8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 27, 2002 ARTS 0 Detroit-natives Six Clips visit Blind Pig Poignant 'Ballyhoo' comes to East Quad By Sonya Sutherland Daily Arts Writer There is that buzz about the Detroit Garage Rock scene, but what's going on out here in the' burbs? I'd say quite a bit behind the closed doors of 40 oz. Studios. Name dropping seems a lot easier than an explanation for all, the creative channels blondilocks and frontman Drew Peters and his not-so- bad guitar-playing brother Chris have in their cable box: Ted Nugent, Kid Rock Six Ci At the Bli Tomorrow. at and the Trash Brats, to name a few local affiliations. Somehow in the mean and in between time of pro- ducing, mastering, managing and recording, they find room for their own project, Six Clips. The Michigan Daily: You've decided to show up to the Blind Pig on Thursday, what is in store this time around? ' Chris Peters: It should be a great night. Lollipop Lust Kill is an amazing live band. Great show. I went down to Toledo to see them a few weeks ago and the place was packed with over a thousand kids. It was nuts. It was their first home- town show in a long time. Quite a getdown. We are going on at 11 p.m. and LLK at about midnight. It's our first show at the Blind Pig so far this year, and we've got a few new songs since last time. TMD: At www.sixclips.com you reveal a dislike of The Strokes and Ryan LIPS Adams but an apprecia- tion of Ludicrous and nd Pig Pink. What do the latter musicians offer that the 9:30 p.m. former do not? CP: The latter have recorded songs that I enjoy. Actually, I recently heard the Pink record and was quite disap- pointed. I did really like that first single though. Not too fond of the new single. TMD: Are you ashamed of your flagrant support of corporate, mass-produced, "TRL" product? CP: Not in the slightest. TMD: What else are you listen- ing to these days that has a little more merit? CP: More merit? According to whom? You? Spare me. Too often people want to over-intellectualize music. If it sounds good to me, then I like it. If it feels good, then I like it. By Jenni Glenn Daily Arts Writer The Rude Mechanicals gear up for this weekend's production of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" at the East Quad Auditorium, knowing this is only the show's first run. The cast and crew will reunite on the other side of the Atlantic in August to perform the play at Scotland's Edin- burgh Fringe Festival, the Guinness Book of World Records winner for the largest arts festival in the world. Inspired by the Royal Shakespeare with being Jewish in this time period and also coming of age and the dynamics of this particular family," said Ian Burkow, a LSA junior who plays Adolph, a member of the fami- ly's older generation. Between Adolph, his nieces Sunny and Lala, his sister Boo and his sister- in-law Reba, the play contains a cast of characters with whom everyone can identify, said Grady, an Engineering sophomore who plays Boo. "It's like you're walking into this family, and you really feel apart of it," she said. All the actors make special efforts to Courtesy of Six Clips Drew and Chris listening to the good stuff and shunning The Strokes? The last thing I do when I hear a song is ponder the questions 'Does this have merit?' I would imagine that people who ask themselves that question upon hearing a song are going to turn to the person next to them to ask them the same question. How lame is having your tastes dictated to you by some kind of consensus? But I digress. I can tell you what I've been listening to lately, you can ponder the "merit" issue. Uh .... that old Malcolm McLaren record, Duck Rock. It's an '80s classic. I've recently gotten into Art Tatum as well. Great stuff. Born down in Toledo, Ohio, and a huge figure in American music. What else? I real- ly like this Detroit band, Radio Holiday. They remind me a little of Quicksand-meets-Weezer or some- thing .... Been listening to a ton of Ted Nugent demos too. Oh, and it's been nothing but Kiss, Liquid Liq- uid, and Sepultura in my car. I encourage everyone to go back and check out Liquid Liquid. TMD: If you had a dream house featured on "Cribs" would it be in the style of extravagance, like Mas- ter P, his gold ceilings and his "bling-bling" or the more function- al approach of Method Man, his broken doorbell and his refrigera- tor-top box of cash. CP: Definately the more func- tional approach. TMD: How do you feel this frame of mind is reflected in your music? CP: I would say that this frame of mind has nothing to do with our music. TMD: What is the last movie you watched? CP: I saw Vanilla Sky up at the Fox Village and didn't like it. I've never liked any of Cameron Crowe's movies, but this one looked like it had potential. Usually his movies are chick flicks dressed up as rock'n'roll movies. This one wasn't that, but it was as lame as the others. TMD: Why are you prejudiced against the word "experiment" and its derivitives? CP: Well, that's just it. Most peo- ple who think they are engaging in an artistic experiment are doing nothing more than lapsing into derivatives. Seriously though, I'd like to avoid a tedious coffee house debate about this stuff. Let's stay away from all of the babble about "risk taking" and the various clich- es that come with this discussion. You know, "open-mindedness" and all of that crap. There is a great deal of experimental music that I like, and even more that I do not like. Just like there is a lot of what you would call "corporate" music that I like, and much that I don't. I will just say that if I am looking to expand my musical horizons or challenge myself as a listener, I' tend to gravitate towards ethnic music and stuff like Alan Lomax's field recordings. There is so much music from Uganda alone that is worth checking out. TMD: Name five good things that came out of the '80s. CP: EpMd, The Killing Fields, Faster Pussycat (the band, not the movie), The Long Riders (the movie, not the band) and the execu- tion of Nicolae Ceausescu. TMD: How much is a Grammy worth? CP: Oh boy. They were horrible weren't they? That ancient genera- tion needs to pass the torch. They need to except that fact that rock- 'n'roll doesn't belong to them any- more, no matter how many Grammys they give to Bob Dylan or whoever. Dylan is great, but let's give awards to today's artists today. I could be wrong, but I do not believe that the younger demo- graphic is buying the new U2 record. The younger demographic should be determining who gets those trophies if they are to have any credibility. The Grammys are worth very little these days, and they are worth less with every pass- ing year. Ji I Company's visit to Ann Arbor last March, four students formed the Edinburgh Project. The group aimed to perform a play locally and then take the production to Scotland for the festival.' That effort resulted in "The Last Night of Bal- lyhoo," said Megan Marod, a RC sophomore who directs the play and is a member of the Edin- burgh Project' along with1 THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO East Quad Auditorium Tomorrow thru Sat. at 8 p.m. $5-$6 Tickets available at door The Rude Mechanicals two of the play's actresses, Molly Daunt and Sara Grady. "It's great to see that this thing we've been talking about for a year is actually happening," Marod said. The crew chose the play for its focus on a little-known aspect of American history that they wanted to share with a European audience. Play- wright Alfred Uhry's show examines the life of a Jewish family in Atlanta on the eve of World War II and the pre- miere of the classic film, "Gone with the Wind." In this, "The Last Night of Bally- hoo" shares common elements with the April Department of Musical The- ater show, "Parade." Uhry also wrote that script about the lives of Jews in the American South. "Ballyhoo" tells "a story dealing effectiveness of the performances, said Daunt, an LSA junior who portrays Lala. Daunt believes the stage allows the audience to feel closer to the small, seven-person cast and the action as it unfolds on stage. "It's a really intimate space, so it's all pretty real,"she said. While the cast and crew rehearse the play for the East Quad Auditorium stage, they are simultaneously prepar- ing for traveling to Scotland and rais- ing money for the trip. Marod said one fundraising event will consist of host- ing an auction prior to one of the per- formances. But for the time being, the actors are concentrating on their upcoming per- formances of "Ballyhoo." "I'm sure come August I'll be very excited, but right now I just want to focus on mak- ing this performance the best it can be," Daunt said. 0 0 get into character. For example, Grady keeps a journal to help her pre- pare for her role as Boo. "I made a diary for my character, and I write in it as her," Grady said. "It puts me in the right mindset to think it out, being her instead of acting like her." The East Quad Audi- torium increases the Courtesy of Six Clips Chris Peters on guitar. The University of Michigan's 30th Annual ANN ARBOR POW WOW U.-c fr (44E AEA4 4 MARCH 29, 30, &31 5-H CRISLER ARENA Joe (Sylvester) and Sunny (Redmond) agree: FedEx Courtesy or ine uae MechanicaIs is the prefered way to ship I '3 a- .4.' u IX Independent Spirit Awards, RAZZIES bestowed upon films. By Ryan Blay and Jim Schiff Daily Arts Editors We invite you to a gathering of over 1,000 of North America's greatest singers and dancers. Come see the rich culture and heritage of the country's most renowned Native American artists and craftspeople displaying and selling their authentic work DOORS OPEN FRIDAY at 5 P.M. Friday Grand Entry at 7 P.M. with singing & dancing until 10 P.M. DOORS OPEN SATURDAY at 11 A.M. Saturday Grand Entries at 1 & 7 P.M. with singing & dancing until 10 P.M. DOORS OPEN SUNDAY at 11 A.M. Sunday Grand Entry at 1 P.M. with the Pow Wow concluding at 6 P.M. Adults $9/day College students (with valid ID) $6/day Students (13-17 yrs.) $6/day Seniors (60 yrs. & up) $6/day Children (4-12 yrs.) $4/day 3 yrs. & under are FREE Family and Weekend Passes available at the door. Group Sales please call (734) 763-TKTS NO GROUP SALES AT THE DOOR Handicap Entrance on west side of arena This Sunday's Oscar Awards pres- entation was the lowest rated, longest show in history. Between Whoopi Goldberg's awful jokes and Enya's shaky performance, viewers were left wondering why ABC chose to run this instead of "Alias" and "The Prac- tice." This weekend, two alternative presentations, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Golden Raspberry Awards (affectionately called the RAZZIES) occurred, but sadly were not televised. A shorter and less gaudy cousin of the Oscars, the Independent Spirit Awards were held this past Saturday in a tent on Santa Monica beach. Director John Waters served as Mas- ter of Ceremonies for the event, handing out the eagle-shaped stat- uettes to the winners. In a night filled with little surprise, "Memento" and "In the Bedroom" came out on top. In addition to win- ning for Best Feature, Christopher Nolan took home the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay prizes for "Memento." Carrie-Anne Moss was also honored for her supporting role in the film. "In the Bedroom" received honors for lead actors Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, while director Todd Field also took home the prize for Best First Feature. From "Ghost World," Steve Busce- mi was honored for his portrayal of Seymour, while co-writers Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff won the Best First Screenplay award. "Jack- RAZZIE awards. These honor the worst performances in film over the previous year. Tom Green, the first "winner" planning to accept the cheap spray-painted trophies in per- son, took home five awards (at just under $5 each, his prizes come to $25): Worst Picture ("Freddy Got Fingered"), Worst Actor, Worst Screen Couple (with "any animal he abuses" in the aforementioned bomb), Worst Director and Worst Screenplay. The other major loser was Tim Burton's critically panned "Planet of the Apes." The film snared three prizes for Worst Supporting Actor (Charlton Heston), Worst Supporting Actress (Estella Warren) and Worst Remake/Sequel. Mariah Carey was the other major loser for her role in the disastrous "Glitter." The presentation included a mock opening number and presenters in tuxedoes showing clips' from the films. It was also much shorter than the four-hour Academy Awards pres- entation on ABC. Yet despite this, the show has never been televised, although this could change as early as next year. Just before next year's self- congratulatory Oscar telecast, view- ers could be treated to LL Cool J, Chris Klein and company accepting their RAZZIE for "Rollerball." 0