Battalion •:
day • June 2],
foe:
Nick Rodmckijsiji
Since then,!y
will
ances
sions, tUE
the ball 01?
and missc:
shots att:
when bet
ly droppe:
buzzer-be?
and madi
clutch defe
sive plays
d, Jordan was:
, but not grea:
de sure that-
bed and burr,
•ound of thef
5 this bode fa
Lemieux rete
as Jordan rer.
11, as the spoil!
ee player who
prematurely,
jpposedly reG
s father’s mL
t short his cait
bad back and
isease. Mostir
ieux is return?
ime Atlas-like!
ed Jordan,
r Mario seeiffi
onfident.
coming back to
olayer,” Lemif-
jss conference
iback. “If I car.
See Swift, P;
EAR
>ur 4-7 pmM
00 Draft
Longnecks
► Chuggers
75 Well
15
Parts
t apply to labor
pon Per Vehicle
15-95 • MEINEKi
H
/ Pay For
ts & Estii#
/leineke®
dre FREE!
15-95 at Meineke*. O'
h any other otters. W
mate.
Copyright C Me rfl ’
The Battalion • Page 3
Thursday • June 22, 1995
Gaines steps from behind <¥< 's purple
shadow with soulful Closer Than Close
By Rob Clark
The Battalion
Album Review
Rosie Gaines
Closer Than Close
Motown Records
★★★ (out off five)
In the ever-chang
ing world of soul mu
sic, most artists seem
to fall into a trap.
The rap trap, that is.
With hip hop’s in-
creasing popularity,
most soul singers seem to think their style
must be funkdafied to create any kind of
commotion.
Not Rosie Gaines.
Gaines first caught the nation’s attention
as a singer and keyboardist for the New Pow
er Generation, the backing band for the artist
formerly known as Prince.
Gaines almost stole the show from Prince
on hits like “Diamonds and Pearls,” “Cream”
and “Gett Off.”
But Gaines has stepped out from behind
the diminutive shadow of His Purple
Pompousness with her debut solo album,
Closer Than Close.
Not since Aretha Franklin’s heyday has a
there been a voice so thunderous roaming
All-day
festival is
the soul music industry.
Gaines combines her in
fluences — Franklin,
Chaka Khan, A1 Green
and Prince — with her
own style of blues, jazz
and R&B.
And the end result is
an impressive album
with soulful ballads
dominated by Gaines’ powerful voice.
Gaines even provides a link from the past
to the present with two of the most influen
tial men in music.
The late Marvin Gaye’s voice is sampled
in “I Want U,” and Prince turns the tables
on Gaines by singing backup on “My Tender
Heart,” as well as writing two of the songs
on the album.
Perhaps the main problem with the al
bum is one that should be expected from a
debut album. The lyrics in most cases are
simple, save the two Prince-penned songs
and the two Bob Marley remakes.
Gaines also uses the tired “Baby, I’m sor
ry” speeches that groups like Boyz II Men
have run into the ground.
Other slips are Gaines’ feeble attempts at
a socially-conscious vibe on “Concrete Jun
gle” and “Get the Ghetto Out of Your Mind.”
But Prince comes to the rescue with
“My Tender Heart.” The song, written by
His Royal Weirdness, is a sure-fire hit
with a touching tale of love lost. Prince’s
backing vocals, along with those of gospel
group The Steeles, mix perfectly with
Gaines’ to provide the smoothest of flows.
Most ambitious is “December 25th,” in
which Gaines ponders the peace of Christ
mas Day in a year of turmoil.
“What about freedom, happiness and
love?” Gaines asks. “I’m looking for a bet
ter place — One day of silence in a war?”
With her ballads, Gaines sticks to
what works by sticking to her roots. No
caravan of hip hop dancers will be ac
companying her performances. Just a pi
ano and her voice.
In looking back at recent R&B debuts,
Gaines’ inexperience is similar to Vanessa
Williams’ first album. The Right Stuff. But
as Williams has flourished, so shall Gaines.
A voice like Gaines’ simply cannot be
ignored.
Lollapalooser
a waste
of time,
money
and
sweat
Amy
Uptmor
Columnist
T ickets for the fifth-
annual Lollapalooza
festival went on sale
last weekend. A word of
warning for fans who are
considering braving this
festival for the first time:
don’t be blinded by MTV’s
glorified coverage of Lolla-
palooza. It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Here in Texas, all-day concerts are about as good of an
idea as asking someone to hold a blowtorch to your head.
Both activities can have similar effects.
Aside from the searing heat, the entry fee alone is
enough to drive the masses of poor college students away.
The ticket price has averaged at or above $30 for the last
four years. Prices wouldn’t be that bad if there were not so
many added expenses.
No one warns the innocent concert-goer of how much
money will be spent just to stay alive. Fans can expect to
pay at least $5 for a piece of pizza and $2 for a cup — more
like a shot — of water. Of course, considering the show runs
an average of eight hours, more than a cup of water might
be needed.
Then there’s the infamous Lollapalooza midway, a
French Market of sorts where peddlers sell everything
from clothes to political bumper stickers, all of which the
sellers and your friends will convince you that you cannot
live without.
And they’re right. A 2-feet tall “Cat in the Hat” hat
made out of wool and hemp is just what you need when
faced with a day of 100-degree weather and a huge crowd
of thieves.
The worst part of Lollapalooza, however, is
the bands. Granted, there are always good
bands on the lineup, but they are mixed in
with second-rate bands that 99 percent
of the audience couldn’t care less about.
After hours of suffering through
mediocre music to hear the one band
you’ve been waiting for, it only plays for a
limited amount of time and without any
stage props or settings that the band
would have if it was touring on its own.
In short, the good bands, competing for
time, aren’t allowed to shine by virtue of Lol-
lapalooza’s nature.
Lollapalooza proves what other festivals have
been discovering lately — packaged festivals just aren’t
a good idea. As an occasional novelty, they work. Wood-
stock was great. The first Lollapalooza was an under
ground milestone — a Generation X Woodstock, if you will.
The second one was even pretty good. But since then, this
show has become a dead horse.
The public is losing interest as the show gets worse. In
1992, as many as 50,000 people attended the second Lolla
palooza in Houston. And why not, with a lineup including
Pearl Jam, Fled Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden? Last
year, at a different venue, Houston attendance barely
topped 20,000, which is still a good turnout but re
flects the public’s fading interest in this once-
phenomenal road show.
Enough people have gone to a Lolla
palooza by now to realize that it’s just not
all that it’s cracked up to be.
Maybe festival organizer Perry Farell
should put the show on hiatus for a few
years. Then, after festival-goers have a fi
nancial and physical break, the show
would be welcomed back.
We should think long and hard before
we march down to Ticketmaster and shell
out over $30 for a ticket to this year’s Lolla
palooza festival. We should consider all the bet
ter — and less painful — concerts we could go to
with that money. We could buy tickets to two or three
good club shows. That money could fund an entire week
end of bar-hopping and clubbing here in good oT College
Station.
Whatever we do, we should not waste our money on this
over-hyped, over-priced festival.
• Sf
►
Duo brings comic style to Palace Theatre
By Amy Collier
The Battalion
Trout Fishing in America will bring its comical
music to Bryan Saturday with a children’s perfor
mance at 4 p.m. and an adult performance at 8
p.m. at the Palace Theatre.
Trout Fishing is known
for suddenly bursting into
spontaneous joke-telling
and even juggling.
Ezra Idlet, the band’s
guitarist and vocalist, said
the group’s style is a blend
of folk, rock, blues and
some reggae.
“It seems that these
days, people try to segment
music more,” Idlet said.
“We’re sort of general prac
titioners of music. It rocks
quite a bit.”
The blending of styles is
because of differences be
tween Idlet and bass player
Keith Grimwood, he said.
Idlet said their personal
ities are almost completely
opposite from eachother.
“He’s the guy who fol
lows the rules,” Idlet said. “I’m the flakier one.
If there’s a rule, there’s a way around it.”
The duo has been together for 19 years, and
Idlet said their differences help them to stick to
gether.
“We get along pretty well,” he said. “If we
were both like me, we wouldn’t have any mon
ey. I don’t think there’s a lot of jealousy be
tween us.”
When it comes to their music, Idlet said
Grimwood thinks of lyrics first, while he thinks
of music.
"We both arrive at the same place,” he said.
“We write very well together. We are bigger
Trout Fishing
than each one of us is individually.”
Most of the lyrics which come out of their
brainstorming focus on personal experiences,
he said.
“It’s who we are, what we are and how things
affect us,” Idlet said. “We turn the ordinary into
something extraordinary and
special. It’s the day to day things
that miracles occur in.”
Even though the band plays
hundreds of shows a year from
Alaska to Florida, Idlet said he
and Grimwood take off three or
four days each week to be home
with their families.
“It’s not all about money,” he
said. “A quality life is more im
portant. The most important
part is to do something you
love.”
They found what they loved
when the duo did a show for a
teacher who asked them to per
form for her students in 1977.
Because the band enjoyed per
forming for children so much,
Idlet said it decided to continue
performing the shows and even
tually began to write music
specifically for kids.
“Their responses were so honest and quick,”
Idlet said. “They’re very excitable and enthusi
astic.”
Idlet said the band’s humor also relates to
adults.
“Adults tend to let down their guard and be
come more childlike,” Idlet said. You leave
our shows with a great feeling. You focus on
the experience.”
A genuine relationship with its audience is
high on Trout Fishing’s agenda, Idlet said.
“We really direct ourselves toward the audi
ence,” he said. “We’re not selling a product.
We’re real people instead of stars.”
Thursday
Desperadoz, a tejano band, is performing at
3rd Floor Cantina.
Freudian Slip, A&M's improvisational
comedy group , is playing at The Dixie
Theatre.
Local blues musician Bobby Hall is playing
at Northgate Cafe.
Uninvited Guest, a cover band from Waco,
is playing at The Tap.
Friday
Arabian Knights, a local arabic band, is
performing at Sweet Eugene's FHouse of
Java.
Gals Panic,
"Texas' most
alternative ska
band," is playing
at Northgate
Cafe. Fountain
Head is also
playing.
Killer Bees, a reggae band, is playing at The
Dixie Theatre.
New West is at The Texas Hall of Fame.
Peeping Tom, a local cover band with a few
original songs, is playing at The Tap.
Texas Twisters, a classic rock band, is
playing at 3rd Floor Cantina.
Saturday
Black Pearl, a rock band, is playing with
Billy White Trio at The Dixie Theatre. .
James Hinkle, a rhythm and blues band, is
playing at 3rd Floor Cantina.
Ken Ryan and Crossover, a country band, is
playing at The Texas Hall of Fame.
Slippery Fish, a cover band from Houston,
is playing at The Tap.
The Jim Talbot Blues Band, a blues band
from Austin, is performing at Sweet
Eugene's House of Java.
Trout Fishing In America, a folk band, is
performing a children show at 4 p.m. and
an adult show at 8 p.m. at the Palace
Theatre. See related story.
Veil of Veronica, a local alternative band, is
playing at Northgate Cafe.
Pocahontas, Disney's 33rd animated movie,
opens Friday at Hollywood 1 6 and across the na
tion. As the first Disney feature to ever be based
on a real-life figure, the film also marks the 400th
anniversary of Poc ahontas' birth.