Ska for animal lovers... Ann Arbor's favorite boy-band Donkey Punch will slap it across your face Wednesday at the Blind Pig. 10 p.m. S3. michigandaily.com /Arts ARTS MONDAY, JULY 24, 2000 Pine Knob pop-rock show overshadowed by theatrics i By Gautam Baksi Daly Arts Writer It was a pop-music lover's dream: Splender, Vertical Horizon and Third Eye Blind. These three bands dominate mod- ern pop radio stations with their catchy riffs, effortless lyrics and fashionable good looks. Critics have long bemoaned that these teen sensation "rock" bands are nothing but over-produced, under-talented overnight sensations doomed for the mem- ory hole of bad garage bands. But Wednesday night the ante was raised at Pine Knob as the question arose: Do they have what it takes to play live? The answer came not from the bands themselves, but rather from the middle- American, scantily-clad, bad-boy wannabe crowd of drunk teenagers filling the seats of the stadium. It seemed as if they unani- mously agreed to put up a cardboard sign to summarize their thoughts: "Will scream for anything. Talent not required." The audience paid little attention when Splender hit the stage for a 30-minute set. With a half-filled stadium, a few die-hard After the show, lead singer Waymon Boone commented, "It's not any different than anything else we've been doing. We've been beating our asses doing this so long that it's just part of it. We know that going into it." Splender's longtime friends Vertical Horizon marched on-stage with little fan- fare. Sporting shades to block the glare from the sun low in the sky, the group rolled through songs off their "Everything You Want" CD. Again, only a handful in the crowd even bothered standing up. Bald and boisterous lead singer Matt Scannell commendably tried to raise audience par- ticipation with fiery, fast-fingered solos and plenty of banter with the audience. Boone, along with Splender lead gui- tarist Jonathan Svec, watched the show backstage. Afterwards, Svec commented on the audience's ability to transform a mellow routine into an energetic show. "We can play well and sound good, but until they get into it, it doesn't really mat- ter. When you've got people spread out all over the place, [only] one or two people standing up, the sun's still up... it's a little bit different if there were no seats and everybody down at the front; you can feel the energy of the crowd. The fans are the most important thing!" Svec's words echoed through Vertical Horizon's set. As soon as the opening notes to "Everything You Want" resonated through the speakers, the entire audience at Pine Knob rose to their feet and sang along. The song was not played better than any others, but it was a recognizable radio hit. Without it, the audience would have erroneously ignored the engaging band. After two under-appreciated artists had left the stage, Third Eye Blind finally arrived to thunderous applause. Almost immediately, the band ripped through songs off their 1999 release, "Blue," even playing their current hit, "Never Let You Go" early in the night. The song marked a highlight as it was the best played song of See EB. Poe 10 Third Eye Blind, posing like a boy-band. fans sang along to the songs off their recent album "Halfway Down the Sky." Splender continued with a handful of solidly performed songs before finishing with the hit, "Yeah, Whatever" The band played skillfully with energy. but seemed disappointed with their restricted time. Right band, wrong tour. Splender played second-fiddle to the headliners a MSF takes on the villainy of Richard III By Jaimie Winkler Daily Arts Writer Wrought with emotion, the elaborately dressed cast of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival's production of William Shakespeare's "Richard Ill" rocketed the audience through emotional highs and waded through the comedic lows. The perfect pacing made dead time impossi- ble on stage. When King Edward IV, the title char- acter's brother, dies, the door of opportu- nity opens to Richard. His desires to become king overtake him and he soon racks up a body count that makes "Scream" look like "Barney" in his cal- lous pursuit of the throne. One by one, Richard draws England's most powerful into his web, eventually coming to mis- trust and destroy them all. Richard is a true villain. Even when his deeds come back to haunt him, they merely provide another stepping stone on his rise to power - not a true obstacle. Director David Alexander Blixt says in the program notes that Richard Ill is truly the villain's play (because the "hero" is absent until the final scenes) and he is right. The first two hours and more of the nearly three hour production belong to Richard, where he mangles bodies and destroys souls without consequence. The company puts on a beautifully simple production. Set back in Jackson's Ella Sharp park, the fully outdoor festival is truly a treat. Open to the cool evening air, the "theater" reminisces a time when the sun was the only on-stage lighting. Theater-goers sit on haystacks, on the grass or in lariehairs munching on pop- corn or ice cream. The ambitnce is as comfortable as a drie-in moi te theater. The set is a large and versatile facsim- ile of a street outside theF tglish palace. Free fron cluttering props or set pieces, one swoop of the drapery can make it the setting for every reason eaiding the play's fast pace. I he simple set also allows the cast to direct the audience's attention with a quick cross or animated gesture. And the detailed costumes pro- vide enough eye candy. Heading up the strong and wonderfully articulate cast is Paul Riopelle, who brings the crippled and evil Richard to life. His frequent, angry crescendos with many of the play's women are both fasci- nating and heart-wrenching. The women, who are really too imaginative and indi- vidual to lump together, all deliver Shakespeare's retorts with bite and speed. Queen Margaret, played by Wendy Katz Hiller, successfully portrays a desperate motherand the only character to truly butt heads with Richard. Leigh Woods, who plays Lord Hastings, provides the most vivid and outward example of what Richard's love and hate can do to those closest to him. The only lowlights in this moonlit hunk of sunshine are the lack of lautghter for Richard's comedic asides and the fight. Perhaps Richard creates such an apathy in the audience that they cannot see him as funny. The sword fight at the end compensates for its lack of realism by putting several events on stage at once, msaking it nearly impossible to notice that everyone is fighting very slowly and cau- tiously - the most exciting mnoment in this scene is where Richard runs through shouting the famous line: "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse." A big hats off to director Blixt and all those involved in this marvelous produc- tion. "Richarl /1 it" runs in rtepertor t'ith 'A Milsmtmtttter Night's Dream " and 'A Toahr Show" at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, associated with the Universitr of Michigan Theater Departtment, at Ella Sham Park in Jackson. Tickets ate $14. call 517-788- 5032for more ifiritation. We're Stocking Up For A Brand New Teen Store Pato's Cst"-".'is'antxiCtin-s2new rti tar-eith't buysins anla thrani Saturdapp a