, as it broadcasted most
games live. But even so, the network
blew it when it signed off just before the
medal ceremony, one of the most presti-
gious of the Games, and two hours
before the closing ceremonies.
Ihankfully, CBC came to the rescue as it
broadcasted the Nagano Games' crown
int event live and in its entirety.
"Welcome Home," invites CBS.
Sorry, folks - For this one, I'm moving
north of the border. Canada gets the
gold, and in this game there aren't any
medals for the runners-up.
a q
AP PHOTO
Women's figure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski jumps with hysteria after cap-
trring the gold in her competition, which aired on CBS almost 12 hours later.
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