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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1982)
*1 /2 Focus, The Battalion XO Friday, April 23, 1982 Ticket outlet sells variety of passes by Colette Hutchings Battalion Staff If you've got the money but not the time to buy tickets to an upcomming show, never fear. Ticketron is now available to help local residents purchase tickets for everything from a punk-rock concert to the Hous ton Symphony with ease. Now all concert-goers will need to fret over is the time, date and place. The Ticketron service is avail able in Dillard's department TlCKETnON* store in Post Oak Mall. About seven tickets have been sold in the two days the service has been open, but Lynn Patter son, Dillard's customer service clerk, says once the word gets out she thinks the ticket sales will be big. The charge for getting tickets to events in other cities is about $1, but Patterson said it's worth the price considering the event may be sold out by the time you arrive in another city to buy them. Only cash or a Dillard's charge card are accepted at the local Ticketron. Ticketron currently operates in over 150 cities across the na tion and sold over 50 million tickets last year. Tickets can be purchased for the Houston Ballet, Houston Shake— Continued from page 3 Music Express and at their per sonal appearances. The first. Coming Home, is on the band's own Twin Dream Records; the second is on MCA. Russell said the band was not pleased with how MCA handled publicity for the album, so it bought itself out of the contract. Cooper, John Vandiver and Michael Marcoulier are all help ing on the new album. The band is also going on a mini-tour of West Texas in May as an opening act for Michael Murphey. "The Shake Russell Band is alive and well," Russell said. Audiences will get "what they're used to only better." Shake Russell fans will get a chance to check this out for themselves when the band appears at the Campus Theater on Saturday, May 1. Russell will preview some songs from his new album, and John Vandiver, whom Russell describes as "a one-man show," will open the concert. "He can get the whole room Pops, Theater Under the Stars, Nina Vance Alley Theater, Southwest Concerts, Inc., Shrine Circus, Ringling Bros, and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Texas World Speedway, Astro- world and The Renaissance Fes tival. Patterson said most of the tickets sold so far have been for the play "The King and I," with Yul Bryner, in Houston. Other tickets available include attractions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Las Vegas Shows, New York Broadway Plays and entertainment throughout the U.S. and Canada, including the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Also through Ticketron, re servations for National Park, U.S. Forest Service and Califor nia State campsites may be pur chased. Not to mention a few hotel, rapid transit and airline reservations. An unlimited number of tickets may be purch ased through the Ticketron ser vice. Ticketron does not sell Astros tickets or Austin concert tickets. Patterson said events are listed on microfilm for those who aren't sure if a particular event ticket is available through the service. The speedy ticket service is possible because of Ticketron's sophisticated computer system. A Ticketron operator punches the ticket information — num ber of tickets needed, location and date and price preferred — into a keyboard linked by tele phone lines to a central compu ter data bank. The computer in stantaneously scans what is available and transmits informa tion to the customer as to the best available tickets or reserva tions and the tickets are printed on the spot. going with sing-alongs," Rus sell said. Vandiver and Russell will have the entire theatre, in cluding the balcony, to get going. Special "love seats" in the balcony will be available for $10. Other prices are $7.50 for reserved seats and $6.50 for gen eral admission. Beer and wine will be avail able, and regular concessions stand will be open. Tickets for the show are avail able only at the Campus Theatre and Music Express. The original tickets had to be reprinted, and only the new tickets will be hon ored at the door. The new tickets colors are: general admission, blue; reserved, white; and love seats, green. The show is a put on by Solid Pops! productions, which has sponsored local appearances by Russell and Gary P. Nunn in the past. Randy Vandervoort, one-half of Solid Pops!, said she and her partner are trying to bring more live music to Bryan-College Sta tion. They want to sponsor a concert after each home game next fall, Vandervoort said. Mandrell opens Frontier Days Louise Mandrell Louise Mandrell opens Houston's Frontier Days Fes tival with two performances this Saturday. Frontier Days is an annual event which re-creates pioneer days with music, dance, food and costumes. The Festival lasts six weekends, through May 31. Mandrell, who appears weekly on "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters," was nominated with her hus band R.C. Bannonas "Duet of the Year." She will appear at 4 and 8 p.m. In future weeks, festival goers will see counb-v ictc in cluding Boxcar Willie, Eddy Raven and Mel Tillis. The festival also features a rodeo, crafts and frog races. Saturday nights, live western music will have heels kicking until 1 a.m. The festival is at the Fron tier Days Grounds in Huff man, Texas, seven miles east of Lake Houston on FM1960 East. Admission is $10 for adults and $4 for children and senior citizens for Saturday, and $7 for adults on Sunday. Satur day's admission includes live entertainment. Van Halen Diver Down, Van Halen — Van Halen is the Led Zeppelin of the 1980s. Let me qualify this. Of course, no group will ever match the grandeur of Led Zeppelin. They gave birth to heavy met al, gave us the song receiving more FM airplay than any other — "Stairway to Heaven" — and essentially defined the 1970s musically. But if you strip away their cul tural influence and lyrical fines se, what remains? You have a powerful band of skilled musi cians; a steady and tireless drummer, a competent bassist, an artistic guitar virtuoso and an eccentric piercing vocalist. Essentially, you have Van Halen. But the comparison doesn't stop here. Many now consider David Roth to be the most dyna mic, if not the flashiest, rock vocalist since Robert Plant. Also, Eddie Van Halen seems to have ousted Jimmy Page from the rock guitarist throne as well. Add to this the fact that Van Halen albums, like Led Zeppe lin's, have tended to become more musically progressive and their stage presence more awe some. Sadly, though, this is where the comparison starts to break down. Obviously, the eighhes are radically different from the seventies. Folks today are less politically-oriented and more party-oriented. Drugs have been replaced by jogging, etc. So to keep in pace with those changes. Van Halen is obliged to be more superficial. In essence, they're a party band. And their new album. Diver Down, is a party album. It con tains no deep philosophical questions and no stairways to heaven. It does, however con tain the best stuff they've done since their first album. Diver Down begins quite typically with another epic of teenage desperation called "Where Have All The Good Times Gone?" The mood pro jected is very reminiscent of pre vious works, "Everybody Wants Some" and Fair Warning, wherein David Roth questions "What's there to do tonight, anything?" Moving quickly from this minor masterpiece we come to "Hang 'em High," which along with "The Full Bug" are neces sary evils that one finds on Van Halen albums. Oh, they're not bad, they're simply fillers. The real gems on Diver Down are the remakes. This time around Van Halen has dredged up a mixed bag of oldies. The pseudo-soul "Dancing in the Street" should raise a few eyeb rows. An old blues novelty tune "Big Bad Bill (is Sweet William Now)" is given new blood with the effect coming off as a sequel to "Ice Cream Man." I'm sure you've heard their version of "Pretty Woman" on the radio by now. Musically, with the excep tion of a few minor guitar flourishes, it has remained true to the original. One major differ ence, however, is that RoyOrbi- son wore dark glasses and stood perfectly still, whereas David Roth wears earrings and leaps about. Diver Down concludes with the flip side of the single "Happy Trails." Yes, Roy Ro gers fans, it's back-in-the-saddle time again. Tongue-in-cheek irreverence is a traditional trade mark of Van Halen, but this time they've gone too far. Forget everything I said ear lier. Van Halen is really Kiss without their makeup, right? — Vic Sylvia SoUd Pop*! Production* Presenting THE SHAKE RUSSELL BAND JOHN VANDIVER live AX THE CAMPUS THEATRE Saturday May 1, 1982 Advanced Tickets General Admission • Reserved Seats • Love Nests at Campus Theatre Box Office 8c Music Express