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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2004)
[nm ^ ;ntertainment rTAll HE BATTALION 7A Thursday, January 29, 2004 apne Light Town to perform live set at ^itzwilly’s on Friday Photo courthy of ONE UGHT TOWN liner (above), lead vocalist for One Light Town, will perform an :oustic set with guitarist Greg Schroeder at the Hole In The Wall Saloon on ursday night at 9 p.m. Ticket information can be obtained by calling 260- 586. The entire band will perform Friday night at Fitzwilly's with singer od Freeman. yuan ‘for with Ps| Droduce: idge By Robert Saucedo THE BATTALION College Station native Owen liner thinks Aggieland con- fcins its share of rough crowds. I "They can be tough, but mce you grab them, they are ind to you," said Tiner, lead ocalist and guitar player for (Itemative country band One actn® jght T 0 w n “Once you have a whetheB ore g r0U p 0 f f ans y 0U ’ re set." He said it has taken One ight Town three years to get > group of fans, but now when e band plays in College tation, it often sees the same [aces in the crowd. Brady Weatherly, a fresh- an biomedical sciences ajor, is one such fan of One ight Town. I “They have a good sound as I whole, and with two lead singers, it keeps them sounding lew,” he said. ‘‘All their songs lon’t sound the same. It’s Ipbeat Texas country, and that’s what we need around here.” I Weatherly said he bought One light Town’s CD after seeing Ine of their live performances. I “I saw Owen Tiner play ith Django Walker and liked iner’s stuff,” he said. “1 ught the band’s CD, and it unds good.” While the band boasts a jdicated fan base today, One ight Town’s humble roots ere set in the fall of 2000 hen Tiner and Greg |chroeder, guitarist, joined up d started performing two- an acoustic sets in and ound College Station. The duo soon landed a eekly gig at the Crooked Path le House. It was there that Tiner and hroeder met the friends who |ould soon constitute the rest of their band: Brandon Alcala, Vlatt Newton, and Cory “The Spider” Knick were already members of rock band I Imaginary Friend” when they (fecided to join One Light Town. The group wanted to leate a band that, as Tiner explained, had “influences all over the map.” I Tiner describes his band’s Susie as “alternative country with an Americana influence.” Members of the band have Ij^ckgrounds ranging from |most every kind of rock. I “We have a punk bass player, feavy metal guitarist and classic rock influences,” Tiner said. I Though they are often I Brown into the growing Texas “lusic scene, Tiner said the label is misleading. “Bars and groups often ■row us in (to that category), lit we’re not like most of it,” jiner said. He said the band's fluences range from Ryan GIGS l who. One Light Town where: Fitzwilly’s how much: doors open m Friday at 8 p.m. Adams to Tom Petty. With the formation of the final line-up of the band. One Light Town quickly garnered a crowd that was too big for Crooked Path to accommodate. The band began branching out, playing in surrounding cities such as Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, New Braunfels and Oklahoma City. Two weeks after the band reached its final roster, it recorded a self-titled CD. “From then on, we hit it as hard as we could,” Tiner said. “We got ourselves a booking agent and our crowd kept on growing,” Chris Stark has been One Light Town’s agent for two years now. “I saw them in concert and approached them,” he said. “I became friends with the band and soon became their agent. In concert, they’re live and ener getic. They have one of the largest fan bases in College Station,” Stark said. With a released CD hailed as the “Featured CD of the Month” at TexasMusicMovement.com and a fan base growing larger with each show, One Light Town is one band that does not plan to take a break. The band will be touring long into the spring. One Light Town returns to its roots when Tiner and Schroeder play a two-man acoustic set at Hole In The Wall Saloon at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29. “We’ll probably do a large number of originals mixed with some covers that may or may not be recognizable,” he said. “Fans of the music will enjoy a nice change in pace with an acoustic set and new listeners will have a great introduction.” The entire band will per form at Fitzwilly’s at 11p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30. nmunmn c R I T I Q U E “Cold Mountain” Miramax Films Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Rene Zellweger Some movies create a feeling of epic pro portions simply because of the ideas they present and the manner in which they are presented. Many of these movies are made with meager budgets and a cast of unknown actors. Most of these famous movies have been released by Miramax Films since the Weinstien brothers began their company in 1979. "Cold Mountain,” the biggest Miramax produced film to date, is not one of those movies. Presenting no new ideas and lack ing a unique style of filmmaking, the film instead falls back on the fact that it is an epic film for its epic status. With an unbelievable amount of talented supporting cast and a majestic mountainous backdrop, the film delivers the goods for sheer quantity alone. However, the story’s quality suffers from a noticeable lack of originality. Jude Law stars as Inman, a southerner who falls for the beautiful Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman). After just one kiss and the promise of eternal love, Inman is drafted into the Confederate army. It is his love for Ada that keeps him alive throughout the Civil War’s horrors. The brutal conditions that were inflicted upon the soldiers are shown with uncom promising detail in the opening minutes of the movie. As the war draws to an end, Inman decides he has waited long enough for love and leaves the battle to be with his beloved once again. At that point - almost an hour into the film - the movie finally hits its stride. Back home in Cold Mountain, N.C., Ada has come upon some hard times at the fam ily farm. Living the lush southern plantation life since birth, she has never had to deal with everyday farm chores. With the farm in chaos, she takes in Ruby Thewes, a moun tain girl who is a little more than rough around the edges. The talented Rene Zellweger plays Ruby expertly in one of her most unflattering roles yet. With the appear ance of a country bumpkin, and the manners to match. Ruby helps Ada bring her farm back to prosperity from the brink of self- destruction. Watching Zellweger and Kidman interact is a highlight of the movie as the two of them share a special chem istry, bouncing their distinct personalities off one another. At the same time, Inman continues his journey home though the South. Along the way he meets a multitude of interesting characters from all walks of life. While highly entertaining, the quest home is nothing new. In fact, at points the plot seems to eerily resemble Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey.” From blind prophets to scant ily clad sirens, the story borrows liberally from the epitome of epics and other similar works. The music of the movie is truly outstanding and will leave the theater along with the audience, echoing in its collective memory. From bluegrass tunes to haunting antebellum ballads, the music helps to remind the viewer of the love that drives the movie’s. Jack White of the White Stripes contributes music to the film as well and makes an appearance in the movie itself. The beautiful hills of Romania work to spectacu larly showcase the isolation and deep-set pride that sur rounds Cold Mountain. Visually, the movie is a treat to watch. This comes in handy during times of extreme melodramatic voice overs that seem to draw on and on and on, adding to the movie’s already long-running time. “Cold Mountain” is an epic story of love and endurance that offers plenty of entertainment value. Unfortunately, the characters and plot do not offer anything that audiences haven’t already seen count less times. For an afternoon to kill, “Cold Mountain” is worth a matinee viewing. - Robert Saucedo S!V2SVi$> I ww i lu I I ih iii I )uui<4 \ ImU c ui't viv* W.il b li cu VIU ( il« li llu iimIiiim l uq taU lul.l.t l uslt All If (II I* III llJimi) tlilKvi IM jlllsill »k IIU* Renee Zellweger in Miramax Films Picture Courtesy of Miramax Films plays a southern country girl named Ruby Thewes, "Cold Mountain."
