.
Playwrights Rachel Urist, Al Sjoerdsma, Jeff Duncan and Susan
Arnold discuss their experience as writers. These indiviuals will
lead an informative session about the playwrighting process from
their first-hand experience. The session begins at 7 p.m. at the
Ann Arbor District Library. Admission is free.
Ugf e £ d i w n m ] gva i-AR
tomorrow in Daily Arts:
It's Oprah-time! With the release of the Oscar-bound
"Beloved" on Friday, Daily Arts is bringing you an interview
with star Oprah Winfrey.
Wednesday
October 14, 1998
9
Soul Coughing delights
By Gabe Fajuri
Daily Arts Writer
Amid a flurry of high-powered strobe lights, cartoons
projected on the wall and noisy fans, Soul Coughing held
rth on Sunday night in Downtown Pontiac. Clutch
argo's was comfortably full when the band took the
stage around 9:30 p.m.
Michael Doughty, lead singer and occasional guitarist,
welcomed fans to the show with a short, succinct phrase:
"Welcome, friends." On that note, the crowd went wild.
As the band launched into their first song, the hall began
to shake and groove, slowing only momentarily over the
next hour or so.
Touring in support of its recently released album, "El
Soul
Coughing
Clutch Cargo
Oct. 11, 1998
Oso," the band's hour-plus set
included songs from all three of its
releases, and started with a selection
from its first, "Ruby Vroom"
. Preceded on stage by a Venezuelan
disco outfit, Los Amigos Invisibiles,
Soul Coughing changed the pace of
the evening rather drastically when
they hit the stage. Its deep, soulful
bass lines, coupled with constantly
changing electronic noise from Marc
De Gli Antoni's keyboard sampler
took the audience on a sonic journey
that can not, and will never be, imi-
tated.
In between songs, Doughty's ban-
ter was unintelligible and usually
fact that he insisted on loudly repeating the word
"Poppie!" at the end of each sentence only added to the
crowd's delight and confusion.
In addition to Doughty's verbal weirdness, not to men-
tion the band's unique sound, two surprising visual
aspects added to the ultra-hip ambiance of the show.
Projected on a wall-size screen behind the band, predom-
inantly black and white Warner Brothers cartoons had
been looped to fit certain numbers in the set. Constantly
whirring images of cats, monkeys, frogs and mice ran
their course over and over again, during every other song.
The visuals also included an often blinding, multi-col-
ored light show, eminating from and above the stage.
The fact that Soul Coughing can actually reproduce the
music that they record in a live setting deserves two
snaps up. What's even more impressive is that the band
does it so well. Scarcely a single member of the rela-
tively mature audience had both feet on the ground for
very long. Hips were shaking, heads were bobbing, and
bodies swayed.
Selections like the show-closing "Super Bon Bon" and
the first single off of "El Oso," "Circles" brought even
the most sedentary onlookers into motion.
The evening came to a close with an encore for which
the crowd was simply begging. The band consented with
three songs, including "Is Chicago" but refused, despite
insistent chants, to come back for another turn.
With or without the second encore, Soul Coughing
turned in a performance just short of amazing. For those
members of the audience just along for the ride, things
might have seemed strange - layers of ambient noise
mixed with nonsensical lyrics, unrelenting drumbeats
and thick bass lines. For the vast majority of the crowd,
however, Sunday was an evening of pure delight.
brief. When he did try to converse with the crowd, he
made a point to fire off choice phrases in Spanish that
,even when translated, made absolutely no sense. The
ALLISON CANT'/Dailiy
Michael Doughty, lead singer of Soul Coughing, hacks into his mic.
JohnWilliams, world's best
classical g taist, to perform
By Scott Bullock
For the Daily
Making his second appearance
in Ann Arbor since 1996,'
Australian guitarist John Williams
will perform in Rackhamr
Auditorium on tonight.
Born in 1941, Williams began -z
learning the guitar at four from his
father. Then, in 1952, his family
moved to London, where Williams
met and studied with Andres
Sergovia. Recognizing the talent
before him, Sergovia recommend-
ed that Williams enter the presti-
gious Accademia Musicale di
Siene in Italy. Williams followed
Sergovia's counsel and spent five
years studying there on scholar-
ship.
While there, he set a standard of
musicianship few have
approached. At the request of his
fellow students, Williams became
the first student - of any instru-
ment -- to give a complete solo.
recital. Soon thereafter, he
returned to England to attend the
Royal College of Music.
Williams' debut at Wigmore "'
Political comedians sing
By Garth Heutol
Daily Arts Writer
Flipping through television channels,
it's sometimes hard to distinguish CNN
from Comedy Central. What with Bill,
Monica, Ken, et. al., many Americans are
abandoning sitcoms and sketch comedy
shows to watch the really funny stuff -
the evening news. One group has seen this
coming for the past two decades.
The Capitol Steps, a comic troupe of
former Congressional staffers, is coming
to the Michigan Theater on Friday
evening. The group was formed during the
Reagan administration by three
Washington insiders who reasoned that if
entertainers could become politicians,
then politicians could become entertain-
ers. Since then, the cast has grown to 20
regulars, all of whom have worked on
Capitol Hill, and has performed more than
4,500 times in 47 states.
The group has recorded 16 albums in
the past 16 years, the most recent of which
is titled "Unzippin' my Doo-dah." Expect
to see some show-stoppers like Bill
Courtesy oT university Musical Society
Capitol Steps, a political comedy troupe, will perform Friday at the Michigan TheateL
YR a
Capitol
Steps
Michigan Theater
Friday at 8 p.m.
Hall in 1958 was
7
John Williams
Rackham
Auditorium
Tonight at 8 p.m.
to set the stage
for a flurry of
performances
around the
world; Paris
and Madrid
were first, fol-
lowed by
tours of the
Soviet Union
and Japan.
So pro-.
found is his
talent that
many of the
world's most
ace laimed
composers
Clinton singing
"I've Taken Stands
on Both Sides
Now" (sung to the
tune of Judy
Collins' "Both
Sides Now") or
Bob Dole singing
"Fifty Ways to
Peeve Your
Leader."
Legend has it
that the group was
started in 1981
when Sen. Charles
Percy asked three
of his staffers to
I _ . } .
their shows are performed outside of D.C.
or for out-of-town audiences. Celebrities
and politicians, although targets for the
group's material, love the group, and some
have even performed with them: Sam
Donaldson, Vice President Gore, Larry
King, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop,
Pat Robertson, and President Bush, to
name a few. The Steps have performed for
Presidents Ford, Reagan, Bush and
Clinton.
The Capitol Steps themselves will be
the first to admit that its hard trying to be
funnier than Congress. But they have the
advantage of not taking themselves seri-
ously, a phase out of which the U.S.
Congress will never grow.
Tickets for The Capitol Steps
are $20-$32. Call 764-2538
for more information.
Pnwer.fris.. 7 'wiL
tunitics
a ke=Davis'
Ph-army c-eu tical .R
The Worldwide Drug Safety
Surveillance department at
Parke-Davis is currentl hiring
students/externs to perform data
entry of adverse event information
into a database. Qualified candi-
dates will have excellent task/time
management skills, an ability to
quickly learn new processes and
work independently.
Courtesy of University Musical Society
John Williams is one of the world's best guitarists.
have written specifically for him,
including Thereby, Stephen
Dodgson and Andre Previn. He
also has performed premieres of
music by Sculthorpe, Nigel
Westlake, Richard Harvey, Leo
Brouwer and the late Toru
Takemitsu.
In addition to. having played
with some of the world's most
honored classical performers, such
as Julian Bream, Paco Pena, Barry
Kessel, Itzhak Perlman and Andre
Previn, but Williams was one of
the first classical musicians to
play at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.
One-time member of the groups
SKY and ATTACCA, Williams has
also been Artistic Director of the
South Bank Summer Musical
Festival, as well as Artistic
Director of the Melbourne Arts
festival.
Tonight's diverse program
includes Vivaldi's "Concerto in D
Major, Op. 3, No. 9," Albeniz's
"Asturias," Brouwer's "El
Decamer6n Negro," Houghton's
"Stet'," Theodorakis' "Three
Epitafios," Domenicioni's
"Koyunbaba" and a special perfor-
mance of "Medieval Suite"
(Anon.) arranged by Williams
himself.
According to the Washington
Post, "One could not have wished
for a more gifted and versatile
exponent of the instrument." At a
likely sell-out tonight, the
University community will have
an opportunity to hear Williams'
skills and perhaps reach similar
conclusions.
Tickets for John Williams
are $22-$36. Call 764-2538
for more information.
provide entertainment for the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee's Christmas
party. They intended to stage a traditional
nativity play, but, according to one of the
Steps, "in all of Congress they were
unable to find three wise men or a virgin."
So instead they dug into the headlines and
came up with new lyrics for popular tunes.
Although the group was started and is
based in Washington, D.C., 90 percent of
+ Typing and computer skills as well as familiarity with database concepts are
essential. These positions will cover the afternoon/ evening shifts (5pm-12am),
and run 4-6 months. Succcesful candidates will have an understanding of
medical terminology.
+ Preference will be given to students studying healthcare professions
(pharmacy, nursing, pre-medicine, etc.) and in at least their 3d year of study.
" Interested students should fax their resume to:
Parke-Davis Worldwide Drug Safety Surveillance, Attention: Student Positions,
(734) 622-2721 or mail their resume to Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research,
Drug Safety Surveillance, Attention: Student Positions, 2800 Plymouth Road,
Ann Arbor, M148105. E-Mail resume using DSSQueries@w.com, Attention:
Student Positions.
bPARM-ws
UNIVERSITY
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