Hardcore in
the afternoon
By Joe Hoppe
L AST SATURDAY was a nice day - a
nice day for a hardcore all-ages
matinee down at Joe's Star Lounge.
Walk in out of the horrible sun and
listen to great noise thrashings and
angry yells of defiance.
Saturday was such a nice day, that it
was too hot to wear your big black dan-
ce boots. Many of the boot boys stom-
ped around in tennis shoes, they're
much better for riding skateboards
anyhow. And ride the boards they did,
in lazy circles on Joe's dance floor and
outside on the sidewalk. Saturday's
such-a-nice-day-heat made a skinhead
haircut look like a good idea, too, after
all-day sweat ferments up in the greasy
locks atop one's head.
And all of Ann Arbor's young punks,
hardcores, boot boys, skins, maybe
even some that would label themselves
as mod, came in from the suburbs and
the high school and streets and far off
Metropolitan Detroit (tho' those with
the Necros came from as far as
Maumee, Ohio) to see a bar finally
opened up for music lovera of all ages.
The fab Midwest thrash bands
DisMissile, Ground Zero, The State,
and the Necros (whose album release
was the occasion for this gathering
were at Joe's
Everyone sat on Joe's uncomfortable
stools for the first band, DisMissile,
who just walked up on stage, picked up
their instruments and started in loud
and fast - the singer's yells im-
mediately getting some recognition.
The band has been around for two mon-
ths, and are incredibly young - 9th and
10th graders; somehow they look older
with that short, short hair.
They were loose but enthusiastic. Of
note are the girl lead guitar and fun
more-than-just-a-backbeat drums.
Ground Zero is another young local
2 band, two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old,
and an 18-year-old bassist. Their singer
is one of the more scary-looking guys in
the local scene, next to Negative Ap-
proach's lead singer. Too bad he
ignores the audience so much. The
music was real, real fast. These guys
could go someplace.
The State's singer, Preston, looked
kind of silly with his hair gunked
straight up like a cartoon character in
free-fall, but in spite of that the band
turned in their best performance that
I've seen. Things were in fine form,
with Preston illustrating thrash
through violent movements across the
stage, dance floor and his swinging of
the microphone stand.
The State is Ann Arbor's oldest and
best hardcore band, and they really put
all their experience on show. The music
had a little more structure than the
previous bands', with well-defined licks
(although some sounded suspiciously
like Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and
"Paranoid" - sped up, of course.)
People danced.
After the State's part of the after-.
noon, the Necros were rather anti-
climatic. Ohio's biggest contribution to
the world of hardcore seemed kind of
slow and too heavy-metalish, with lead
singer Barry Hennsler doing devil-
horn-fingered Ozzie Osbourne
imitations and even a few guitar
heroics from Brian Pollack.
The heat of the stage, left over from
the air conditioning being made useless
by all the body heat of a now-packed
bar, probably did a lot to make the show
less energetic. People were slamming,
and sithough the p.a. was messed up, a
big response came for the opener, "Be
a Man" and "Youth Camp." When the
band stopped playing after half an hour
everyone was satisfied and exhausted.
Fron all stand points, the all ages
show at Joe's was a success. Hopefully
bands like these now have another
place to play in Ann Arbor.
Daily Photo by ELIZABETH SO
Preston and the lead singer of DisMissile show-off their wonderful do's.
$2.00 WED. SAT. SUN. Shows
INDIVIDUAL THEATRES before 6:00 p.m.
5h . , t 761.9700
ENDS TONIGHT
"Lola" AT
7:20 9:30
Cranium comedy
(Continued from Page 10)
hilariously malevolent as Dolores. She
uses all her beauty and cunning (also on
display in Body Heat), and manages to
make it funny. David Warner is, in
many ways, the film's straight man. He
and his brain surgery ideas are not fun-
ny in and of themselves, but they do
make a good foil for Martin. And
lurking in the supporting cast is Paul
Benedict, a particular favorite of mine
from such roles as the Director in The
Goodbye Girl and the next-door neigh-
bor on The Jeffersons.
The film is quite good, but not great
- no whacky laugh-a-minute farce. The
Man with Two Brains entertains, not as
muchwas the people behind it ought to be
entertaining, but close, very close in-
deed.
"'La Traviata'... a personal triumph for
director Zeffirelli. It's not to be missed"
Vincent Canby, New York Times
JUNE 22-25
A i LYDIA
MENDELSSOHN
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre THEATRE, 8:00 p.m.
presents Sat. Matinee 2:00 p.m.
For Ticket Information
Call 662-7282, or
tickets may be picked up at
M idsu m mr the Ann Arbor Civic
Ids m e Theatre office,
338 South Main Street
N i hts D ream Ann Arbor, Michigan
N bL W mrkeam48104
by William Shakespeare