daily ncbrscksn
Wednesday, epril 13, 1977
wf series strikes Sunday eve s
By Douglas R. Weil
Be creative. Kang a few strands of blinking Christmas
tree lights above your loudspeakers. Toss your pro model
Frisbee around the room, but watch that lamp on the end
table. And if you're a fanatic for realism, you and your
roommate (better yet, you and your girlfriend) could take
turns searching each other for contraband.
But whatever mood devices you decide on, make sure
that your radio is tuned to KFMQ at 9 p.m. on Sunday
evenings for KFMQ's living room concert s?ries.
These living room concerts started two weeks ego with
a live recording of Rod Stewart in England. The second
concert, aired last Sunday featured a popular European
group, Climax Clues Band.
, These concerts are presented by the British Broadcast
ing Company and are distributed in the United States by
London Wavelength. According to Roger Agnew, program
director at KFMQ, the London Wavelength series is na- .
tionally sponsored by the Toyota Corporation.
"Wavelength really does a good job at everything they
do," Agnew said. They've done fine shows in the past on
Bob Dylan and Elton John. They seem to be a top-notch,
quality organization."
: , ' " Concert series '
' N Besides the fact that the concert series is well-produc-ed,
the concerts run in their entirety without commercial
interruption. ' " . , '' ' . . " '
' Agnew explained KFMQ wanted to do the concerts,
but doing them without the cornmerical breaks "was a
major consideration. .
KFMQ approached London Wawlenth. about sgch a
possibility and received permission. In lieu of running
commercials durihg the concert, KFMQ work's the Toyota
spots in at other times in their broadcast schedule.
In addition to making the concerts more listenable,
.the absence of commercial interruption makes things
convenient for home recording enthusiasts. Judging from
the first two shows, the Wavelength concerts are worth .
. preserving and they easily surpass the quality of most
recent live LP's. -
The London Wavelength series usually runs every other
week but KFMQ has stockpiled the shows and. is pre
senting the best of the series on consecutive Sunday
evenings. "
In the future KFMQ listeners will be hearing live re
cordings of Led Zeppelin, Al Stewart, and Rennaisance.
Agnew also said that KFMQ has "two specials in the
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can. One is a six-hour Beach Doys show and the other is
a 12-hour presentation of the Beatles. .
According to Agnew, the Beach Boys special wil be
aired "when the weather gets a little warmer" and the
Beatles special will ts broadcast when Agnew and asso
ciates decide exactly what to do with the marathon-length
show.
Actually, presenting recorded concerts is not new to
KFMQ. UntH just about nine months ago they had sub- -scribed
to the popular Kir.3 Biscuit Flour Hour series.
The consistency of the Kim Biscuit .series really
dropped off," Agnew said. "It eventually got to the point
where only two out of evejy three shows was of worth
while quality.'
"Under the King Biscuit series the subscribing station is
committed to airing every show. Thus we decided to drop
it." . -
Voters to decide future of Lincoln
isy uiarue ting
Although Lincoln already has six places to stage tine
arts, none seem to be able to meet all of the needs of the
city's fine arts groups. The six buildings, Pershing Munici
pal Auditorium , Kimball Recital Hall, ODonnell Audi
torium, the Lincoln Community Playhouse, the Nebraska
Sports Complex and UNL's Howell Theatre, may soon be
joined by yet another fine arts center.
The fate of the new project, tentatively called the
Civic Center, depends on the whims of Lincoln's voters.
The Civic Center Plan is a proposal to renovate the old
City Hall and old Federal Building on the 9th and 0
Street block downtown. The Civic Center Theatre would
link the two existing buildings creating a 2500-56 at per
formance center besides providing office space in the
older sections.
A bond issue to pay for the proposed center will go
before Lincoln voters on May 3. The bond has been set at
seven million dollars to cover the estimated construc
tion, renovation and preservation costs ($6371,175) and
still provide for possible inflationary cost increases.
. Corporation formed
Art Thompson is executive director of the Civic Cen
ter Corporation, a non-profit organization formed to deve
lop the plan for the center. -
Thompson said there are three big advantages to the
Civic Center. The center would preserve two existing
historical buildings (the old City Hall and the old Fed
eral Building), he said .
Thompson said the second reason was that both
buildings could be used if some fire and safety codes are
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met, rather than having to construct a new building.
Thompson also said not only would two-thirds of the
space be used for Lincoln city office space but the re
maining one-third would be the theatre complex. Thomp
son said a new theatre alone would cost over $6.4 million,
but for that price the city is getting the theatre plus office
space.
The center would also save money because the proper
ty would belong to the city and Lincoln wouldn't have jto
rent office space at higher rates, Thompson said. He said
Lincoln already owns the old City Hall (purchased from
the Federal Government in 1903 with the stipulation that
it must be used for municipal purposes) and the old Fed
eral Building would be a gift to the city from the Civic
Center Corporation (who bought it from the Mutual Deve
lopment Company in 1975 for $695000 or $305300
less than its appraised value at the time).
Property taxes ;
If the bond issue is passed Thompson said the Lincoln
property tax would be raised about 1.8 mills ($1.80 per
$ 1 JOOO worth of the property's assessed value).
Thompson said the city wouldn't be the only one to
benefit from construction oft' Civic Center. He said the
UNL and the UNL Cultural Arts Committee (CAC)
have been in on the planning.
The theatre is being designed for multi-purpose use
and our hope is that the University will use it," he said.
Gary GUger, program adviser for the Nebraska Union
Program Council (UPC), said the center would be "a
great addition to the city" and that UPC would be "more
than likely to use it if it could."
John Moran, director of the UNL School of Musk:,
said the center would be used extensively for large attrac
tions and that CAC would "entertain the idea of bringing
in large attractions" such as major opera companies,
symphony orchestras and ballet companies.
"There's no question but what the University wedd
wast to have a facility the size and dimension of the Civic
Center, which most other unrrersitks already have," he
said. - ' J-
Annual events
Moran also said he couldn't say if annual events (such
as band concerts) would want to move from UNL to the
center. Moran said the yearly production of "The
Messiah" is the only one being considered right now for
production at the center.
Moran said the music dept.'s three honorarics are going
to sponsor some publicity events in favor of the center's
constructiorr. .
Recently though, the quality of the King Biscuit series
has risen and Agnew said he is contemplating picking it
up again. A
Another of KFMQ's special programming features is
the Focus series. Focus is a 90-minute special centering
on one group or artist. It contains interviews, short bio
graphical sketches, and a large sampling of the artist's
music. .
Recent focus presentations have included Led Zeppe
lin srA Al Stewart. In the coming weeks Focus listeners
will hear presentations of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder,
the Who, and the Eagles. The Stevie Wonder and Eagles
shows run over 90 minutes in length and will broadcast
on Monday and Tuesday evenings. -'
Focus is usually aired on Monday evenings at 9. ' .
Agnew said the Focus presentations are produced and
written entirely fron the files of KFMQ, which include
msterisl from Rolling 'Stone News Service , Innerviews,
King Biscuit presentations, and KFMQ's own interview
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like the concerts, Focus is presented sans commercial
interrcptlons. -
We just wanted to give the audience something that
wasn't commerically sponsored for a change," Agnew
said. - .
CA ID
Kimball Recital Hall director David Fowler said the
center would need a good, solid promotional staff but
that it wnilM rnw tnc if ctartl I7rtwt(r c5rl tha
center could handle the events that Kimball doesn't have
staging areas or size to accomodate.
"The major thing is a size to make it economical but
not so that the acoustics are shot," said fowler. He said
the Pershing stage is good but the seating isn't the best
when using the stage.
Lincoln's proposal, Fowler said, is part of a trend all
over America to build concert, halls with about 2,500
seats, full theatre facilities, and good acoustics.
Fowler said another necessary element is customer
convenience or parking. He said parking would be avail
able but it might be farther away than the people would
want to walk.
Lincoln City Council Chairman Max Denney said
parking wouldn't be a problem once the downtown
Centrum project is completed.
Jerry Lewis, a UNL theatre dept. faculty member,
couldn't be reached for comment, but secretary Pat
Overton said the theatre dept. wouldn't use the center if
it is constructed.
Cmc Center p!
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The Union Program Council Talks and Topics Com
mittee today wm have its second open forum for student
and faculty comments about the selection of speakers
for the next academic year.
The .forum is at 3:30 pja. in Nebraska Union 242
The cornmittee is the major speakers programing
organization at UNL. During the past year, the committee
sponsored the Symposium on Power and Connirccy in
Amerka and lectures by Daniel Schorr, Vincent Eu
liosL R, BixkmiterFuIler. Elaine Noble, Horynce
Kennedy and Isabel Letcher.
The committee works with a budget of about $14jDO0
in student fees and $2,000 in other funds, and hopeVlo
present at least six nationally known speakers and a
variety of local and regional lecturers during the com in"
year. The committee also will participate in aWhcr
symposium during the fall semester; noincr