mmiq
10A -The Michi
Daily - Monday, September 8, 2(
ART S
4
w W.
TI
)RE HO
rOW
7D
By James P
Daily Arts Writ
Local boy Andrew WK.'s Saturday
evening show at St. Andrew's Hall may
have been the first of his world tour,
but he played like it
was his last.
Andrew is always Andrew
excited, but on this W.K.
night he gave his Saturday, Sept.7
hometown crowd At St. Andrew's
something extra (if Hall
that's possible). -
A.W.K. took the stage with a mas-
sive grin that stayed on his face
throughout the entire performance. The
festivities began with the explosive "It's
Time to Party," and Andrew entered a
frenzy, dancing maniacally, pounding
his keyboard (and skull) with abandon
and screaming his bloody lungs out.
And since his other tunes sound essen-
tially the same (in a good way), the
party didn't slow down for a second.
The mood was festive; Andrew
instructed the audience to act like it
was "your birthday, Christmas, the 4th
of July, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Hal-
loween" all in one. This they did, form-
ing circle pits and remaining positive
amidst the chaos.
The entire band was in fine form.
Impressively, they recreated the dense
sound of A.W.K.'s records; three band
members and the entire crowd pro-
vided backup vocals on old favorites
like "Ready to Die" and "Party 'til
New songs "Victory Strikes Again"
and "Tear It Up" from their new album
The Wolf met with a less enthusiastic
response, partly since they're not as
aggressive as the I Get Wet material,
but mostly because fans don't yet have
the new record. However, the band's
great performance of new single
"Never Let Down," a gigantic power
ballad and instant A.WK. classic, was
quite well received. Andrew actually
kept his feet planted during the tune
and did his best singing of the night.
The energy immediately returned to
fever pitch, and with "We Want Fun,"
the show's 30-minute climax began.
During the song, fans rushed and
quickly saturated the stage while the
band, bewildered, somehow finished
4
JONATHON TRIEST/Daily
DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! NEVER LET DOWN! LIFE IS TOO
SHORT! NO REGRETS! LIVE HARD!
the song. Andrew loved every second,
shouting thought-provoking expres-
sions like "Awesome!" and "Oh my
gosh!" Security eventually cleared the
stage, but not before W.K. gave hugs to
most of the stage-dwelling fans.
Band and audi-
ence became one,
meeting Andrew's
lofty ambitions,
but the show was-
n't over yet.
Rather than do
the planned
encore routine,
W.K. stayed on
stage and advised
the crowd to
"catch ... your ...
breath."
While they did,
L
rC Ke ytU neon
andCam pus Life I presents
Ir r 01 Ovetavaibe
nowl
We The Planet
consciousness is coolS
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
8 p.m., Pease Auditorium
Nationwide tour of activism, discussion and music moderated by one
of the world's most passionate and well-known activists, Julia Butterfly-Hill
and featuring a short acoustic set by singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman.
FREE - ticket required
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNiVERSI
Johngj~p
saturday,;ptemnber 27, 2003
9 p.m., EMU Convocation Center
A riveting one-man show by dynamic actor, comedian and now director
John Leguizamo, whose career includes memorable roles in movies such as
Moulin Rouge, Die Hard 2, Carlito's Way, To Wong Foo: Thanks for
Everything Julie Newmar, and most recently Ice Age, and Undefeated.
MATRO TIEST/Dai, y
FUN NIGHTI FUN NIGHT! Gonna get off ...
SE MUI=Amission
Andrew took a
closer look at the audience, reveling in
the many familiar faces. After all, it
was the hometown show; even W.K.'s
parents could be seen in the balcony.
Not surprisingly, the break didn't last
long. The crowd somehow managed to
top themselves late in the show, singing
louder than ever and forming the
biggest circle pit St. Andrew's has yet
seen during the hit "She is Beautiful."
Unbelievably, the show had not yet
reached its peak, which came during
"Party Hard." Fans were waved back
onstage and wasted no time returning
to W.K.'s side. Microphones and
instruments were nearly destroyed,
and W.K. shared the mic with a hand-
ful of crazed fans. This time, though,
the band was ready; they stood their
ground and nailed the song in all of its
brutish glory. One of the band's three
guitarists scaled a large speaker mid-
song, playing there and giving the gig
a "best house party ever" vibe.
Upon the end of "Party Hard,"
Andrew appeared exhausted and had to
be propped up by fans who had not yet
left the stage. Of course, he was far
from tired. After the stage was once
again cleared, the band jumped head-
long into "I Get Wet," the final song of
the night. WK. screamed, hit himself,
walked into walls and danced with
boundless energy.
Once the final power chords had
been struck, Andrew took a few slow
steps back into the stage, put down his
mic, leaped into a sprint and pulled off
an impressive and gutsy stagedive.
Then, after some more frantic dancing,
Andrew left the crowd wasted and thor-
oughly satisfied. He departed with
these words of wisdom: "Long live
life!" Truly inspirational.
St. Andrew's Hall is aptly named,
because on Saturday night, Andrew
WK. owned the place.
- Check Tuesday's edition of The
Michigan Daily for a review of the new
Andrew WK. album The Wolf.
WRIT'FO ATHS
ME tNG tODA
ACT 7PM
ethnicrighFsamepmet
WLyAgo ut Te yAoE (Ken) -ea itbr2
MARRIAGE C *NTR CT (Rdssng) - n.24
CIfc youre ieest dru bigivedernanyti grdf
ACSTING
Meanderfonrm ihan alepepe
Comic Opera Guild 734-973-3264
4
al
The University of Michigan
Department of Dermatology
is currently offering
_1