Sweet Relief...
*ctoria Williams will playing at
The Ark tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets
are $17.50 in advance.
RTSg
MONDAY
OCTOBER 9, 2000
michigandaily.com /arts
Pearl Jam
invades
Palace,
pleases fans
Daily Staff Reporter
'Sex and the City' author Bushnell
dishes the dirt at Borders tonight
a-
By Amanda Gardner
For the Daily
"We live in a media-saturated, celebri-
ty world," explained Candace Bushnell,
author of the book on which the televi-
sion series "Sex and the City" is based.
And while we may
Candace
Bushnell
Borders
Tonight at 7 p.m.
What brings Dennis Rodman to
Hills when he's not on the court?
the Palace of Auburn
not all religiously
watch HBO's gem
about the trials
and tribulations of
Manhattan's sin-
gle, Upper East
Side divas, we
cannot escape the
hype. The hype is
about a reality
Bushnell knows
best. She hates
"sentimental fic-
tion" and cringes
at the romantic
attempts of any-
Pearl Jam
The Palace of
Auburn Hills
Oct. 7, 2000
./.
Just this little rock band from
Seattle called Pearl Jam.
Pearl Jam dedicated Saturday
night's encore performance of
"Fuckin' Up" to the basketball
superstar in a show that reaffirmed
their status as one of the most influ-
ential rock bands of this era.
Opening with "Go," Pearl Jam gui-
tarist Mike McCready sparked con-
versations with fans in the front row,
giving them high fives, building the
energy of the crowd from the start.
The two hour set covered many
aspects of the band's musical ability.
Mixing classic songs like "Jeremy,"
readers begging for more, well, dirt.
And Bushnell gives it up. Her four
characters struggle to find anything close
to love in the midst of their tainted reali-
ties. A model's search for love begins
every summer with a multi-millionaire in
the Hamptons; a writer's ambivalence for
men, in general, leaves her marriage
hanging by a thin thread of professional
prestige; a real-life princess must put
down the bottle of Xanax and accept her
role as a beautiful socialite married to an
emotionally distant real-life prince; and a
journalist, an older, "Sex and the City"
type, escapes to London in the hopes of
finding men more open to commitment.
Bushnell's candid portraits of trouble
in paradise make "Four Blondes" sur-
prisingly heart-rending. Like "Sex and
the City," it gives twenty-somethings a
reason to appreciate the novelty-of
things. Because by the time we reach
forty, our lives, like her characters' lives,
"will become stories of repetition,"
explained Bushnell.
As she yawned from genuine exhaus-
tion from a non-stop book signing tour,
Bushnell exclaimed, "I can't wait to get
back to New York so I can change my
tight underwear that either shrunk in the
wash, or I got fat on this tour!" Bushnell
certainly writes what the knows.
one viewing the world as a place full of
infinite possibility outside the confines
of social position. While she may not
admire this pessimism, she has the abili-
ty to find humor in this reality. It is a real-
ity where women must depend on their
girlfriends to fill the inevitable void that
the men in their lives leave them with in
the morning. It is a reality in which soci-
ety categorizes people based on money,
power and status, regardless of gender.
Naturally, Candace Bushnell has con-
tinued to intrigue her target audience of
women ages 18 to 50 with new, more
seductively depressing stories about peo-
ple whose envied positions in society
become the bane of their existence. "Four
Blondes" is just a glimpse into the lives
of women trapped by money, beauty and
power handed to them on what some
might call a cubic zerconium platter
(looks like diamonds, sells like glass).
She unintentionally creates a sense of
pity for her characters, which has her
"Given to Fly," and "Even Flow," with tracks off their
new album, Binaural, Pearl Jam still found time to treat
fans to some of their rarer songs, including "Crazy
Mary" and "I Got ID."
Lead vocalist Eddie Vedder, clad in a hoodie and black
Converse high tops, took breaks between songs to talk to
the sold out crowd about past Detroit shows. He told fans
* 1991 show at the State Theater was the only place the
band has played with velvet seats.
After "Elderly Woman," Vedder introduced the next
song, "Insignificance," as a song also dealing with being
small in a small town, noting that it might apply to those
living outside Detroit.
Lights were lowered for Vedder's opening riff of
"Romanza" which led into a stellar performance of
"Betterman" that had both the band and the crowd going
wild.
The only glitch in show occurred during the first song
Pearl Jam's encore, "Nothing as it Seems." Vedder
ped a verse of the lyrics in causing fellow band mem-
bers to lose their-places in the music.
Apologizing for his mistake, Vedder said, "Did I men-
tion how forgiving Detroit is?"
Vedder was quick to bring the show back on track, ded-
Takacs plays inspired UMS show
Louis Brown./DAILY
Eddie Vedder scratches his head mid-set during Pearl Jam's
appearance at the Palace on Saturday night.
icating "Last Kiss" to Ralph Nader, of whom he is a
vocal supporter.
While special effects were kept to a minimum in the
show, strobe lights pulsing to the beat of
"Rearviewmirror" gave the song an added intensity.
The song marked an exceptional performance by
drummer Matt Cameron (formerly of Soundgarden),
while Vedder sang the second half of the song to fans sit-
ting behind the stage.
The show also marked the tour's debut of "Parting
Ways," a ballad off Binaural, ending the band's second
set.
Saturday's performance was the third show of the sec-
ond leg of Pearl Jam's American Tour for their new CD.
The band will be playing in Chicago tomorrow night
before heading to Texas for a set of performances. Pearl
Jam's nationwide tour finishes up in Seattle on
November 6.
By Jee Chang
Daily Arts Writcr
On Friday, the Takacs Quartet per-
formed in Rackham Auditorium as the
Takacs opening performance for the 38th
Annual Chamber Arts Series put on by
Quartet UMS. They showed the audience once
Rackham again why they are recognized as one of
Auditorium the world's greatest string quartets. The
October 6, 2000 reportiore of the performance was an
excellent match to the mood of the
night.
The Takacs Quartet performed with
coherence and personality. They were
not only great to listen to, but their per-
formance style only enhanced their bril-
liance. The quartet's performance felt
like an entire conversation displayed in front of the audience.
They played 'with such ease, communicating through their
eyes, musically compelled body gestures and, of course, the
sounds from their instruments.
String Quartet in D Major, KV 575, Allegretto by Mozart
was the first piece heard that night. The Takacs Quartet waist-
ed no time and started right into it, with no hesitation and such
focus. Their first note was right on target, and the balance of
the group was astonishing. This movement moved quickly, but
the Takacs Quartet made the piece feel smooth and easing; still
being able to reveal the arching melodic connections and the
overlapping harmonies. The Andante was a slower moving
line, yet the focus of the entire group was present. Menuetto-
Trio was performed with such zest. Tacaks Quartet mastered
the tossing question and answer melodies between instruments.
Where one instrument left off, the other would pick up imme-
diately with great tansition. The piece ended with the
Allegretto, giving it a lively finish.
The Sting Quartet No. I by Jatiacek had four movements that
See TAKACS, Page SA
R
IE