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February 04, 2016 - Image 10

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4B — Thursday, February 4, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Taylor Mac soars
through decades

By ALLIE TAYLOR

For the Daily

Performance artist and drag

queen Taylor Mac, an actor,
singer-songwriter, playwright,
director,
producer and
above all,
entertainer, will
take the stage
at the Lydia
Mendelssohn
Theater on Feb.
5 and 6. Mac,
who uses ‘judy’
as a preferred
gender
pronoun, is in
the process of
developing and
writing “A 24-Decade History of
Popular Music”: a show where
judy will perform nonstop for
24 hours, covering 240 years
of music. Mac will sing an hour
of each decade’s most popular
music, starting from the birth
of the United States of America,
all the way up to 2016. The show
this upcoming weekend will
consist of songs from the decades
1956-1986.

In an interview with The

Michigan Daily, Mac chuckled
when asked what judy’s favorite
decade to perform was.

“They’re all like children,”

judy said. “I love them all for
what they are. They’re such a
delight to do. Some are harder
than others, but exciting to do
because they are harder.”

In the performance this

weekend, judy will perform these
three decades for the very first
time.

“That means (the show) is

going to have a little chaos in
it, which usually means it will

be more fun. Anything could
happen.”

Mac has been highly praised

by The New Yorker, The New
York Times and New York
Magazine, and TimeOut
magazine has deemed judy a
future theater legend. Judy
is more than just an actor or
playwright (judy has also
written 17 plays) — Mac
is an artist and a hybrid,
encapsulating the essence
of what it means to be a true
entertainer.

“Being a hybrid isn’t

something you are taught as
a child,” judy said. “It’s not
like people, when you’re a kid,
say: ‘You know, you could be a
performance artist drag queen!’
” Judy’s actions and ideas of
non-conformity inspire the
theater world, as well as inspire
those who are generally figuring
out who and what they want to
be.

Mac’s paradigm-shattering

plays, behaviors and
performances connect to judy’s
audiences so well because of the
way in which judy approaches
the crowd and communicates
with them.

“One of the things I try to

do is to figure out what the
audience needs,” Mac said. “It’s
kind of my job as a theater artist
to be a student of humanity. One
of the things I do is say, ‘Well,
what do I need?’ and because
I’m, well, a person, if I need
something, I’m guessing other
people in the world might need
it as well.”

A big aspect of judy’s

artistic philosophy is the idea
that theater is about healing.
Judy hopes to bring everyone
together and consider things

that people normally may not
spend time with. Through this,
judy hopes that “we can heal
ourselves a little bit from the
things that are destructive
in our culture.” Mac is a true
entertainer that wants people
who come to the show to laugh
and be able to experience a full
range of who they are as people
and as a community. Above all,
judy wants people to have a
“freakin’ good time.”

What’s so wonderful about

judy’s art form is its spontaneity
— Mac’s favorite part of judy’s
work.

“That moment on stage,

where you know what you’re
going to do and then something
different ends up happening
in the room — you have to go
with it. You’re doing something
completely different (than what
you had planned), and everyone
is on board and everyone knows
it’s just happening right then
and there. That moment is
glorious.”

Judy’s performances are

continually executed with an
ever-present spark. Each show
is a new experience for Mac and
the audience, keeping judy’s
passion alive and audacious.

“We’re doing two shows in

Ann Arbor,” judy said. “So if you
see the first night and then come
the next night, you’ll see two
different shows. You’ll see the
same outline, but every single
night we perform is different.
And that’s what so exciting.”

When asked what message

Mac hoped to send to the
college audience judy will be
performing for next weekend,
judy responded.

“Oh, I just hope we hang out

together.”

Taylor Mac

Feb. 5 & 6,
8 p.m.

Lydia Men-
delssohn
Theater

$40-$50

$12-$20 (Stu-

dent Tickets)

TAYLOR MAC

Taylor Mac isn’t playing by your rules.

COMMUNITY CULTURE

NBC

Yellow is the new black.

By ALEX INTNER

Daily Arts Writer

There are some reviews where

I just want to write “that was
fine” and move on. Some shows
just aren’t
doing any-
thing par-
ticularly
remarkable
or inter-
esting,
but they
make for a
moderately
entertain-
ing way of
passing 43
minutes
of my day.
“You, Me
and the Apocalypse” fits right
into that mold. It’s not reinvent-
ing any wheels or doing any-
thing distinct, but it does bring
a quirky tone to a dire situation,
making for a fun hour of televi-
sion which could easily turn into
an enjoyable miniseries.

“You, Me and the Apoca-

lypse” takes place in the 34 days
between humanity’s discovery

of an asteroid that’s about to hit
the Earth and the asteroid’s
impact. A seemingly random
group of people end up in an
underground bunker at the time
of impact, and the show tells the
story of how they got there.

“You, Me and the Apoca-

lypse” ’s biggest issue is how
bland most of the character-
izations are. The first episode
works hard to give a backstory
to a handful of the core char-
acters, but it doesn’t do a good
enough job of giving them
depth within the backstory.
Take Rhonda McNeil (Jenna
Fischer, “The Office”), a death
row inmate taking the fall for
her son’s hacking of the National
Security Agency. In the pre-
miere, she moves into a maxi-
mum security prison and puts
herself in hot water with the
people who are there. Fischer
brings a sense of warmth and
fear to a character who barely
has it on the page. Rhonda has
a thin characterization, only
brought to life by the performer.

The one exception to this rule

is Rob Lowe’s (currently on Fox
in “The Grinder”) character,

Father Jude Sutton. Sutton runs
the “Devil’s Advocate” divi-
sion within the Vatican, which
works to take down people
who are being presented for
sainthood. He smokes and he
curses, so he’s an incredibly
unconventional priest. That’s
what makes him stand out;
he’s not a standard type. Lowe
brings a natural charisma and
joke-telling ability that make
the priest’s barbs that much
more piercing. He’s the charac-
ter who I’m most interested to
see grow over the course of the
series because his foundation is
the strongest.

Yet there’s a certain quirk to

everything “You, Me and the
Apocalypse” does. It’s familiar
to anyone who’s seen “Shaun of
the Dead.” It makes light of the
end of the world. However, this
series doesn’t have Edgar Wright
at the helm to bring a visual
inventiveness to the jokes. Still,
that doesn’t mean the series isn’t
good or isn’t worth watching.
There’s enough in Lowe’s char-
acter alone to support a series,
and hopefully the ensemble
around him grows as well.

B+

You, Me
and the
Apocalypse

Miniseries
Premiere

Thursdays
at 8 p.m.

NBC

TV REVIEW

TRANSVIOLET

Transviolet, you’re turning violet!

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

CATHERINE BAKER

Daily Arts Writer

“When you do find some-

thing that you care about, don’t
be afraid to share it, and get
involved. There is nothing cool
about ‘not giving a fuck.’ That’s
just lazy. I do give a fuck. And
I’m not afraid to say it.” – Trans-
violet in an interview with
TMRW Magazine.

Once again, Spotify’s Discover

feature came in great use to me
three weeks ago when making
the long, arduous trek from Chi-
potle back to my apartment. I
owe many burritos to the genius
who made it possible for my love
of relatively small bands to be
satisfied this easily. On this par-
ticular, chilly January evening,
Transviolet played through my
crackling headphones and I fell
in love. It just sounded so cool.

While it was more difficult

than anticipated to find informa-
tion on this lovely band, I have
since discovered that Transviolet
is an LA-based quartet com-
prised of band members Sarah
McTaggart, Judah McCarthy,
Michael Panek and Jon Garcia.
Utilizing no website or Wiki-

pedia page, Transviolet instead
relies on their own social media
to foster their relationship with
fans and create an intimate and
personal platform. Releasing its
debut single in July 2015, Trans-
violet has since skyrocketed in
popularity after receiving public
endorsements from Katy Perry
and Harry Styles. In September
2015, its first self-titled EP hit
the charts as the band played
on “The Late Late Show with
James Corden.”

Transviolet takes the best

aspects of electronica, pop and
synth to create a sound entirely
its own. The opening track of
Transviolet, “Girls Your Age,” is
Lana Del Rey meets electropop.
It’s sultry, seductive and cynical
rolled into one when McTaggart
sings, “Bad boy talking fast /
Talking dirty / He tells me that
I’m hot / So I tell him that I love
him.” While the instrumentals
remain minimalistic in order for
the lyrics to take precedence,
the vocal skill makes up for any
loss in bass. In a nod to del Rey,
the song ends with, “Live fast
while you’re young, honey.”

“Bloodstream,” my personal

favorite from the EP, takes on a

heavier rock sound with strong
vocals and crashing drums.
Consistent, underlying synth
retains the electronic vibe, yet
brings a angsty edge to an oth-
erwise upbeat song. “New Bohe-
mia” continues to make social
observations without sounding
preachy. It speaks to the new
generation and urges us to chal-
lenge preconceived notions
and make our own mark on the
world, insisting, “In waves we
crash, one voice / Making head-
lines just for kicks / Trying to get
love, not trying to get rich.”

The closing track, “Night

Vision,” retains the strongest
electronic vibe, opening with
artificially produced beats and
crashing synthetic echoes. Sub-
dued vocals croon, “Get on your
knees / And praise me like you
should.” With relaxed verses and
a booming chorus, the juxtaposi-
tion creates a tangible shift in
energy within the listener.

The band’s social activism and

desire to support other groups are
just a few of the ways Transvio-
let’s making its own imprint on
the musical sphere. One thing is
certain: This is just the beginning
for Transviolet.

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW

Sometimes, when

teenagers get bored, they
make music videos. And when
they make
music
videos,
they
usually
do them
poorly.
They
follow the same formula: a
bunch of solo shots dancing in
front of the camera intended
to make them look really cool.

It’s not a stretch to say that

Kevin Gates’s music video
for “Castle,” released Jan.
29, uses this tired formula.
The song, which isn’t even
on the rapper’s recently
released studio album, Islah,
spends a lot of bars talking
about Gates’s metaphorical
kingdom and how anybody
who challenges such a power
structure will be shot at (a
lot).

The video’s plot is

straightforward in that there
isn’t one. Save an opening
scene in which a subservient
waiter serves a mimosa that
Gates immediately laces with

codeine, the rest of the video,
which spans four minutes and
16 seconds, consists of Gates
dancing and generally doing
random things throughout
nighttime Brussels. Even the
end of the video just kind of
fades away.

It does little to complement

a hook-friendly, trappy
song similarly devoid of
any discernible societal
implication. It’s literally
Gates, wearing a funny hat,
doing funny dancing. It’s
somewhat fun, though, which

provides the bulk of the
entertainment value.

The entire thing seems as

if Gates and his crew were
chilling together one day
and thought it would be fun
to shoot a music video in
a foreign city. Each shot is
hastily done; even the picture
is low quality. Everything
about it is down and dirty,
which, at this point in his
career, personifies Gates as
well.

- JOEY SCHUMAN

BREAD WINNERS ASSOCIATION

C

Castle

Kevin Gates

Vampy Transviolet

‘Apocalypse’ fine TV

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