Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1990)
The Battalion LIFESTYLES The 1 Wednesday, May 30,1990 Lifestyles Editor Todd Stone 845-33i w Tempers, heat flare in short fIREHOSE sho\t By JOHN RIGHTER Of The Battalion Staff HOUSTON — Blending the ag gression of its post-punk roots with the passion of the more traditional fROMOHIO, H REHOSE blistered through a short, interrupted set Sat urday night that left the audience sweating for more — literally sweat ing for more. The small, poorly ventilated Showbar On Washington, in Hous ton, seemed a blessing with its cozy confines and fIREHOSE’s extra adrenalin of playing the final show of a 55-night consecutive tour. Opening the night’s activities were a promising local band, Peglegaus, and Agitpop, a hard-edged east coast band that altered between psy chedelia and hardcore. But it was apparent by the end of Agitpop’s set that the night was to be a scorcher, with tempers ready to flare. After a short interlude, fIRE HOSE hit the tiny Showbar stage around midnight and casually worked into “Another Theory Shot To Shit” from their groundbreaking debut (and best of three LPs), Ragin’ Full-On. Watt proceeded to snap away on bass, leading the group into a ripping duo of “Honey, Please” and “What Gets Heard,” with Ed Crawford (alias Ed fROMOHIO — get it, from Ohio) lending vocals. The group intermixed new material from their forthcoming fall release (“First Cuss,” “Down With The Bass” and “Steady As She Goes” are a few to look forward to) with standouts such as “Chemical Wire,” “Me and You, Remembering” and “For The Singer Of R.E.M.” But about thirty minutes into their set, problems began to arise be tween the band and the audience. PA1 Battalion file photo From left to right, George Hurley, Ed fROMOHIO and Mike Watt are cruising the music scene with their group, fIREHOSE. First off, it was hot as sin inside the Showbar with a suffocating level of humidity and smoke lying in the air. The heat and cramped confines were made worse by a small group of punks in front of the stage that were determined to slam through the set. Now I can handle slamming at a Suicidal Tendencies or D.R.I. show, but slamming to fIREHOSE, irre- gardless of their Minutemen ties (which are no longer relevant), bears no logic at all. Unfortunately, with underground music a familiar say ing rings true too often — “You’ll Slam To Anything.” Apparently, the members of fIREHOSE were in agreeance, be cause they abruptly stopped the set midway through a song and asked certain audience members to leave. iepar- ture. Watt was especially ticked, hav ing his microphone knocked over and then run into by an audience member, breaking a bass string. “You think this is the army or be ing like a marine,” Watt screamed. “This is no TV, my teeth real]’,; you asshole.” Moments later, several aur. members did leave. After thel; five-minute tirade, they startt^ again. But it was obvious mutt been lost in the incident. Just as obvious was the pnfe fIREHOSE was having with the k°ns and humidity. Watt was sweati'Mj ^ e hard that he could barely opd ~f e y . eyes while playing, and hehad|rx ^ sc ble finding the microphoneio into. Finally, Watt got fed up. ^ laid down his bass. H 6 ® 5 ’ “We’ll never treat HoustonnJBjr unc this way again,” Watt said. “nM§ owl ! ridiculous. You pay $10, you o; T 3 ' ° ( air conditioning. I can’t evensla; washboard (bass). It’s not right A . n Having spoken with thegrou; ? S1 ^ fore the show, I realized how r. | the set had been shortened. At it" V 10 songs were cut out, and f« - ^ ’ encore, fIREHOSE rushedthrt|g > 2 slaV a two-minute version of T * roads.” tht'ti But Crawford came back out; ^ an acoustic solo of “In Memor w Elizabeth Cotton,” before apoti ^ ing again and quickly escaping ^ ' hind the curtain. It was extremely unfortunate c]^ nl , the heat derailea the mommas? ov that boiled during the set’s first;, ” .■ j hour. The contrast of Crawft^FTjp country twang with Watt's p-; spiels worked great behind \t : «jr vt , n nick snaps and heavy thumps., rummer George Hurley’s conigT^ trated pummels that idled tk* g et energy at high throttle. fberu I I can sympathize with the discomfort, especially being umk t h , customed to the extreme huittcBj^ j But sometimes you got tosuckw s p n „ guys. As it turned out a raging g ut |j, hour was unforgivingly left to*) on the ceiling with all that sit* and hot air. H Third 4 Back To The Future’ film offers same fun, thrills of original Back To The Future III Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen Directed By Robert Zemeckis Rated PG By DON ATKINSON JR. Of The Battalion Staff “Back To The Future” fans who loved the original film and were dis- sapointed by part two will be pleased with “Back To The Future III.” In fact, most anybody will be pleased with this latest and final installment of the popular series. “Back To The Future III” marks a return to the same elements that made the original film so enjoyable. Director Robert Zemeckis does a masterful job of combining sus- "" d ; ’ pense-filled action with comedy and romance. More importantly, “Back To The Future III” is a complete film in the sense that it has a beginning, middle and end. One of the biggest prob lems with the second film was it had no beginning or end, just one big middle. “Back To The Future II” started exactly where the original film left off and ended right where “Back To The Future III” begins, leaving the audience with a hollow feeling. “Back To The Future III” works well not only as another chapter in the series, but as an independent story, able to be enjoyed whether you’ve seen the first two films. In “Back To The Future III,” Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) must go back in time to the old west to res cue Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christo- f >her Lloyd), who is stranded there ollowing an accident involving the infamous time-traveling DeLorean. Shortly after his arrival, Marty discovers that he has to contend not only with a malfunctioning time-ma chine and an old-west version of Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) known as Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, but also with Dr. Brown falling head over heels for the local schoolmarm, Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen). Marty also stumbles across an early ancestor of his, played by Mi chael J. Fox with a “Lucky Charms” Irish accent. Once the basic plot threads are es tablished, “Back To The Future III” takes off at warp speed and doesn’t stop until the film is over. However, the movie not only fea tures good directing and a clever story line, but good acting as well. Fox and Lloyd have done an incredi ble job of maintaining the integrity of their characters throughout the trilogy. Wilson, as the evil bully Biff, has added a whole new dimension to bis character. In fact, some of the best moments in “Back To The Future III” involve him and his gang of wild west ruffians. Mary Steenburgen, the only new comer to the series, does a credible job as Doc Brown’s love interest. Steenburgen brings a certain amount of innocence and strong will to her character. It’s easy to see why someone could fall in love with her at first sight. The only problem with “Back To The Future III” comes at the end. I can’t say much without giving the ending away, but I can tell you there is a minor jump in logic in the last few moments. Even so, it does not take away from the film and proba bly won’t bother many audience members. One final note: during the town dance scene, watch for a cameo ap pearance by ZZ Top. “Back To The Future III” is an enjoyable film and will probably be the first hit of the summer movie JVart extinguishes pain with fIREHOSEprojeci R; Mike Watt, bass extraordinaire from the Minute- men, Dos and currently fIREHOSE, knows a little something about long tours, tough setbacks and cre ative indecision. I spoke with the talented writer and musician about his views and opinions on fIRE HOSE, underground music and the tragic death of former Minutemen, D. Boon. It’s been a long tour for fIREHOSE. Your 55th night in a row. Are you ready to see it end? “This is the last night, and it’s a very happy day. But I got to tell you, Tm very grateful to have 55 shows to do in a row. I don’t want to make it sound like a burden or something. It’s really neat to know there are people in 55 towns that want to see us this bad and have us work for two months straight. ” You’ve been working with your wife Kira (for mer bass player for Black Flag) with Dos. Are there plans for another release? “Kira and I will be going into the studio in about two weeks to work on a full-length album (the first two were EPs). I bought a tuba in Champaign that I want to learn, so maybe there will be some tuba on it (the previous albums have been all bass). ” From what I understand, you and George (Hurley, fIREHOSE and Minutemen drummer) weren’t planning on another project after the tragic end of Minutemen. What changed your mind? “After D. Boon died it was like a whole part of me was gone. Ed (Crawford, guitarist and lead singer of fIREHOSE) heard that I was auditioning for guitar ists — which I wasn’t. But he called me up, and I told him to come out. It was very difficult. We’d tried something with Elliott Sharp (SST alternative artist), but it was terrible. There was no communication be tween George and I. ” Was fIREHOSE then orthopedic, a way to play and put the past behind you? “Not orthopedic, because I wasn’t planning on doing HREHOSE. I had already done the Madonna single (Ciccone Youth’s single of‘Into The Groovy’) and had also worked with Kira on Dos before D. Boon’s death. The first two years (with HREHOSE) I was paranoid. Very paranoid. I stayed back by the drums. It will be four years that we’ve been playing together in June, but the first two years were fear ful. ” “If it wasn’t for those guys, I don’t know if I woti: have ever, ever played again. I thought it was owl for me. I know music is a very private thing, like (fit cover on the front of ‘iEn’ (fIREHOSE’s secondt: bum) with a picture on my wall of me dreaming. B. on the other hand, without other people ... 1 dmiU AF think I would have had the nerve.” Ming How did Sonic Youth help you get involvto {{nip again? g Bubo “Ciccone Youth was the way I got back intomusii gay w It was after (D. Boon) got killed. The Madonna sir. mour gle was the first thing I did. Kira had to do an inter Ry nship at Yale and I stopped in New York andsawtn day d friends Thurston and Kim (Moore and Gordon nally husband/wife team of Sonic Youth). They had list in come into the studio and record on their albm ■ forni; Evol. ’ I told them I wanted to do a Madonna record Bu to laugh again ...I was very depressed. It was abac with time. Bitch Tell me something about ‘Ragin’ Full-On,’ yow at Ar first album with fIREHOSE. It’s the most aggrts So sive bass playing I’ve heard you do. * i||| Bans “I didn’t really know Ed, and what J tried to do 1st, n was to play as intense as possible. I learned to pit; June the bass and he in a band with D. Boon. I hadn'if Ga played with any other people. Ed had only been t. ing f my house for live months. I had to buy him hisfmi on tl amp. It was very intense ... but that should beinspir place ing to kids to start bands and not to think that we’rt some select group of gods ... it’s for everybody.” What do you make of the punk scene nowadayii How does it compare to the early days when you and Kira were active with the Minutemen and Black Flag? ‘Well, that lady was at the beginning of pud wen, mat taay was at me beginning ot pum rock. She was just 16-years old in ’76. She ran the mask. I wish the spirit won’t die. I hope kids still I understand that Sonic Youth had a great part in helping you return to music. spirit won’t die. I hope make bands that do things that haven’t been tried To me that’s what it’s all about. Tm counting oc them, ’ca use I’m getting older. ’’ Do you see the same level of energy today? What level of spirit do you think exists? “Yeah I do, but you have to work to find some’ thing that is happening. That’s what’s so great about watching someone like Sonic Youth stick i screwdriver in their guitar and play. It’s real. That’s the spirit. That’s what music needs.” * JOHN RICHTER “\ ^ dene New Fleetwoood Mac release features solid pop-rock chae Fleetwood Mac Behind The Mask Warner Bros. vhe: By TODD STONE Of The Battalion Staff Personnel changes are a fact of life for the pop group Fleetwood Mac. But when innovative guitarist, producer and musical leader, Lind sey Buckingham, left the group, Mac’s musical future seemed in doubt. But the group’s latest release, Be hind The Mask, proves that Mads future is bright with 13 songs of di verse and inventive pop-rock. Original members Mick Fleet- wood and John McVie return with long time members, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. But it’s the addi tion of guitarist Billy Burnette, and lead guitarist, Rick Vito, that will keep Fleetwood Mac musically dy namic. Burnette and Vito are more than just studio stand-bys. They wrote or co-wrote many of the tracks, and their harmonies can be heard on ev ery song. The entire album is more guitar, and less keyboard oriented than past Mac efforts Such as Tango In The Night. However, the album begins in a traditional Fleetwood Mac manner with a Christine McVie tune entitled, “Skies The Limit.” The song is typ ical Christine McVie optimism — “The ski is the limit now, we can hit it on the nail, and when we do, I’ll think about you.” Musically, it’s com mon McVie — up-tempo beat, heavy keyboards and mushy harmonies. However, McVie isn’t all mush. On “Behind The Mask,” her tone is cautious and untrusting — “It’s a devil’s disguise, Angel in black, and I recognize the face behind the mask.” The “dark” undertones are also felt with a gothic chorus arrangement. The surprises begin with the sec ond song, “Love Is Dangerous” — a clever little-rocker written by Vito and Nicks, featuring some slick gui tar licks and harmony by Vito. This is also one of the rare moments where a song sounds better with Nicks singing. Another surprise is “When The Sun Goes Down” by Burnette and Vito. This is a snappy country-pop tune with fun, laid-back vocals by Vito and Burnette. “In The Back Of My Mind,” a Mc- Vie-Burnette duet, is a slow-rocking gem, featuring quality harmonies and strong leads from Vito at the end of the tune. • Stevie Nicks gets “the weak sister” award for the most forgetable song on the album, “Affairs Of The Heart.” This song fails to distinguish itself because of weak chord pro gressions and melodies. Her song “Freedom,” written with Mike Campbell, guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is a stronger, up-tempo effort with qual ity harmonies. Still, Nick’s lead vocals often sound like she’s been gargling bat tery acid. Of course, that’s nothing equally as strong as Fleetwood’s per cussive efforts, but his bass playing was occasionally drowned out by over-mixed synthesizers. Unfortunately, Fleetwood Mac’s pop-rock style puts Fleetwood and McVie’s rhythmn section role in the background. p*M ‘ ‘'^11* j | Fleetwood Mac It wasn’t always like that. Mac was founded by McVie and Fleetwood with blues guitarist Peter Green in 1967. To say that McVie and Fleet- wood could thrash the blues is an understatement. PMRHmp TMt MASK But critics of Stevie Nicks will have to accept that her harmonies mix well with the other Mac singers on this album. Most of the tracks have solid backing vocals from Mc Vie, Nicks, Burnette and Vito. The strong harmonies show off Mac’s greatest musical strength: memora ble melodies. Drummer and percussionist, Mick Fleetwood, anchored Behind The Mask, and he was especially support ive on Burnette’s “In The Back Of My Mind.” Fleetwood’s tight, snappy beat, and subtle percussion, using cymbols, gongs, chimes and congas, highlight the song. John McVie’s bass-lines were McVie can slap out bass lines with the best, and Fleetwood is one of the tightest and most reliable drummers around. I would love to see Fleetwood Mac return to some of their blues roots. They have the personnel. Christine McVie use to play with The Spencer Davis group, and if you ever heard Burnett and Vito re-perform old Fleetwood Mac blues, you know they are perfectly capable as well. But Fleetwood Mac seems content to continue with pop, and although they do not have Buckingham lead ing the way, Mac remains creatively strong with Behind The Mask. Ti V