The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 — 5A

On Friday, Jan. 26, Ann Arbor 
locals and residents from the 
far corners of the mitten state 
alike flocked to the University’s 
own Hill Auditorium for the 41st 
Annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival. 
Being so close to the festival, in 
geographical terms, might make 
University students write the 
event off as a minor happening, 
but the festival is, in reality, 
central to the Ann Arbor music 
scene. At its core, Folkfest, as 
it’s often amicably referred to, 

serves two express purposes. 
First, it is a fundraiser for (and 
by) The Ark, a local venue and 
hub for all things folk. Second, 
it draws people from all over the 
Midwest together to partake in 
an oft-underappreciated genre. 
A folk festival whose headliners 
include Jason Isbell and John 
Prine can only be expected to 
meet expectations, but Friday’s 
portion of the annual event far 
surpassed them. While the final 
act of the night was always sure 
to be a success, there was never 
a dull moment during the night’s 
earlier performances. Every set 
was musically compelling and 

honest, and a few artists managed 
to touch on the current state of 
affairs in a way that felt refreshing 
and candid.
At half past six, as the audience 
continued to fill the auditorium, 
Chastity Brown took to the stage. 
If the occasional usher’s light or 
the murmur of conversation were 
distracting, she didn’t show it, 
and soon after she began playing 
the room fell quiet. With sparse 
instrumentation — acoustic and 
electric guitar as well as a single 
bass pedal — she set the tone 
for the night: intimate, soulful, 
reflective. Before playing her last 
song, she offered her thoughts 

Music & magic at Ann Arbor Folk Festival night one

SEAN LANG
Daily Arts Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN / DAILY
DEAD HORSES PERFORM AT FOLK FEST

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

TV REVIEW

HBO’s latest limited series, 
“Mosaic,” bears a fitting title. Not 
only are viewers left to puzzle 
through and piece together the 
unforeseen murder of children’s 
book author Olivia Lake (Sharon 
Stone, “Total Recall”), but also to 
try and decipher what “Mosaic” 
even is — or better yet, what it 
wants to be. The series grapples 
between branding itself as a 
TV show, “an interactive app 
experience,” a more cinematic 
mystery or at times all of the 
above. This only goes to blur the 
(what should be) very clear line 
between 
poignant 
television 
and one of those predictable and 
cringey pieces of whodunit dinner 
theater. Nevertheless, I’ll give it 
this — as a narrative, “Mosaic” is 
at times much too tedious, but as 
an experience, it’s perplexing in 
all the right ways.
Originally released in the fall 
of 2017 as a choose-your-own-
adventure style app, “Mosaic”’s 
recent adaptation into a Steven 
Soderbergh (“Ocean’s Eleven”) 
six-episode TV thriller explores 
both the moments leading up 
to and the dynamic aftermath 
of Olivia’s small-town murder. 
Switching between flashbacks 
from the night of the crime to the 
reopening of the investigation 
four years later, the core of 
“Mosaic” attempts to uncover the 
real killer and bring long-overdue 
justice to Olivia’s accused fiancé, 
Eric (Frederick Weller, “In Plain 
Sight”). Even though the viewer 
has no real capability of changing 
the outcome of the story in either 
the app or the series, a constant 
thread of engaging with varying 

perspectives and weighing the 
truth is woven throughout — 
enough to make you feel like a 
detective in the case.
To say the least, the first episode 
of the series is hard to grasp. Right 
from the get-go, the audience is 
privy to a whole slew of characters 
and personalities that have some 
sort of tie to Olivia. But without a 
Google search, just what that link 
is remains fuzzy. While leaving out 
any sort of formal introductions or 
anterior characterizations does 
heighten the drama and suspense 

of the mystery, deciphering who is 
who then becomes a tiring task. It 
isn’t until episodes three and four, 
where Olivia’s almost-sister-in-
law, Petra (Jennifer Ferrin, “Hell 
on Wheels”), returns to town with 
a vengeance. With that, “Mosaic” 
proves its merit and prompts a 
full-out binge session to unearth 
how the murder actually went 
down.
It is for that reason that the 
ending of this mini-series felt 
particularly disorienting because 
— without giving too much away 
— there is a, shall I say, curious 
lack of traditional closure in the 
finale. In fact, I was left with such 
an unhealthy amount of questions 
regarding certain whereabouts 
and specifics that I (against 
previous discretion) felt the urge 
to turn to the app version of the 
exact same story to try my hand 
at some major sleuthing. While 
there are a few extra details in 
the app that were cut from the 

linear version, I still felt the 
purposeful level of dissatisfaction 
and confusion that Soderbergh so 
often intends in his work. Lucky 
for me, that void is one that can 
be filled by another Soderbergh-
confirmed season of “Mosaic,” 
though this time anthology style 
with an all new storyline.
When thinking of aspects of 
“Mosaic” that stand out above the 
rest, the camerawork is the first to 
come to mind. The way in which 
there is obviously little editing or 
special effects adds on gives the 
series a very intimate, naturalistic 
tone. The handheld feel of the 
camerwork 
truly 
allows 
any 
outside viewer to sink themselves 
into the fictional world of Summit, 
Utah. It is fascinating to feel 
both like a fly on the wall and an 
intruder while watching the same 
piece of media.
The other internal element of 
“Mosaic” that beams with allure 
is the casting. Not only is Stone 
compelling 
and 
tenacious 
as 
Olivia, but her male counterparts 
share equal degrees of charisma. 
Frederick Weller is gritty and 
captivating in his scenes behind 
bars, and Garrett Hedlund (“Tron: 
Legacy”), as an aspiring artist and 
murder suspect Joel, fights his 
inner demons and overwhelming 
anxiety 
with 
honesty 
and 
refinement.
While it may be difficult to 
explain all the nuances of the plot 
here, you too will be sucked into 
the whirlwind that is “Mosaic” 
after a mere six-hour watch. 
Moving 
past 
the 
wandering 
start of the series and the cliché 
tropes that come along with 
every murder mystery, “Mosaic” 
presents itself as a sleek noir that 
sets a new standard of innovation 
for TV production. 

‘Mosaic’ is a whirlwind

MORGAN RUBINO
Daily Arts Writer

on the past year, recounting in 
specific an incident immediately 
before one of her shows when a 
white supremacist approached 
her, 
shouting 
insults 
and 
threatening violence. Though the 
story itself was disheartening, 
Brown’s tone during the following 
song 
was 
overwhelmingly 
hopeful. With the mood defined 
and a powerful set delivered, she 
exited the stage.
One thing that we absolutely 
can’t help but credit The Ark for 
is their efficiency. Every year, 
Folkfest is a demonstration not 
only of folk music and the culture 
that surrounds it, but also of 
entertainment at peak efficiency. 
Only 
moments 
after 
Brown 
exited and before her applause 
had subsided, emcee Joe Pug 
appeared stage right, guitar and 
harmonica at the ready. A talented 
musician in his own right, and 
even more impressive entertainer, 
Pug kept the audience’s attention 
between sets. While he played 
original songs and offered his 
tastefully subtle sense of humor, 
stage hands and audio engineers 
prepared the stage for the next 
set with a degree of coordination 
that could qualify as art in and of 
itself.
After Brown came the duo of 
Dead Horses, comprised of Sarah 
Vos on acoustic guitar and Daniel 
Wolff on double bass. Though an 
ostensibly odd pairing, the two 
managed to fill the room with 
their hymnal-like sound, Wolff’s 
fingers dexterous on the neck of 
his bass. Next was Lori McKenna, 
writer of “Humble and Kind,” 
which took the Grammy for 

Best Country Song in 2017. Her 
apparent comfort on stage was 
infectious, no doubt a product of 
her experience as a performer, 
and the songs she performed 
were influenced in part by her five 
children.
Also a proud parent — though 
to four rather than five — 
Massachusetts-based 
Stephen 
Kellogg played the final set before 
intermission, a rousing romp that 
consisted of just four or five songs, 
ones that made me wish he would 
play one or two or five more. What 
was beautiful about Kellogg’s 
performance 
was 
his 
sheer 
exuberance at being on stage. He 
beamed out at the audience with 
an eagerness and thankfulness 
that was reflected perfectly in the 
energy with which he delivered 
his uplifting folk-anthems. It was 
hard not to be excited both with 
him and for him.
Following intermission were 
JJ Grey & Mofro, a prolific group 
whose performance received an 
immediate standing ovation at 
its conclusion. The act featured 
not one but two trumpets, both 
of whom played huge solos, and 
John 
Higginbotham 
(aka 
JJ 
Grey) himself on harmonica. 
Afterward, Jason Isbell and the 
400 Unit took to the stage. Now, 
although 41st anniversaries don’t 
tend to be particularly notable 
in and of themselves, the Folk 
Festival’s 41st marked at least 
one significant change. During 
the final set of the night, several 
stadium-style lights came on, 
filling the hall with motion and 
colorful patterns. This was the 
first year for these features, 

and more than providing pretty 
visuals, they signify growth for 
the festival, and hopefully not a 
departure from what has made it 
so near and dear to Ann Arbor’s 
heart for the past two generations.
Isbell 
and 
company’s 
set 
made the lights feel appropriate, 
and 
guitar 
solos 
abounded. 
The most valuable parts of the 
performance, 
though, 
came 
between 
songs, 
when 
Isbell 
exhibited his charisma, making 
well-received jabs at the kind of 
people who leave the room when 
he plays “White Man’s World” 
and giving a nod, before his 
last song, to his struggles with 
alcoholism. It was the sort of 
honesty that wouldn’t necessarily 
be expected from a festival 
headliner, even if the festival were 
a folk festival in Ann Arbor, and 
that’s not even mentioning the 
counterintuitiveness of Isbell’s 
decision to write and perform a 
song that he knows challenges a 
significant portion of his listeners. 
At the end of the night, attendees 
had a choice: They could leave 
Hill with a splendid night of music 
behind them, memories of soaring 
vocals and subtle harmonies, 
harmonica solos played at a 
breakneck pace and softly sung 
acoustic-guitar 
ballads, 
or 
choose to see a community being 
fostered. Four bars of music can 
sound as pleasant as you want, 
but it’s seeing and knowing the 
human side of it that makes those 
melodies truly awe-inspiring and 
that brings the folk community 
together. It makes me excited for 
Folkfest 2019 — even just two days 
after 2018’s iteration.

Big Ticket: blackbear & 
Roy Woods to play Hill

EVENT PREVIEW

INTERSCOPE 

Contemporary 
R&B 
artist 
blackbear and Canadian singer/
songwriter Roy Woods are to 
perform 
at 
Hill 
Auditorium, 
scheduling to headline a spring 
show on Mar. 23. A result of the 
efforts of student group Big Ticket 
Productions, these shows strive 
to showcase artists that reflect 
the University’s student body as a 
whole.
“As 
an 
organization, 
we 
constantly 
attempt 
to 
gauge 
the interests of the general 
population here on campus. Our 
motto as a club has always been: 
‘Your 
campus, 
your 
music,’” 

said Stamps senior Alexandria 
Valdes, president 
of 
Big 
Ticket 
Productions.
This 
year, 
Big 
Ticket 
Productions 
hopes 
to 
bring 
inclusivity 
into 
Hill 
Auditorium, 
as well provide 
an 
opportunity 
for relatively new 
artists to take the 
stage.
“We believe our 
acts invite a wide 
range of students 
who 
represent 
an audience that enjoys both 
hip hop and R&B. Both artists 

are up-and-coming and provide 
an 
opportunity 
for 
students 
to 
see their favorite 
artists 
on 
their 
own campus for 
discounted prices,” 
said Valdes.
Tickets to the 
performance 
will 
start at $15 for 
students 
with 
a 
valid ID and $25 for 
the public. Tickets 
will be available to 
purchase on Jan. 
31, either in-person 
at the Michigan 
Union Ticket Office 
at 9 a.m. or online at muto.umich.
edu at 10 a.m.

SHIMA SADAGHIYANI
Daily Music Editor

blackbear & Roy 

Woods

Hill Auditorium

March 23 @ 7 p.m.

$20-45 for students

$30-50 general 
public

“Mosaic”

Series Premiere

HBO

ALEXIS RANKIN / DAILY
STEPHEN KELLOGG PERFORMS AT FOLK FEST 

ALEXIS RANKIN / DAILY
CHASTITY BROWN PERFORMS AT FOLK FEST

