The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 11, 1999 - 15 A
'In Flames sets fire to
Detroit
vAdlIn Rosli
Y Arts Writer
The last In Flames album w
" Colony." If the band has it its
Saturday, Detroit's metal scene wi
part of its colo
band invades t
City with its
headbanging
In Flames sound.
Founded in
-Rock originally calli
Saturday at 7 p.m. selves Ceremor
In Flames has u
numerous lin
stylistic chang
its last couple o
however, the 1
managed to con
own and has be
nized as one of
top melodic metal acts. Melodic isc
the keyword here, as displayed on
The band has a strong sense of how
memorable music progressions via
thrashing guitars, bass and drun
metal scene
singer Anders Friden guides the listener
through the proceedings.
as called Friden confided that fans of metal are
way this never sure of how to describe the group's
11 become music. Its not a subject that Friden will be
ny as the losing any sleep over, however. "We are a
he Motor Heavy Metal band," he said. "I don't really
melodic, give a shit. We just do what we do and if peo-
metal ple never heard the music then you tell them
what we sound like or whatever but we don't
1993 and think about it."
ng them- "We listen to a lot of stuff you probably
nial Oath, wouldn't believe. Our bass player is a big
ndergone Tom Jones fan and I like Portishead and stuff
e-up and like that. And of course extreme metal as
es. Since well," said Friden. He continued, "Early
f albums, influences of course are Iron Maiden and
band has Judas Priest and German bands like Hellion
ne into its and Guardian."
en recog- These influences have only served as a ref-
Sweden's erence to the group however. Anders said,
definitely "Of course, when you are a kid you want to
"Colony." be like your heroes, but now I think we have
v to make found the In Flames sound."
its loud The bands name may seem obvious to metal
ms. Lead fans. It must be a reference to hell or Satan or
dY
Courtesy of Nucear Blast
in Flames will bring metal to 1-Rock in Detroit on Saturday night.
something like that, ri
hand, explained that
stumbled upon and w
given too much thougl
about it, someone jus
thought it was cool so
"It was actually a forn
with the name and I d(
ght? Anders, on the other
the name was actually
as not a matter that was
ht. "I never really thought
t said In Flames and we
we stuck to it," he said.
ner guitarist that came up
on't know why we kept it,
but I think it's memorable."
While the heavy music scene in the United
States is quickly being saturated with
rap/metal bands trying to become the next
Korn or Limp Bizkit, Friden said the scene in
Europe is greatly different. "I don't know
about America but we have had this Heavy
Metal boom here in Europe. '80s-styled
music is coming back," Friden said.
Whether this resurgence occurring in
Europe will find its way stateside remains to
be seen. In the meantime, metal fans looking
for a night of entertainment worthy of pap-
ing fists shaped in the sign of the nil
should look no further than In Flaines'
Saturday evening engagement at I-Rock.
Dull plot, predictability weaken
'Magical World of Leprechauns'
www.michigandaily. com
By Anika Kohon
.Daily Arts Writer
Romeo is a Leprechaun, Juliet, a fairy,
and basically you have the plot of "The
Magical World Of Leprechauns," a two
part mini-series
that aired on NBC
Sunday and
Magical Monday nights.
Wor cld o Randy Quaid, a
World of disillusion citified
Leprechauns New Yorker, Jack
* Wood, comes to
NBC, Nov. 7 8 Ireland to exploit
the land and falls
in love with a Irish
bathing beauty.
He later saves
S e a m u s
Muldoone's life,
and the "head" of
the Leprechauns befriends him. Whoopi
Goldberg makes a couple of cameos as
*the Grand Banshee who lives in the
Hotel Splendide and curls her hair. (If
Goldberg's affiliation with this banal
story surprises anyone, remember she
was in "Theodore Rex.")
The central conflicts of the narrative
are thematically related. The star-
crossed lovers and the lovers separated
by national identity and priorities both
struggle to find harmony and unity in
a prejudiced world. After a buggy race,
Jack proves himself to Kathleen and
they begin a love-affair despite her
brothers' strong disapproval. The long-
standing feud between the Fairies and
the Leprechauns escalates into a full-
blown war after Mickey Muldoone and
his friends transgress societal bound-
aries by attending the Fairy ball.
Mickey and Princess Jessica fall in
love, Mickey kills her cousin, Grogin,
and the families go to war despite the
Grand Banshee's warning that the
feuding must end.
The first part of the mini series ends
as the war begins, and Kathleen and Jack
begin fighting over his return to New
York and his assignment to exploit the
land in Ireland, Since the war preoccu-
pies the Fairies, they are not able to reg-
ulate nature while they are fighting, and
violent storms rage, paralleling the emo-
tional turmoil the characters are experi-
encing. This metaphor works narratively
and visually, and it is one of the better
elements of the story.
In the second part, the war brings
Kathleen and Jack back together as they
help Jessica and Mickey end the conflict.
There are original moments when the
Leprechaun and Fairy Queens bond by
discussing their husbands' inability to
take instruction, adding flavor and depth
to the weak, pirated plot line.
Is it any surprise that by faking their
deaths, the lovers end the war?
Ultimately, the story is about tolerance.
The conflict nearly destroys Mother
Nature, and the Grand Banshee makes
them emphatically declare their desire
for peace before she will bring the lovers
back to life. It's TV! What did you
expect? The lovers can't die! Even Jack
and Kathleen get married.
Despite the shortcomings of the plot,
the art direction is aesthetically pleasing,
and the dance sequences are well-chore-
ographed and entertaining. The
Leprechaun tap dancers and the Folksie
Irish music add nice regional flavor to
the story, while the contemporary music
at the Fairy ball is out of place and ruins
the ethereal mood of the gala.
"Leprechauns" has fleeting moments of
interest, but the predictability factor,
acceptable in a more comedic genre,
hurts the story.
Drawing upon two important manuscripts of early
English music - the Worcester Fragments and the
Fountains Abbey Fragments - Theatre of Voices
presents a dazzling mixture of medieval and modern
polyphony, in which the old is heard afresh and the
University Musical Society - 764.2538
Drop the remote and step away from the TV. Pick up"
the phone and get out of town on Amtrak®. Because
right now you'll save 10% just by flashing your student
ID. If you're a member of Student Advantage® you'll
save even more. Better hurry, this offer ends soon. Cad
I-800-USA-RAIL or check out www.amtrak.com.
Trains depart from the Amtrak station at
325 Depot St.
Not valid on peak weekday Metroliner® Service, Auto Train@ Service, joint Amtrak@MlA Rail Canada services to or fronm,,
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Trains depart from the Amtrak station at
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