6B - The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazirid-- Ttiursday, Oecernber 3, 1998
P Road-Trip of the Week
Rock ball of fame offers amazing music mix

The Miehig9Daily Weekend
Heidelberg slams draw national talent, 1o

By Will Weissert
\Wkend, Etc. Editor
CLEVELAND - One thing
becomes quickly and abundantly
clear to visitors of the Rock 'n' Roll
Hall of Fame and Museum: just
about everything started with Chuck
Berrv.
On the ground floor of the six;-
story rock 'n' roll fantasy - a build-
ing that really can stait t: look like a
guitar if you gawk at it long enough
-there are v idco screens that allow
those so-inclincd1 to track the nusi-
cal influenceR that helped shaped the
country's fav orite bands of today. On
the surface, you learn that the
sounds of the Clash were influenced
by some crazed Euro-freaks known
as Mott the Hloople and that the
Byrds left their musical mark on
R L.M. If you trace rock's family
tree long and hard enough, however,
Berry's fingerprints will almost
always appear.
But another thing that's obvious to
visitors of what has become the
poster child for urban revitalization
in Cleveland is the fact that if rock
'n' roll's genesis was not terribly
complicated, its beginnings, middles
and right-this-seconds are as com-
plex as they are delightful. The his-
tory of rock 'n' roll cannot possibly

be sandwiched into one building -
and the rock 'n' roll hall of fame and
adjoining museum recognize that
fact very well. What they jointly
offer is a cross-section of rock histo-
ry with exhibits, artifacts, movie
video and TV presentations and
computer-screen acti ities all tied
tocther with enough music sample
to satisfy even the most angst-ridden
Generation X-er.
The idea for an ac;ual physical
rock 'a' roll hall o ftme building
was conceixed in ir6 and as poten-
til sit wee scouted nationwide,
the hau of fame officiay chose and
inducied its inaugural class. The
class of 1986 includes the immortal
Berry, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee
Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats
Domino. Nine years and S2.6 mil-
lion later, with the building in
Cleveland mostly complete, the
museum and hall were opened to the
public.
The new Rock 'n' Roll Hall of
Fame wing occupies just one floor of
the complex and can be found three
stories up. The hall itself is the most
formal-feeling and plainly organized
part of the building. The tour kicks
off with video clips of the formal
induction parties for the more than
200 members of the hall's 13 classes

Co.ur! tesy 0f thie Rock 'n' ol 1Hal of Fame1d M810 Yuseum
Designed by nationally regarded architect I.M. Pei, the hall of fame and museum building features six stories of glassed-in
rock 'n' roll paradise. It sports a 162-foot tower over Lake Erie, seen In this picture.

, Sms feature an audi-
ence-judged poetry
reading competition
By Alexandra Arch
For the Daily
In the realm of poetry, sometimes
hearing a poem and reading a poem
can be worlds apart. Or so visitors
discover at the Heidelberg Poetry
Slam.
Organized by Ann Arbor residents
Steve and Deb Marsh, Dan Jacobs,
and Larry Francis, the Heidelberg
Poetry Slam occurs the first Tuesday
of every month. This event features
a diverse collection of poets wvho
volunteer to read from their original
work. It begins with about an hour
of open mike at the beginning of
each session, followed by a feature
poet who reads for the next hour.
The Poetry Slam competition, what
many consider the heart of the
event, is then next on the agenda.
To conclude the evening there is
also the option of another open mike
session, or what is affectionately
called the "Big Dog" session by the
late night crowd.
Consistent with a prospering pre-
sent, the Heidelberg Poetry Slam
has a rich 12-year tradition in Ann
Arbor. This event is the second old-
est of its kind, following its creation
in Chicago by Mark Smith.
Heidelberg employees say a man
named Vince Kueter subsequently
brought the event to Ann Arbor after
its conception in Chicago, establish-
ing a community tradition at the
Heidelberg restaurant.
Everyone is invited to attend and
participate in the Heidelberg Poetry
Slam in several ways. The audience
usually ranges from high school stu-
dents, University students, commu-
nity members and visitors to Ann
Arbor. There is also a mixture of
professional poets, amateur poets,
as well as interested spectators in
the crowd. It is the diversity of the
audience is what creates the excit-
ing ambiance of the Heidelberg
Poetry Slam.
Those who usually hit the stage
for open-mike sessions is an excit-
ing mesh of people who usually
relate their experiences through

their unique styles and subject mat-
ter of their poetry. Anna Vitale, a
first time participant in the open
mike session, was thrilled by her
experience.
"It's incredible to read your own
poetry in public, especially to a pos-
itive and receptive crowd," Vitale
said. "It is always interesting to hear
the author's insight through their
inflections and emphasis upon the
words in their own poems." Vitale, a
high school student from
Birmingham, Mich., says she
aspires to be a regular at the
Heidelberg slams because "poetry is
not only an important part of our
culture, but it fun to hear."
Michael Salinger, a poet from
Cleveland, was the featured reader
of the Dec. I slam. Salinger read
from his own collection of poems,
and illustrated his energy by his ani-
mated performance. Audience mem-
bers visibly responded well to
Salinger's poetry, his wit and his
stage presence.
The Poetry Slam consists of a
competition between six self-
appointed poets and judged by five
audience members. Steve Marsh,
the event's commentator, explained
the rules of the Poetry Slam: "Each
poet has around three minutes to
read his or her original work. The
five judges immediately rate the
.poet on a determined scale, taking
into account both content and per-
formance to determine the poets
with the two highest scores." The
judges are audience members who
volunteer for the position at the
beginning of the night.Organizers
hope those selected as judges are as
impartial as possible.
Once the top two poets are select-
ed, they then face off in another
round to determine the night's win-
ner. The poets must read a different
original poem in this round and the
judges once again rate their perfor-
mance. This contest does not just
stop when the night is over, but the

Poet Michael Salinger reads from his poetry at Heidelberg Restaurant a
tures poetry slams every first tuesday of the month.

about Davey Jones' fear of auditions
for musical groups who don't play
their own instruments. But unlike
the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame lis-
tening stations where the number of
artists are limited but you can hear
everything they ever pounded onto
tape, the stations that pepper the rest
of the museum feature more stand-
out artists but a much smaller selec-
tion of their work. "ABC" is still not
hard to find - but if you're looking
for, say, "Only the Good Die Young"
or a Parliament Funkadelic offering
other than "Flashlight," you will be
out of luck. A separate basement
room even gives visitors a glimpse
and a listen into the crazy musical
word of the one-hit wonders.
Hall of Fame officials say a new
rock 'n' roll fashion exhibit is cur-
rently in the works. Once finished,
the already-on-display-get-ups of
acts like George Clinton and Bootsy
Collins, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith,
Salt-n-Pepa, The Supremes and The
Talking Heads will have company
and tourists will have even greater
See ROCK 'N' ROLL, Page 713
MICK AND THE
ATES READ IT
EVERY SINGLE
WEEK.
So SHOULD
Weekend

winners are then invited to partici-
pate in the Grand Poetry Slam held
in the months of April and May.
The Heidelberg Poetry Slam is
guaranteed to be a highly entertain-
ing evening. The event is put on by
people who love poetry and its con-
tinued tradition within the Ann
Arbor community. This tradition is
perpetuated by enthusiastic partici-
pants and spectators.
LSA senior Nora Neidlinger said
she enjoyed the first-ever slam she
attended. "I had a fantastic night,
and I think that there was some real
talent at the event," Neidlinger said.
"I think that everyone on the
University of Michigan campus
should go to the Poetry Slam at least
once."
Heidelberg Restaurant is located at
215 N. Main St. Call 663-7758 for more
information.


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a comedy by
Ben Jonson
directed by
John Neville-
Andrews
UM School of Music
Dept. of Theatre and D

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