~silent comedy "Cops" comes to the Michigan. Buster Keaton suRidenly finds himself in the middle of a police parade through a series of mistaken identities. Live organ accompaniment and post- show lecture will be included in the screening. The film is 33 min- utes long, and begins at 7 p.m. ft bej £Oiak ~a The latest releases in the music industry, including Sheryl Crow's new CD, will be featured in tomorrow's Breaking Records. Arts: hIA Monday September 28, 1998 esus and Mary Chain jam fans in stunning set Da4y Arts Wnter Clutch Cargo's in downtown Pontiac exploded with clouds of dry-ice smoke and a massive sqgoall of electric guitar-guided cacophony this past Friday, as The Jesus and Mary Chain and opbners Mercury Rev bestowed mutual blasts of noise upon a packed house. Vhile both acts are quite notorious for their inclusion of interludes of brain-warping guitar noise into what might otherwise be traditional roek/pop formulae, they have also achieved a high standard of quality and originality in the music world. T he Jesus and Mary Chain have been around1 for a while. Starting out in the early eighties, they sent tidal waves through the underground music scene with their debut album { " chocandy." "Psychocandy" wed the struc- 'al styles of influences The Velvet Uniderground and The Beach Boys and buried thom underneath1 tae; noise. blankets of barn-burning gui- selves with every subsequent album. From the sonic meandering of the band's debut to the gentle string and woodwind-laden tapestries of its latest masterpiece "Deserter's Songs," Mercury Rev have never disappointed, but just keep getting better and better. Entering the stage immediately on the heels the first opening band, Elevator to Hell, Mercury Rev opened its show with "Endlessly" from the band's new album, and immediately flowed into "Holes," another new song. While the recorded versions of both of those tracks sparkle with strings and horns, the life performances moved into the traditional gui- tar/bass/drums rock format for the show. Band flutist Suzanne Thorpe was missing from the lineup. And although twin keyboardists helped compensate for the absence of orchestral tex- tures that Thorpe lends to the music, her pres- ence was sorely missed. That did not stop Mercury Rev from bring- ing down the house, though. The new material was just as convincing live and served as a warm introduction to a series of classic Rev tracks, which were executed in true epic bril- liance. "Carwash Hair," "Frittering," and "Chasing a Bee," from the band's first album were fleshed out in gorgeous fashion by singer/ guitarist Jonathon Donahue and lead guitarist Grasshopper. Each of those songs reached the 10 minute point and climaxed in an orgasmic display of wall-of-sound guitar pyrotechnics. Melodies weaved in and out, howling feed- back surfaced here and there, understated vocals held it all together and, by the end of Mercury Rev's abbreviated 45-minute set, the audience was truly in awe. It was obvious to all that Jesus and Mary Chain had a tough act to follow. * And, alas, it was a challenge that they were not up for. Starting things off with "Snakedriver," a track from the soundtrack to "The Crow," JAMC went straight for the jugular but came up empty-handed. Most of the necessary components were there: the charging drums, the pulsating basslines, the bluesy rhythm guitars, the too- cool-to-actually-sing vocals of Jim Reid, and, of course, the deafening feedback screams. But, like Mercury Rev before them, JAMC was suffering from the absence of a key member: Jim Reid's partner in crime, guitarist/singer/songwriter/brother William Reid. JAMC playing without William is like The Rolling Stones playing without Keith Richards, it just doesn't sound the same. While the cir- cumstances surrounding his absence are unknown, Reid and his criminally tuneful lead guitar lines are an irreplaceable component of the band's music. Second guitarist Ben Lurie did do a remark- able job of filling William's shoes, but the songs just didn't sound quite the same. But that's not to say they sounded bad. Classics such as "April Skies," "Head On," and "Sidewalking," from the band's early days, were mixed in with newer gems like "I Love Rock And Roll" and "Virtually Unreal" and, together, pulverized the audience like a sonic bulldozer fueled by sheer volume. The highlight of JAMC's set came at the end, during the encore, when Mercury Rev's Jonathon Donahue joined the band on stage for an extended version of "Reverence," an indus- trial-strength tune that features the line "I wanna die like Jesus Christ." Always a live treat, the song's infectious bass-line/drumbeat combination practically had the audience doing calisthenics. At about midnight the lights came on, the smoke cleared, and the eardrum-warping noise faded into silence. Absent bandmates aside, JAMC and, especially, Mercury Rev had put on memorable performances that sent audience members home with smiles on their faces and a loud, seemingly incessant, ringing in their ears. V; , yt: ^ While JAMC have, never quite outdone "Psychocandy" in terms of artistic innovation, they Jesus and have applied the same aY Cain three-chord approach to a Clutch Cargo, consistently good series of Pontiac setygo eiso Sept25,1998 albums that substitute the high noise quotient for a more astute pop sense. Similarly, Mercury Rev roared into early '90s with a raging wonder of an album, "Yerself Is Steam," whose idiosyncratic psy- chedelic landscapes of harmony and noise placed them in conjunction with critically lauded contemporaries My Oody Valentine and The Flaming Lips. But whereas The Jesus and Mary Chain have never really evolved past its original invention, Mercury Rev have virtually reinvented them- STEVE GERTZ/D#iy The singer for Jesus and Mary Chain walls Into the mic at Friday's concert. Tales of West intrigue Monaco ballet sets classy Cormac McCarthy * ities of the Plain nopf Of the numerous books that are published everyday, only a select few are lucky enough to start out ahead of the game. Cormac McCarthy's "Cities of the Plain" is one of these books. At the beginning of the year, it *ould have shown up on any critic's list as one of the most important books to look for in the coming months. It is the work of a highly acclaimed American writer."Cities of the Plain" is the final installment in a trilogy of novels-a trilogy that start- ed with the contemporary Western classic, "All the Pretty Horses." What is really impressive, though, is that the public proved to be as geared up for McCarthy's latest book as the critics. '*e book spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list when it first came out this summer. So "Cities of the Plain" hit the shelves with every advantage. The real question is, did it deserve them? For fans of the first two installments of McCarthy's Border Trilogy, the answer is yes. On the first page of the book, McCarthy satisfies at least one of the ticipations of his admirers. He brings together John Grady Cole and Billy Parham, the protagonists of "All the Pretty Horses" and "The Crossing," respectively. The boyhood adventures and passage into adult- hood of each character take center stage in the first two books of the tril- ogy. So it is fitting that their friend- ship, years later, is the foundation of this third novel. This is a book about cowboys, Soons and horses. It is also about what two men receive from their rela- tionship with each other that they cannot get anywhere else. It is about the passion that leads one of them to risk that relationship. It is about a world that has been disappearing for ages, but is somehow hanging on in 1952. Mostly, it is about the new dreams that always appear to take the place of the old ones that will never come true. Sometimes, it feels hopeless for the reader to consider this last matter during his or her journey through the book. But McCarthy consistently employs humor and humanity to make the experience feel ultimately worthwhile. One of the delights is the masterful dialogue of these "natural" men and those they encounter and work with. Their conversations reach unparalleled heights of charmed absurdity. Most memorable though, are the two main characters. John Grady is the so-called all-American cowboy, as glamorous a figure as there can be in the sometimes squalid world of the book. Billy has a tougher, more cyni- cal exterior. But Billy reveals the soft- est of hearts as he tries to "protect" John Grady from the woman that draws him repeatedly across the bor- der - to the cities of the Mexican plain. Alhough it has many good quali- ties, McCarthy's latest is not a per- fect book. McCarthy aims high here, and while he often succeeds, he sometimes only appears pretentious. At these times the reader must endure until the next lightening of mood. The world of the characters is not pretty, and it may discourage readers with- out the patience to become attached to its spirit. There is recurrent Spanish that the average reader may not be able to decipher. It is a book that asks a lot from its' readers. Its popularity then, might be surprising. But readers who add their own sup- port to McCarthy's success story will receive much in return. -Jeff Druc hniak By Christopher Tkaczyk Daily Arts Editor The most astonishing and surprisingly excell-cnt ballet of the year was presented this past Thursday to Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline of Monaco, who arrived in Detroit specifically for the occasion. As is always predicted with royalty, the Princess and her entourage arrived fashion- ably late, causing a setback with the start of the performance. Ushered into their middle box, the royal guests were met with a standing ovation by the gawking crowd - a highly unnecessary, if not undeserved, display of admiration. The only disappointing aspect of the actual pre- sentation was the use of projected credits that illuminated a white scrim while the Detroit Opera Symphony played Sergei Prokofiev's famous Romeo et Juliette Detroit Opera House sept. 24, 1998 overture. It's sad to see the television world so heavily influence standards that have been instilled in the realm of stage performance. Presenting a contemporary version of "Romeo and Juliette," les Ballets de Monte Carlo showcased a side of the tale not often depicted in Shakespearean stage perfor- mances. Concentrating on Friar Lawrence as the tragic hero of the piece, the ballet featured grand solo perfor- mances by Gaetan Morlotti, who portrayed the friar. through a quick-moving dance in which he expressed his inner pain and self-judgement. Clad in the traditional Roman collar, he updated the role to a more modern Catholic priest, com- plete with two boy acolytes. Director and choreo- grapher Jean-Christophe Maillot found inspira- tion within the priest/acolyte relationship to fea- ture a few sexual moments, indicating events con- cerning supposedly celibate priests and young boys. Ernest Pignon Ernest's panels of white decorat- ed the background of the stage - the famous bal- cony scene was performed with a rising/lowering walkway that wound its way into the backstage flats. Costumer Jerome Kaplan relied on simple tones of white and black interspersed with flecks of gold and silver to distinguish the differences between the Montague and Capulet families. The Montague family mostly wore white with gold accents, and the Capulets were adorned with deep blacks and silvers. The women of the Capulet family danced stealthily - a feat quite difficult, considering the long, slightly tight black dresses that they were wearing. The contemporary tone of the piece wasn't entirely dependent upon the set design and cos- tumes; the dance style of the ballet reflected an attitude of grace and dignity, all the while full of life and the passion of young love. At the moment when Romeo first sees Juliette, the young lovers touched at center stage, with the rest of the com- pany surrounding them. Later, at the battle scene in which Romeo kills Tybalt, the dancers moved as one, each strike of the arm one concise hit with the power of 20 men. The scene became a brutal death dance, at least, as far in ballet as brutal goes. A stunning performance was delivered by standard Francesco Nappa, as Tybalt, cousin to Juliett6, who attempts to defend his family by pickink fights with Romeo and his friends. Nappa's neat- acrobatics demonstrated his powerful drive. Ljiljana Peric, as the nurse, offered a slightly childish touch to the role, evoking a youthfdl attendant figure, more than the desired matronly overseer that is so often characterized i Shakespeare's play. The dramatic aspects of the romantic tragedy were played out in the beginning of Act Two with an onstage puppet show. Using a sheet as a stage, the dancers donned head puppets and quickly went through the "Romeo and Juliet" story in a mocking farcical display. Slapstick face-smacks and absurdist violence provoked laughter not onl~y from the audience, but the dancers onstage as well. While the roles of the Lord and Lady Montague were entirely cut from the perfor- mance, the only represented parental authority came in Veronique-Dina Jean's portrayal of Lady Capulet. In her tall domineering presence, Jean brought a nervous tone to her scenes. Even more exciting and suspenseful were the deaths of the star-crossed lovers. As every audi- ence member most-likely knew the fate of the paii., each eye and heart was absorbed into the unfortu- nate tragedy that befalls Romeo and Juliette. Using the device of a lengthy red silk scarf, Romeo, played handsomely by Chris Roelandt, drew it from his pocket, indicating a menacing demise of passion, tied it about his neck, and hung himself. When Juliette awakened to discover the wilted body of her once-blossoming lover, sie used the same scarf to commit her own death. As Friar Lawrence discovers the dead bodiet, his guilt and evil-doing all come full-circle, offei- ing a performance fit for a princess. Intimate dances performed by Morlotti displayed the friar's guilt and self-abuse. In a tender moment following Juliette's consumption of the poison, Morlotti exposed his guilty conscious p, SYRACUSE STUDY ABROAD Zimbabwe * England * Italy ln &u'nrsg r .C a Jyt " rni'.ir, & DESTRI 4. A4 V COLLEGI .OY THE COMPETITION W i i i I [ ] Entering as a complete team. Our team name is: (] Entering as an individual. Please add me to a team (] Entering as a partial team. Add players to our te (] Registration fee enclosed: s24 for a team (up to5 BOWL, 'ITHYOUR MIND M. am. 5 players) or $7 per person for individuals or partial teams. Email Address Phone Year (if available) (circle) Fr So Jr Sr Grad Fr So Jr Sr Grad LMES BEGIN 3r&4t Name E Player 1: Player 2: Player 3: