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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.
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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
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Renee Zellweger
in Miramax Films
Picture Courtesy of Miramax Films
plays a southern country girl named Ruby Thewes,
"Cold Mountain."