Monday October 10, 2005 arts. michigandaily.com artseditor@michigandaily.com JI iFtilgrn u RTS 5A . . . . .. .. .. .. ... .. . Talk is cheap Depending on your perspec- tive, it's either the best or the worst fake news story since the Jude Law debacle: Tom Cruise has finally knocked up fiancee/ purported hostage Katie Holmes. Presumably, this will end specula- tion that he tapped her merely as media-watchdog arm candy to promote a pair of his-and-hers block- busters. Presumably, this will end decade-spanning rumors that Cruise uses his poster-boy marquee status to hide the fact thatf 1 he's actually a reticent closet case. Presumably, the next we will have to hear about TomKat will be when they name their JEFF] BLOO TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily LEFT: Weezer's Rivers Cuomo; Foo Fighters' Dave Grohi STILL FIGHTING Foo FIGHTERS AND WEEZER ROCK JLA By Abby Frackman Daily Arts Writer CONCERT REV It was cool to be uncool at the near-sold-out Foo Fighters/Weezer concert at Joe Louis Arena Friday night. The audience was a mix of middle Foo Fighters schoolers whose first taste of and Weezer Weezer was "Beverly Hills" and Friday college students who showed up Joe Louise Arena in hopes of hearing the older, bet- ter Foo Fighters and Weezer hits that showed them the way during their dark teenage years. For some fans this was their first concert with the two music greats, but others probably couldn't count the number of times they've seen them live. The show kicked off with a tight set by up-and- comers Kaiser Chiefs, who performed the infectious tunes that lace their debut album, Employment. Even though the arena was just starting to fill up, the indie outfit gave it their all. The concert gained momentum as Weezer, fronted by emo-chic Rivers Cuomo (sans the signature glass- es) took the stage. Deafening cheers and screams turned to laughter and applause as the band made their entrance to "When You Wish Upon a Star," ref- erencing the title of their latest album, Make Believe. Weezer then went into "My Name is Jonas," off their '94 self-titled debut. As the song came to a close, Cuomo and co. immediately launched into their next song - the slower, introspective "Peace" from their latest disc. Even though the crowd's energy level was taken down a notch, they loved the song choice and sang every word. Throughout the set, Cuomo and the rest remained fairly stationary, and the audience interaction was minimal. One exception was when Cuomo joked that he was practicing a new song but refused to play it because the audience "would record it, put it on the Internet and be sick of it before the album came out." Instead, he played "El Scorcho" and ditched his gui- tar in favor of slightly awkward dance moves. Cuomo shared the spotlight with his fellow band- mates. While he stayed back at the drums, bassist Scott Shriner lent his vocals to "Dope Nose," guitar- ist Brian Bell shined on "Why Bother?" and drum- mer Patrick Wilson rocked "Photograph/Song 2," a Blur cover. The highlights of the set were Weezer's rous- ing rendition of "Big Me," a Foo Fighters classic, as well as an acoustic "Island in the Sun," during which Cuomo sang on a platform on the floor of the arena. The set was a perfect mix of old and new Weezer hits. "Say It Ain't So," "This is Such a Pity," "Hash Pipe" and "Surf Wax America" were all received with enthusiasm. The set came to a close with a member of the audience playing "Undone - The Sweater Song" with the band. It ended with "Buddy Holly." By the time the Foo Fighters took the stage, the crowd at Joe Louis reached its peak. The opening number "In Your Honor," off their new album of the same name, set the tone for their set. Frontman Dave Grohl screamed the lyrics to every song, almost to the point of making them incomprehensible. The Foos tore through a highly energetic set, play- ing a collection of old as well as new hits, among them "All My Life," "Everlong," "Best of You" and "Times Like These." Excellent song choices paired with Grohl's uncommon stage presence left little to be desired. Some of the best moments were Grohl's playful interactions with the audience. At one point, he called for dramatic lighting and when a spotlight was placed on him, declared it a "Creed moment." During "Stacked Actors," Grohl found himself in the same spot on the floor where Cuomo did an acoustic "Island in the Sun," much to the audience's enjoyment. Also similar to Cuomo, Grohl stepped into the drummer's shoes during the mellower "Cold Day in the Sun" while Taylor Hawkins pro- vided vocals. The night ended with full audience participation on "Money Wrench" while Grohl showed off his impressive skills by playing guitar behind his back. If this concert was any indication, Weezer and the Foo Fighters show no signs of a diminishing fanbase. If anything, it served to reinforce old loyalties and create even more dedicated fans. all-American spawn after something deeply buried in the L. Ron Hubbard archives. But if we've learned anything in the greater scheme of celebrity- insider schlock, it's that presump- tions involving any sort of logic will get you nowhere. But maybe this is expecting too much. It's up to you whether you think it's acceptable that this type of story shares front- page status with, say, a Pakistani earthquake that killed something like 20,000 people. No, this is the sort of story that will be with us for months (years?) to come. Our obsession with movie stars and what we think we know about their lives predates the reality-TV age and most of the stars that now make headlines. We balk at the intrusions of tabloids but casually browse them on supermarket newsstands, roll our eyes in disgust at what an unconscio- nable douche Donald Trump is, yet keep "The Apprentice" on the air for four seasons - and the list goes on. It's all part of a closeted entertain- ment culture that most of us indulge in, even if we won't admit it to other people, much less ourselves. There is, of course, nothing really wrong with this. We all have our thing. I had to fight off an almost primal urge to use this space to speculate on Julie Cooper's fantasti- cally conniving intentions with that pseudo-rehab Trekkie (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's probably to your credit). There's such a never-ending supply of "Laguna Beaches," National Enquirers and other so-called "guilty pleasures" that it has almost become its own sub- genre - and judging from the viewer response, it isn't going anywhere. The problem comes in when our infatuation with the glitz and glamour begins to overshadow the medium that brought them into the spotlight in the first place. Too often the movie- going, TV-watching, Us Weekly-read- ing public at large no longer looks to the movie or show itself but to what the gossip rags tell them about it - a sort of litmus test to screen their choices in entertainment. Take for instance the case with Cruise. After the narcissistic couch hopper became Public Enemy No. I early last summer, even politicians such as New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey issued official statements urg- ing Tom Cruise to "stick to acting." The way I see REY it, there are two prob- )MER lems with this: First, do we really need a state governor to publicly join the tabloid culture? And why should movie stars be expected to keep their mouths shut when reading about everything they say is a national pastime? There's an absurd condescension in the sug- gestion that an actor can't have an opinion on things outside Hollywood because "all they do is make movies." What does that even mean? Then there's the fact that the astonishingly pervasive anti-Cruise bandwagon led to online petitions and other movements designed not to voice their opposition to him but to boycott "War of the Worlds," a movie of which he was only a single partici- pant. On one website in particular, www.petitiononline. com/Tomkat/, which as of this writing has collected 17,235 signatures, the letter is not even addressed to Cruise but to direc- tor Steven Spielberg. Meanwhile, "War of the Worlds" was an assured, creepy-crawly spectacle that many people skipped out on for no good reason. Granted, this works to the advan- tage of the film or TV show in ques- tion as often as it does against them - Brangelina sold "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" to the tune of $180 million - and many stars of the Paris Hil- ton breed no doubt bring most of the negative buzz upon themselves. But there comes a point where we have to draw the line. There are indeed some legitimate reasons to avoid a movie or show because of something other than the actual work itself, but when we have a smear campaigns against things most of the protesters haven't even seen, it comes to the point where enough is enough. -Bloomer is still trying to find the Goose to his Maverick. Help him out by e-mailing him at bloomerj@umich.edu. I Nerd rap hits the Blind Pig Rap group takes St. Andrew's stage By AIel Sundel Daily Arts Writer CONCERT PRE-VIEW In the nonsensica Teen Hunger Force, wearing spider named MC Pee Pants raps about candy. The man behind MC Pee Pants and other Adult Swim char- il comedy "Aqua a giant diaper- mC chris Tonight at 7 p.m. At the Bling Pig approaches his music in a playful way, wrting satirical lyrics that comment on different aspects of society. He has formed his own label and offers downloads of his songs for free on his website. "I think we've all been taken for a ride enough times by the music industry," he said. As a writer/artist/voice talent for Adult Swim cartoons, Ward had the opportunity to incorporate his rap skills through MC Pee Pants. "I always got to write a new song for every episode I was in, so I liked that a lot," he said. Although Ward is now self- employed and no longer works for Cartoon Network, he is still involved in the cartoons and will be featured in the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" movie, which is slated to open next year. The self-proclaimed "geek" rapper played a sold-out show at the Blind Pig last spring, and he said can't wait to come back to Ann Arbor with his Revenge of the Nerd tour. He was surprised, though, that he now gets extra attention from the ladies. "It's just weird because if I wasn't on stage with a microphone, girls (wouldn't) really talk to me," Ward said. "So then I'll get on stage and rap a little bit and they're tearing their clothes off and throwing their panties at me. It's kinda hilarious." So what makes him a nerd, anyway? "I'm kinda lame, I don't have a lot of friends, I don't get invited to a lot of parties and I like video games and comic books and 'Star Wars,' " Ward said. It's just something I identify with because it's about the underdog or the downtrodden, people who don't quite fit in." Ward explained that his Revenge of the Nerd tour is "a celebration of a great year, for me personally, and for nerds in general. We're just at the top of the heap right now. I don't know if it's gonna stay this way, but we might as well have a good time while we're there." By Amos Barshad Daily Arts Writer acters is independent rapper me chris, who will be performing his original songs at the Blind Pig tonight. Born Christopher Ward, me chris keeps his name in lowercase out of respect for what he calls "real hip hop," such as the groups that sparked his love for the genre: A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Black Sheep and The Pharcyde. If the "mc" were capi- talized, he feels it "implies that I think I'm a real MC, which I don't." Ward The mood on stage was reflective Thursday night at St. Andrew's Hall - Slug, a mem- ber of the hip-hop group Atmo- Atmosphere sphere, was holding court. "You St. Andrew's HallI feeling good tonight? That's all we want, right, to feel good? We come out here, feel good for a while, and then we expect that to be the norm; we want to feel good all the time. A lot of people will spend a lot of money at that bar tonight trying to feel good." Both on record and in person, a big part of Slug's shtick is his winking self-deprecation. Asked if he's surprised at times from the positive reactions of the crowds, Slug answered, "I've been feeling that way for the past 15 years, homey." No one takes him less seriously, it seems, than Slug himself. Slug, who described his official position at label Rhymesayers as "co-owner/pimp-slash-spiritual advisor," is quick to point out that he has no blanket objection to the majors, per se. "Yeah, I've seen major labels do some evil shit, but none of that compares to the evil that's inside of me," Slug said. In regard to the recording of You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having, their latest album, Slug said, "We don't care, worry about what people think, because that allows us to make any piece of shit we want. Then, when we're done, we think, how are we going to get peo- ple to eat this shit? Maybe put some sprinkles on it." "We're not very conscious of what we do. Basically, (DJ) Ant's trying to impress me, or try to make my ears bleed from the snare, and I'm trying to make him laugh. That's it. And we bum each other's cigarettes." On stage, though, Slug plays it a little harder. Beginning the set with a live band and a fedora-clad bartender serv- ing cocktails, Slug kept the quips to a minimum. The MC stalked the stage and delivered his material with almost a beat poetry feel. Midway through, the band ambled off and the crowd received a treat - Atmosphere's nontouring member Ant sauntered towards the decks, performing in Michigan for the first time. Ant dropped the needle on the MTV2 hit, "Trying To Find A Balance," and Slug kicked the show into another gear. He stared the audience down, spitting lines with vigor and gesticulating like a madman. Afterwards, he couldn't resist an opportunity to cut himself down. With a shrug, he repeated a line from the song - "stop writing rhymes and go play volleyball" - in a mock- ing, incredulous tone, like it was the craziest shit he'd ever heard. Of course, it's a foolish man that takes Slug by his word. The guy knows how to keep the crowd off its feet; the focused MC becomes the court jester in the blink of an eye. Thursday night, Atmosphere was on their game, delivering their set with a passion and an edge. And then they sat back and, as Slug put it, watched "these white kids eat it up like mayonnaise." WANT TO RE-LIVE YOUR '90S WEEZER NOSTALGIA? WRITE FOR IAIILY ARTS AND YOU CAN* The Univesity of ichigan aw Schoo The University of Michigan Law School presents Terrorism in the Court Seth P. Waxman Former Solicitor General of the United States (1997-2001) /" OW HIRING Start your Career at CarMax as a... "lq