6 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weekly - Wednesday, June 17, 1992
M 1-rds
Cowboy Junkies Tickets are $17
Black Eyed Man TicketMaster (p.c
RCA ganTheaterboxo:
After the band responsible for the for more informal
aural classic Trinity Sessions put us to
sleep with the follow-up, The Caution
Horses, some were skeptical about the The Meters
future of the Cowboy Junkies. Their The Meters Jai
latest disc should lay to rest all such Rounder
doubts. No one witha
Though the songs still have that dionforgroovin'f
Hank-Williams-jamming-with-Velvet- the sweet, slam
Underground mood, both the music Meters. From th(
and the lyrics give the materialmore of mid-'60s to their
an edge than the earlier recordings. It's later, Neville, No
not that they have a new attitude, but Modeliste mixed
that they have an attitude. "Oregon NewOrleanswith
Hill" and "Townes Blues" are very 'n' roll rhythms.7
similar to the non-covers from Trinity cal gumbo that la
Sessions,butaremoretwang thantorch. the funk explosic
"Murder, Tonight, in the Trailer Park" though this CD
shows that Margot Timmins is still straightforward h
Nanci Griffith's dark side, but this time ity of their scorch
the drum beat is much stronger. Look-a-py-py, th
MargotandherbrotherMichaelare oftenmakesthese
developing into one the greatest he even more iuresis
writes, she sings, brother/sister teams "Rubber Ban
ever. With the exception of two tracks, hottest track, op
allofthemwerewrittenbyMichael.On syncopatedguitar
paper, they are all excellent pieces of heavily bass drivc
poetry whichtell twistedstories, estab- with Arts' sugg
lishinterestingsceneriosandcreatefas- Reminiscent of
cinatingcharacters.Whentheyaresung, adelicment Th
however, they are brought to another Funkadelicmigh
level by Margot's voice, for you as- George Clinton,
sume theuneswereallcomposed from had grown up in
awoman'spointofview.Thepowerful Their light,r
irony of a strong female lead mocking "Bo Diddley"
male love behaviour in "If You Were Nocentelli's strin
the Woman andI Was the Man" shows los retaining the f
how talented Michael Timmins is. of their earlier so
One word of advice for all you andNocentellital
sensitive guys; if you become so im- title track, "Met
mersed in this disc while taking a nap, HammondB3ke
and you dream of Margot singing to off each other. T
you, it's perfectly normal. aptly closes out t
The Cowboy Junkies play at the
Michigan Theater tomorrow at 8 n.m. S
01
.SO in auvance at
e.s.c.) and the Michi-
ffice.Call763-TKTS
tion.
-Andrew J Cahn
m
any soul or apprecia-
funkshouldoverlook
nin' grooves of the
eir emergence in the
dissolution a decade
centelli, Porter, and
J the cajun spice of
hrichR&B androck
They created amusi-
id the foundation for
on of the 1970s. Al-
lacks much of the
onesty and simplic-
ing instrumentals on
e slicker production
butt-shakin' grooves
tible.
d" is the undeniably
ening with a tomly
rlickthatburstsintoa
en riff trucking along
estive interjections.
some Parliafunk-
angs, this is what
thave soundedlikeif
and Benie Worrell
New Orleans.
ollicking version of
is punctuated by
g snapping guitar so-
reedomandopenness
ngs. Both Art Neville
ke the forefrontonthe
er's Jam," bouncing
yboardand guitarriffs
his extended steamer
he cd.
ee RECORDS, Page 8
John Reneaud, Fredrick Kinch, and Carol Shepherd in the Serpent's Tooth Theatre's House Fire
Crayon drawings and a House on
Fire in an A world drama premiere
Serpent's Tooth Theatre stages 'U' graduate's Hopwood winning play
by Jason Carroll
What is a family? Everyone seems
to have their own idea. Serpent's Tooth
Theatre tries to create it's own defini-
tion in it's world premiere presentation
of House Fire.
House Fire follows an odd, middle-
class family, the Peasters, whosehouse
has just been devastated by a fire. The
family begins to shuffle through the
remains to discover that their "necessi-
ties,"suchastelevisionsetsandphotos,
are gone forever.
The events strike the adolescent
daughter, Lida (Kate Peckham), im-
mensely. We see the events, as they
occur, through her eyes. Interestingly,
"Lida's family becomes a reflection of
her crayon drawings," remarked Kenn
Pierson, composer/playwright at the
theatre.
In the play, the family "looks at the
stereotypes of family and contrasts that
with the actualities to try to figure out
what a family is," stated Frederick
Kinch, House Fire'splaywright.Kinch
also commented, "in this family's
search,theyactout,rememberandrelni-
nisce, and spiraldown theevolutionary
chain in a frenzied fit of primal
dysfunctionality!"
Lida's only confidant is her PBS
addicted brother, Stephen (Chuck
O'Connor). Her mother, Gloria (Carol
Shepherd) is seen as an "'80s mom
locked in the '50s," said Kinch. Gloria
is fairly submissive to her dominant
husband, Philip (John Reneaud).
Kinch graduated from the Univer-
sity in 1991 and he received the
Hopwood award that same year. He
explained how the procedure, of turn-
ing his scriptintoan actual play, was an
educationaliprocess for the cast. Kinch
added, "it's rare for a playwright to be will feature the cast, playwright, and
with the cast atalmostevery rehearsal." sociologists in the field of family dis-
In the spirit of Lida's drawings the cussing topics brought up in the play.
director and designer, Michael Geiger,
used actual crayon drawings from area
youths as the basis for his construction HOUSE FIRE will be performed at the
of the burned house. Pierson com- Performance Network June 19-21 and
mented, "social relevance is important June 24-28 at 8 pAn. with a Sunday
[to Serpent's Tooth Theatre]." With matinee at 2 p.m. A family symposium
that in mind, the theatre has decided to follows the June 21 matinee. Tickets
hold asymposium onJune 21st, follow- are $8-$10. Call437-3264 or663-0681
;n the. ,;,i- nernn,- nwhich for information
The Cowboy Junkies (Alan Anton, Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins)
CAMPUS APARTMENTS-FALL 1992
Efficiencies Studios
1.2.3 Bedroom Apts.
Various Locations and Amenities 8 and 12 Month Leases
Furnished + Unfurnished Apartments Available
Listings available at U-M Off-Campus Housing or Call:
WILSON WHITE CO. INC.
995-9200
Mon-Fri 8:30-5 Sat 9-2 EHO
Kate.Peckham (in Housetare) shows oWf her brand new crayons.