6B -The Michigan Daily - Weuel,4 4c. - Thursday, November 2, 1995 Springsteen: Through a set darkly at Young's show Los Angeles Times MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - You usually know that it's time fora concert to start when the stage crew finishes check- ing the last of the microphones. Not so at Neil Young's acoustic Bridge School concerts at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. One sign of the warmth and infor- mality of the star-studded event is that no one expects anything to begin until the final wheelchair is rolled on stage. Young and his wife, Pegi, started this concert series nine years ago to help finance educational programs in the San Francisco Bay Area for children with severe speech and other physical impairments - and students remain the top priority. They are seated in a place of honor behind the performers. This generosity of spirit carries over to the performers, who use their 25 minutes to either preview new material orto revisit old songs in often revealing ways. Though Saturday's edition also fea- tured stirring performances by the Pre- tenders, Emmylou Harris and Young, the focus was on Bruce Springsteen because he previewed two songs from his "The Ghost of Tom Joad" album, which will be released Nov. 21. Comedans Malone and Nootcheez hit Mainstreet D.C. Malone and Hampton Nootcheez don't Just have crazy names. They also offer up an Insanely funny musical comedy act that drew "nine thumbs up" from Mainstreet Comedy Showcase employees. The funny part is that Mainstreet only has two employees ... (That's our attempt at a joke, of course). If you're looking for REAL humor, laugh experts Malone and Nootcheez have been performing their unique brand of comedy since they met in Toronto 13 years ago. From their days in a 12-piece electric band called "Voodoo Bar Mitzvah" to the stripped down duo they travel In today, the two comedians have been perfecting their stage banter and verbal choreography. The polar opposite personalities of the comedians may have something to do with their appeal. Malone is tall where Nootcheez is short. Nootcheez Is clean-cut where Malone Is "hipple." Malone was raised by African pygmie wolves when Nootcheez was raised by Mongolian pack horses. (That's our second attempt at a joke). The San Diego Beach News even threw caution to the wind and dubbed Malone and Nootcheez "supremely talented bastards." We prefer "excessively humorous baboons," but you can make up your own name for them after you see them perform. The duo will swing into town tonight with an 8:30 p.m. show at Mainstreet and continue Friday and Saturday with 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. shows. Tickets are $12; call 996-9080 for additional information and reservations. Come by and see these "sumpremely talented" comedians. No joke. This is an important album for Springsteen because many critics and fans complained about a lack of direction in his pair of 1992 albums, "Lucky Town" and "Human Touch." There were excel- lent songs on the albums, but the works overall hadthe feel ofa man searching for his place in the'90s pop-rock scene, some observers felt. The direction is clear this time, and the trail leads back to the uncompro- mising spirit of some of Springsteen's most acclaimed work. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Sinaloa Cowboys,"the two songs from the album that he played Saturday, com- bine the stark, simmering social obser- vation of his landmark 1982 "Ne- braska" album and the poignant sense of solitary struggle chronicled in his 1993 Oscar and Grammy winning song Bridge School Benefit Shoreline Ampitheater Mountain View, Calif October 27, 1995 "Streets of Philadelphia." "Tom Joad," which he dedicated sarcastically to House Speaker Newt Gingrich. evokes the name of the main character in "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck's celebrated 1939 novel about Oklahoma farmers who migrate to the promised land of California only to find themselves at the mercy of bul- lying police and inhumane employers. Accompanied only by his own gui- tar, Springsteen sang the update of the Joad tale with the determination and bite of a '30s folk balladeer: "Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner/Wel- come to the new world order/Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest/ No home, no job, no peace, no rest." Though the microphone sputtered at several points, Springsteen seemed very much a man on a mission as he wove the new songs around some equally de- spairing tunes from his past, including the similar social protest of "Seeds" and the more internal conflict of"Adam Raised a Cain." He seemed reinvigorated and ready to tackle head-on (both with the album and a companion solo acoustic theater tour) the charges that he has lost his relevancy and will in contemporary rock. The cre- tive fire was in his eyes. Yet his set was far from the evening's Neil Young and wife Pegi organize amazing concerts that benefit all who listen., only highlight. Emmylou Harris and the Pretenders' Chryssie Hynde are arguably the most captivating female singers ever in country and in rock, respectively, and it was thrilling to hear them on the same program, even if in separate sets. Daniel Lanois, who produced Har- ris' new album and who adds a more rootsy and sophisticated edge to her music, joined Harris in a set that was more a partnership than a Harris solo affair - a move that is fresh at times, but which also sacrifices some of her individuality. Hynde and the Pretenders also had a partner, but the string quartet that ac- companied them accentuated Hynde's vocals rather than competed with them. She dedicated a stinging version of Young's "Needle and the Damage Done" to Shannon Hoon, the Blind Melon lead singer who was found dead in Louisiana on Oct. 21. Blind Melon had been scheduled for Saturday's bill. Hootie and the Blowfish, which was well received by the crowd of mope than 20,000, is as unpretentious as it is ordinary, which means its success is as inoffensive as it is inexplicable. Beck, a young singer-songwriter wbo is hip enough to go from Lollapalooza to "The Larry Sanders Show," can be engaging at times, but he opened the nearly five-hour concert with a ram- bling and listless set. Young, in closing, was joined by the Crazy Horse trio for passionate ver- sions of some of his best-known tunes, including "Tonight's the Night," be- fore leading the entire cast through a spirited "Rockin' in the Free World." As the musicians left the stage shortly after li p.m., the audience yelled for more, but you knew it was hopeless. The stage crew had already begun. wheeling the young students off the stage. Rock's most rewarding annual, concert affair was over. Chryssle Hynde honored the late Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon. i Wouldyou like to move a city through the challenges of urban revitalization? Think you can help build a newly forming democratic society in Eastern Europe? Want to be the budget director of the U.S. Department of Labor? How about playing a major role in ensuring a clean water supply for the future? The world is changing. It's a whole new landscape of ideas, cultures, policies, and problems. You can be part of it. A degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University can propel you into the thick of policymaking, management, and environmental science. 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