Monday, September 24,1990
The Battalion
Page 5
• MSC TOWN HALL •
Austin band shocks
crowd with twang
Photo by Sondra N. Robbins
David Garza and Chris Searles ham it up for the crowd.
By JOHN RICHTER
Texas A&M got its first and final
taste of Twang Twang Shock-A-
Boom Saturday night at Rudder
Theatre. The Austin trio, benefac
tors of a year-long musical love af
fair, announced its breakup in the
Onward section of Thursday’s Aus
tin American-Statesman.
While not discussing in length the
terms or reasons of the band’s disso
lution, all three members confirmed
the breakup Saturday, effective next
Saturday following their final per
formance at Austin’s Liberty Lunch.
The bandmembers were uncer
tain of their future plans, though it
appears guitarist and vocalist David
Garza will pursue a solo career.
The group experienced a smaller
setback on its trip to Rice University
Friday night. Car problems, includ
ing a blown-odt tire and a defective
radiator, prevented Twang Twang
from performing in the MSC Flag
Room Saturday afternoon, as
planned, and delayed its interview
with KANM.
As for Saturday night’s MSC
Town Hall performance, Twang
Twang Shock-A-Boom proved its
mettle as entertainers, providing a
fun, up-tempo show. A Twang
Twang show is geared toward fans
more interested in having a good
time than being musically wooed.
Carza, stand-up bassist Jeff Haley
and percussionist Chris Searles are
competent musicians, with Searles
impressive as the group’s “jack-of-all
trades” on percussion. But, as Garza
mentioned before the show, “if the
people want to dance then we’ll play'
dance music, if they want to sit down
then we’ll play real music.”
Attendees in search of
craftmanship would have fared bet
ter with Preston Reed. Twang
Twang’s performance wasn’t bad,
the group, especially Garza, are very
natural in front of an audience and
really try to involve its fans with the
event (even inviting several people
to play with them on stage). The fan
involvement creates a commune-
type atmosphere similar to Coffee
house.
Unfortunatley, the show was just
too silly and rudimentary for me. It
may be a reflection of my sense of
humor, but “Fishsticks” isn’t cute or
funny, and “Don’t Get AIDS,” while
delivered with great intentions, is be
littling in its simplicity.
A better indicator of the reception
is that most of the crowd joined in
the frenzy upfront, while others de
parted very early in the show.
Not that it matters anymore, but
Twang Twang was good at creating
a friendly, crowd-involved atmo
sphere geared toward a younger au
dience (and heck, the guys are only
19 and 20). 1 have a feeling, though,
that Garza has decided to graduate
from the Twang Twang-scene and
move forward with his departure
Coffeehouse stirs up local talent
By JOHN MABRY
Black clouds in your coffee (thank you, Carly
Simon) best describes the somber mood that
dominated the majority of performances at MSC
Town Hall’s Coffeehouse Friday night.
The evening began with a brief performance
by Dream Horse, a female duo consisting of
guitarists/vocalists Christy Claxton, a graduate
student in English, and junioi chemistry rnajoi
Stacy Lieder. In the tradition of contemporary
female folk bands, such as Indigo Girls Dream
Horse’s original material mixes haunting heat i
ache, ‘Don’t Sav You Love Me. with social/politi
calcommentary, “Primitive Dreams.”
In the safest performance of the night, Dream
I Horse epitomized true “Coffeehouse” style —
I acoustic guitars overlayed w'ith meaningful and
I catchy lyrics with a conscience, “Hey little girl,
I why do you not have shoes to wear- Where do
I you sleep to get out of the cold night air?”
I However predictable their material may be,
■ die girls do sing with an intensity and honesty
■ that's undeniable. Both are talented vocalists,
I Lieder being the more outstanding member,
I Claxton playing the supporting role.
Their performance ended on an anti-climatic
I note, as the band failed to get the audience to
Ijoin them in the chorus of “Primitive Dreams,”
I their final number.
I The next performer was sophomore English
I major David Lawrence, who read poetry that his
I friend had written before he committed suicide.
I The poems, many of which obviously anticipated
I death, “At My Funeral,” received a prompt writ-
E ten rebuttal from an audience member stressing
I the seriousness of suicide.
The evening took a refreshing turn with a de-
I lightful musical performance by local resident
iRongTan. Tan was one of the top pipa (a four-
i stringed Chinese lute) players in China, and it
I shows. Tan’s two traditional pieces, “The Yis
Dancing” and “Liu-Yang River,” displayed her
truly great musical skill and precision.
Fan was one of the few performers at Coffee
house who took great pride in her craft and con
cern for her audience, and these were graciously
returned with the biggest applause of the eve
ning.
This lack ol concern was evident in the next
performer, theater arts major Sean Dunham,
who performed a heartfelt monologue he had
written. Dunham was obviously unprepared, and
relied more on ad-libbing than he should have
Dunham’s performance was followed by the
guitar songs of Austin resident John Reysa, Class
of ’87. Reysa’s passively pessimistic songs were
vaguely reminiscent of music WWody Allen
would have written had he been a folk singer.
Take, for instance, his introduction of “Li
cense Plate Faith A friend is like a convertible
without a roll bar they re really fun to be with,
but they can kill you if y ou crash Reysa s witty,
ironic lyrics were supported by g great comic de
livery that kept the laughs coming throughout
his routine.
A nightmarish performance by junior English
major Jeff Newberry changed the evening’s
mood from polite to insane. Newberry, who re
ferred to himself as “poet/philosopher/bad-ass,”
began with a strangely vague love song solo, to
which he did a bump-and-grind routine with the
mike stand. After the laughs wore off, Newberry
delivered a brief but extremely funny and acute
attack on female corps and sorority members.
It’s apparent that Newberry’s alternative view
point hit home with the Coffeehouse audience,
but he could have been much more entertaining
had he added more polish and coherence to his
performance.
The most honest perfomer of the night was
economics graduate student Asif Siddiqui, who
performed a series of both original and cover
Photo by Huy Nguyen
Jeff Newberry goes for laughs at Coffeehouse.
songs on acoustic guitar. Siddiqui’s “Hippie
Johnny,” a song about the advantages of staying
off drugs, exemplified his observant writing style
and sensitivity to issues facing college students.
Because of this, Siddiqui was able to overcome his
weak singing voice and out-of-tune guitar, and
received an encore request from the audience,
for which he sang Patti Smith’s “Gloria.”
The song, which began with the lyrics “Jesus
may have died for your sins, but he didn’t die for
mine,” was answered by an impromptu religious
piano solo by sophomore civil engineering major
Cory Pierce.
The uplifting song was a particularly appro
priate epilogue to this Coffeehouse that, no mat
ter how entertaining, might have left one with a
not-so-positive outlook on the world.
-JU a feSki
1(3 BRECKENRIDGE
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I 1
TEAM REGISTRATION
ENDS SEPTEMBER 27th
* Join MSC College Bowl and play in our fall
team trivia tournament. Games test knowl
edge of everything from science to music.
* Form your own team (4 peolple + alternate)
or sign up as an individual. Cost is $5 per
person or $20 per team.
* Register with Gelinda in MSC 216T, or at...
* Mandatory captains’ meeting to be held
Thurs. Sept. 27 at 7pm in 407 Rudder.
* Call 845-1515 for more information.
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Channel 15
broadcasts
Civil War
! A&M students need
to set VCRs for series
By LISA ANN ROBERTSON
If Texas A&M students had no as-
I signments to read and no tests to
1 study for and no papers to write,
I then maybe they would watch T he
j Civil War, the 11-hour documentary
I airing all week on KAMU.
I As it is, most will not watch it, and
1 most will miss a dynamic series about
I a time that author Shelby Foote says
■ shaped the very character of what
| America is.
| The documentary is full of fas-
1 dnating tidbits about the people and
l events surrounding the war that set
I Americans against each other.
I For example, the general defend-
| ing Fort Sumter had taught the gen-
| “eral firing at the fort everything he
knew at West Point before the war
started. And that Florida was the
■ second state to seceede from the
Union following South Carolina’s
lead.
The series is a compilation of still
photographs taken during the war
and of images of lithographs and pe
riod paintings as well as the extraor
dinary voices of actors such as Jason
Robards, Julie Harris, Kurt Vonne-
gutand Morgan Freeman.
The actors read the diary entries
of people instrumental in the war
and of those who faced the war on
I the battleground. The series’ seren
ity is a tribute to producer Ken
Burns’ ceaseless demand for histori
cal authenticity.
Burns and a staff of researchers
gathered more than 16,000 photo
graphs for the documentary and
used more than 3,000 in the series.
“It was our most important wish
that we allow the evidence of the
past to tell its own story, whethei
through a photograph or an excerpt
See War/Page 7
DANCE
Adv. C&W Dance: $20/student
Wed. Oct 3-Oct 31 7:30 8:45pm
Ballroom Dancing: $ 18/student
Tues. Sept 25-Oct 23 7:15-8:30pni
FITNESS
Tae kwon do: $22/student
T/Th. Sept 25-Nov 1 7 8pm
Sell Defense: $22/student
T/Th. Sept 25 Nov i 6-7pm
Yoga: $22/student
M/W, Sept 24-Oct 31 8.30 9:30pm
Intermediate Yoga: $22/student
T/Th, Oct 9-Nov 8 8:30-9:30pm
HEALTH & SELF HELP
CPR: $ 18/student
M/W. Oct 8 & 10 6-10pm
M/W, Nov 5 & 7 6-10pm
Basic First Aid: $22/student
M/W, Sept 24-Oct 3 6-9pm
Personality Discovery: $ 18/student
Wed. Oct 10, 17, 24 6-9pm
Assertiveness Training: $ 12/student
Thurs. Sept 20-Oct 11 7:30-9pm
Stress Management: $20/student
Wed. Oct 17, 24, 31 6:30-8pm
Public Speaking: $15/student
Thurs. Sept27-Octl8 6:30-8:30pm
Problemsolving: $12/student
Thurs. Oct 11-Nov 1 7:30-9pm
BUSINESS
SPECIAL INTEREST
Star Gazing: $30/student
T/Th, Sept 25-Oct 18 6:30-9pm
Potpourri:
Tues. Nov 6
$12/student
6-9pm
Wine Appreciation: $25/student
Wed Sept 26 Oct 17 7-8:30pm
Creative Writing: $28/student
Tues. Oct 2-Nov 6 6:30-9pm
Matting & Framing: $25/student
Wed. Oct 10, 17.24 6-8pm
Juggling: $ 14/student
Wed. Oct 3, 10, 17 6-8:30pm
Plan Your Wedding: $22/student
Mon. Sept 24-Oct 15 6-8pm
Wedding Cakes: $10/student
Wed. Sept 26 7-9pm
Flower Arranging: $ 18/student
Tues. Oct 2. 9, 16 6-9pm
Electronics: $26/student
Thurs. Sept 27-Oct 25 6-9pm
Auto Mechanics: $ 18/student
Thurs. Oct 4, 11. 18,25 7-9pm
Bike Maintenance: $20/student
Tues. Oct 23, 30 Nov 6, 13 7-9pm
Guitar: $28/student
M/W, Oct 1-Oct 24 7:30-9pm
Intermediate Guitar: $28/student
Thurs. Sept 20-Nov 8 8:30-10pm
PHOTOGRAPHY
Beg. Photography: $28/student
Tues. Oct 23-Nov 13 6-9pm
B&W Darkroom: $25/student
Wed. Sept 26-Oct 10 6-9pm
Tues. Oct 16, 23, 30 6-9pm
Visual Photography: $18/student
Thrus. Sept 20-Oct 11 7-9pm
Video Camera & VCR: $ 18/student
Thurs Oct 11-Nov 1 7 9pm
Studio Portraiture: $22/student
T/Th, Oct 2, 4, 9. 11 6-9pm
NONSTUDENT
Workshop Fees
are an additional
$4 per class.
COMPUTERS
Intro to Macintosh: $ 15/student
T/Th, Oct 2 & 4 8-9:30pm
Pagemaker 3-O/Mac: $40/student
M/W, Oct 22-Nov 19 5:30-7pm
Microsoft Word/Mac: $20/student
T/Th, Sept 25-Oct 4 6-7:30pm
Intro to DOS/IBM PC: $ 15/student
M/W, Oct 8 & 10 8-9:30pm
WordPerdect 5.1:
T/Th. Oct 9-Nov 1
$40/student
7:30-9pm
Lotus 1-2-3 $40/student
M/W, Oct 22-Nov 7 6-8pm
MSC Craft Center
845-1631
LANGUAGES
Conversational Chinese: 6:30-8pm
M/W, Sept 24-Oct 31 $35/student
Conversational French: 6:30-8pm
M/W, Sept 24-Oct 31 $35/student
Conv Japanese II : 6:30-8pm
T/Th, Oct 30-Nov 29 $35/student
Conversational Spanish: 6:30-8pm
T/Th, Oct 2-Nov 8 $35/student
Conversational Russian: 6:30-8pm
T/Th, Sept 25-Nov 1 $35/student
English as a 2nd Language 6:30-8pm
T/Th, Sept 25-Nov 1 $40/student
Accounting:
Mon. Sept 24-Oct 15
$25/student
6-8:30pm
Business Etiquette:
Tues. Sept 25-Oct 16
$15/student
7-9pm
Basics of Investing:
Tues. Oct 2-Oct 30
$ 16/student
7:30-9pm
Interviewing:
T/Th, Oct 23-Nov 1
$12/student
6:30-8pm
Resume Writing:
M/W. Nov 5 & 7
$8/student
6:30-8:30pm
ARTS & CRAFTS
Calligraphy II:
Thurs. Sept 27-Nov 1
$22/student
6-7:30pm
Cross Stitch:
Wed. Oct 3,10,17.24
$12/student
6-7:30pm
Cornhusk Dolls:
Tues. Oct 23
$10/student
6-9pm
Drawing:
Mon. Sept 24-Oct 29
$ 18/student
6-8:30pm
Etched Glass:
Tues. Oct 16
$12/student
6-9pm
Pottery:
Wed. Oct 3-Nov 7
Thurs. Sept 20-Oct 25
$28/student
7:30-9:30pni
7:30-9:30pm
Stained Glass:
Wed. Sept 26-Oct 24
$28/student
6-9pm
Leaded Glass:
Tues. Oct 16-Nov 13
$28/student
6-9pm
Decoy Carving:
Tues. Oct 16-Nov 13
$32/student
6:30-9:30pm
REGISTRATION IS NOW IN PROGRESS
MSC University PLUS Craft Center - MSC Basement 845-1631