He Loves Ann Arbor... Acclaimed Blues/Ja:: guitarist John Scofield can't seem to {.et enougTh of this town. He plays tonight at the Ark. ARd1g FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2000 michigandaily.com /arts Flashy Colloqum hits League By W. Jacari Meltonr Daily Arts Wrnter Dar Williams sings t the folk choir at the Michigan Theater By Christian Hoard Daily Arts writer Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Dar Williams' concert at the Michigan Theater Wednesday night is that it happened at all. Over seven years and four albums, Williams has For about three hours on Wednesday night, the year 2000 became 1984. Adidas shell toes and sweat suits were brought out. People were "poppin"' and doing a little bit of "breakin'." No, this wasn't a recasting for "Krush Groove," "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogalo" or any other movie of the early '80s street dance genre. The Ann Arbor DJ Music Colloquium hosted a panel dis- cussion and show featuring "old school" hip-hop artists Ann Arbor Kurtis Blow and Grandmaster DJ MusiC Flash along with drum n' bass Colloquium artist LTJ Bukem and techno/house DJs Kenny League Ballroom Larkin and John Acquaviva. Sept 27, 2000 The panel discussion cen- tered primarily around how each artist got their start in their respective musical areas. Both Kurtis Blow and Grandmaster Flash, most recently the DJ for the Chris Rock show, started their musical careers roughly 27 years ago, before most of the roughly 300-person crowd was born. They also had similar influences, like the sounds of Motown and James Brown, which deviated from the popular musical format of the time: Disco. Flash stat- ed through listening to his father's record collection, he began to respect the music as well as the records themselves. His general interest was heightened after enrolling in a technical high school where he began to learn about electronics. The education he received eventually led him to create his own audio system, a crude version of a modern DJ mixer. The purpose of the mixer was to lengthen the short drum breaks found in songs like those by James Brown. His cre- ation would soon aid in spawning a musical revolu- tion. Shortly thereafter, emcees like Kurtis Blow began to rhyme over the lengthened breaks created by DJs like Flash and Grandwizard Theodore. Thus, the model for modern day hip-hop was formed. Using some of the methods developed in hip-hop, Dar Williams Michigan Theater Sept. 27, 2000 become known for her intro- s p e c t i v e songcraft, emo- tional clarity and a good deal of political railing - the sort of stuff that you're much more like- ly to hear in a tiny coffeehouse than a thousand- seat theater. Then .again, with the rise in popularity of as she poked fun both at herself an, the minor technical problems th; plagued most of her 90-minute se Though appearing before the hushe and reverent crowd at the Theati gave Williams a chance to air o some of the songs which appeared c "Green World," the rather stuffy albut she released this past August, tlel setting mostly seemed to lend itse- Williams' occasional role as a Gen storyteller. On "When I Was a Boy" ar "The Babysitter's Here" Williams spt out vignettes of youthful innocence at awkwardness, while "Christians and ti Pagans" recounted the tale of Christmas dinner cum religious battle ground. If Williams' performance wt slightly less than satisfying, it was nc so much because of anything Willi- did wrong than because of the of, sional blandness of her corn-fed, mit dIe-of-the road songs. Too many nun bers (like "Spring Street" or "What C You Hear in These Sounds") offer poignant lyrics without a decor melody attached, and only on "Bett Things," a cover of the Kinks' originm did Williams' flat-footed band have chance to cut loose. While Williams no doubt sent devotees home happy, she occasions ly seemed to preach to the cho which - perhaps not unexpected - consisted mostly of thirty-som things and students who no dou spent their time studying while liste ing to Ms. Williams and her ilk on tl stereo in Caribou Coffeehous Although, in principle, there's nothir wrong with exclusivity, it's equal apparent that, if the touchy-feely stuff isn't your bag, even Willie most sweetly-construed convictiro might slip by unnoticed. Sam Holenshead/UAILY Both the wheels of steel and an eager audience were under the control of Grandmaster Flash on Wednesday. musical forms like techno started to develop in the late 70s and early 80s. House music, which finds its roots in the underground disco of the 70s and early 80s, emerged in the mid 80s. Despite the innovation demonstrated by the pioneer DJs of these genres, according to John Aquaviva, they had to keep from becoming more than jukeboxes. The pressure to con- form to the industry standard of music weighted heav- ily but hip-hop, techno, drum n' bass and house with- stood and remain vibrant art forms. To demonstrate this energy and originality, LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad did a drum n' bass perfor- mance which managed to move segments of the crowd but left some standing, seemingly trying to understand or take in something they don't hear everyday. However, Bukem and Conrad still received a round of applause when their set concluded. Up next was Kurtis Blow. His set began with a track younger, and less educated, fans may credit to Nas, "If I Ruled the World." Blow, clad in the traditional b-boy uni- form of Adidas from head to toe, proved he still had the ability to move a crowd with the common call and response techniques found at most hip-hop shows. The audience proved even more surprising by being able to recite lyrics to songs that don't receive much play, even in places where old school hip-hop is the rule. See DJs, Page 9 singer-songwriters like Ani DiFranco and Shawn Colvin (to whom Williams is frequently com- pared) there's certainly a market for Williams' brand of very contempo- rary folk-rock, and, not long after Williams took the stage before a nearly-packed house, it was certainly apparent that her beautiful soprano voice also had something to do with all of the people showing up. Williams' voice, in fact, sounded typically resplendent Wednesday, wafting above the understated accompaniment of her backing band on "Calling the Moon," the gentle, lilting opener and the morosely-defi- ant "If I Wrote You." For someone who's been pegged as a serious-minded lyricist, Williams' wit was in fine form on Wednesday, WWW.MICHIGANDAIL Y. COMIA RTS El L .. .. 0