daily nebraskan
Wednesday, October 10, 1979
Crowd of children supply big market for Kiss gimmicks
page 8
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By Casey McCabe
As the four members of Kiss stood on
stage, bathing themselves in the splendor of
their special effects, a large percentage of
the crowd gazed in wide-eyed curiousity at
their first experience with a rock concert.
On hand for the band's Monday night
Omaha appearance was a crowd ranging in
age from three-years-old to somewhere
past 30, divided between those who really
wanted to be there, and the fathers,
mothers and chaperons who would most
likely be the victims of .some delightfully
nasty prank if the four-foot-tall character
in full Gene Simmons make-up next to
them had not been allowed to see Kiss.
The fact that the auditorium was 2,000
seats short of its 11,300 seat capacity,
shows that Kiss' platinum star has tarnish
ed slightly from their days of guaranteed
sell-outs. But the group's expansion into a
multi-media event that spawned comic
books and cartoons of themselves has gain
ed them instant hero status in the realm of
the pre-teen.
A cluster of mothers stood by and
watched as their six-year-olds ran up and
down the aisles, stopping on occasion to
better absorb what was happening down on
stage.
"YEAH, THIS is the first concert she's
ever been to," offered one mother. "Every
thing is Kiss with her and her friends, but
I'm not sure she can relate to seeing them
here live and in person. She always thought
of them as some type of cartoon charact
ers." "But I will say she was a hell of a lot
more excited about this than going to the
circus."
The Kiss circus offers its own variety of
-..qgj "
Photo by R. K. Hahn
About 9,000 people watched Kiss perform Monday night at the Omaha Civic Audi
torium.
sure-fire crowd pleasers; fireworks and high
grade explosives, unlimited amounts of dry
ice fog, fire breathing, confetti, exploding
guitars, rotating drums, and cables that
carry Gene Simmons 30 feet up in the air
to play a solo on top of the lighting
system.
The fact that this circus cost close to
$10 apiece for admission, didn't seem to
deter many. But the pained expressions on
a few parents' faces showed some uncer
tainty about the attraction to the noise,
crowds, strange odors and generally vulgar
ity of rock concerts.
WHILE THE Kiss stage show is unden
iably elaborate, their music is undeniably
simple. The older half of the crowd that
chose to stand on the floor for the show
responded the most enthusiastically as the
band cranked out such highly similar songs
as "Dr. Love," "Firehousc," "Christine,"
and "Shout It Out Loud." While vocals
were generally tight, and an Ace Frehley
guitar solo was admirable, the lack of any
spectacular musicianship was usually over
looked by turning up the volume a few
decibels or using several special effects,
There was another show down on the
floor of the auditorium. People had paint
ed their faces to match that of their favor
ite Kiss member, and four of them had
dressed up in full Kiss regalia convincing
enough that they were signing Autographs
and having their pictures taken, though it's
not exactly known if these fans were aware
of what they were getting.
FARTHER UP front there were battles
to grab for one of the dozens of things the
band hurled to the crowd from the stage,
usually things with high-souvenier value
like guitar picks and seaty towels. In
another corner a boy was learning a sage
lesson about drinking too much Boone's
Farm, at the expense of those around him.
While Kiss caters more to the older half
of their crowd in concert, the ones who
came most likely to hear their music, the
band must know that the bread and butter
to their continued existence lies in the eyes
of those in attendance who were not yet
born at the start of this decade.
The provocative use of Gene Simmons'
tongue, or Paul Stanley's suggestive intro
duction to "Love Gun" fly by the younger
eyes and ears, but produced rolled eyes and
mild amusement from the cluster of
mothers who wonder how long this phase
is going to last.
Viscounties film The Innocent9 has interesting conflicts
By Pete Schmitz
Consider the following premise for the story in
Luchino Visconti's final film The Innocent:
Tullio, an obnoxious but dashing aristocrat of late 18th
century Italy has an affair with a widowed countess. He.
tells his wife Gilliana, in all avant-garde honesty that
they can look forward to a relationship that will bring
them as close as a brother and sister. In fact, later on, he
even complains to Giulliana that Theresa, his mistress, is
not paying enough attention to him.
But does this distraught wife choose to sit back and
watch her husband have all the fun? No. She has a fling of
her own with Fillipo, a successful novelist who writes
popular romances. "
Of course her liaison diverts her husband from his girl
friend, since he assumes that any wife who has the initiat
ive to take a lover of her own can't be all that bad. So
their relationship is rekindled. But wait She is pregnant
by you-know-who.
And the consequences, instead of being hilarious as
they would be on television, are fatal. But unfortunately
this tragedy, which attempts to parallel the decay of
maTriage and bourgeois society, inspires little emotion of
intellectual deliberation.
ONE PROBLEM WAS THAT Visconti, a self-proclaim-ed
socialist, had a difficult time critically portraying the
upper class from which he came.
The lavish photography, done in elegant blue tones, or
nate settings and elaborate costumes does little more than
show appealing comfort and nice aesthetic tastes, instead
of moral societal decadence. Thus problematic considerat
ions such as class and sex exploitation, unbounded
passions and the utility of religion become muddled in the
director's baroque-like fascination with life among the
leisurely.
Admittedly, a fat, older woman is shown doing a poor
job of playing Mozart, Chopin and Liszt on the piano,
while bored bystanders in the pador of a princess' house
complain to each other. But this too-familiar scene ends
up being mere comic relief, and poor relief at that.
For all the mistakes Visconti made with his interpre
tation of Gabriele D'Annunzio's novel, however, one can
not fault him for the way he handled his performance.
I never would have thought that Jennifer O'Neill was
.capable of being a good actress after seeing her in Summer
of '42, Ttie Carey Treatment, and The Reincarnation of
Peter Proud. But with Visconti's guidance she finally has
risen above her sensual appeal. The conniving intelligence
and vulnerability that she radiates in her role as Theresa
will not easily be forgotten.
For the most part, Laura Antoenelli's subdued and
earthy mannerisms are stunning. Yet her last moments
on film, following the murder of her child by Tullio, are a
failure.
From the lack of anger and sorrow displayed, one
wonders if the writer failed her or if she failed her
character.
Despite his sad eyes and frail aura, Giancarlo Giannini
is convincing in his role that requires him to be both hate
ful and amusing.
Indeed The Innocent is a picturesque movie with inter
esting conflicts. However, given the advance publicity
about it and Visconti's reputation, one is likely to be
deceived that this will be a profound statement on lust
and politics, when in reality it is a vision of life gone
astray by the same vices which the director sought to
prove again.
The movie will be shown this weekend at the Sheldon
Film Theatre through Monday, along with another
Visconti film, Conversation Piece , starring Burt Lancaster.
one album of ff eribntgs break-out. of mold, some don't
By Casey McCabe
The recent recession in the recording industry has
caused most major record labels to cut back on sending
promotional albums, and it seems that college newspapers
were among the first to bite the dust.
But here are a few that did manage to fall into our
hands:
The Memphis HomIWekome to MemphislKCA
Now composed of four regular members who share
duties on trombone, saxophone and flute, The Memphis
Horns are hoping to get out of the shadow of their reputa
tion as back-up musicians.
Their music resembles, but never provides the electri
city, of the hornoriented sound of Tower of Power.
More often than not, it comes closer to the danceable
and romantic sides of Earth, Wind and Fire or the Com
modores. Welcome To Memphis is smooth and well produced,
but doesn't Rive The Memphis Horns a chance to flex
their already proven musical talents to the best of their
Toby ftezuJMore Than A Love SongRCA
This four piece band from Texas had a hit sometime
last year with My Angel Baby" and the material of their
latest LP. is basically more of the same.
Oriented around tight vocals and unobtrusive back
ground instrumentals, More Than A Love Song contains
less than 30 minutes of music, most of it in short
romantic ballads. It is the type of music you hear on
transistor radios-nice, but highly forgettable.
Stanley TuncntintlEverybody Come On Out Fantasy
Turrentine puts out some highly Hstenable jazz with
his relaxing saxophone work and an excellent stable of
supporting musicians, including Joe Sample from the
Crusaders on keyboards, and Lee Ritenour on guitar.
Everybody Come On Out provides a continuous
fullbodied sound and is, in general, a well-arranged, pleas
ing piece' of jazz professionalism.
"Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" and jazz
arrangements of Jimmy Cliffs "Many Rivers to Cross"
and 10 cc's "I'm Not In Love" stand out on the album.
Blind DateJWndZtoeWindsong
Now these guys are what you could classify as cor
porate rock "V roll. Stamped out of the mold that
brought us Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith and countless
others, Blind Date is someone's idea of what it takes to
satisfy the younger crowds of the music business.
With names like Dane Bramage and Pinky Chablis,
and a bizarrely decadent cover design, one could under
standably wonder about the record's musical contents.
But in fact, it is nothing particularly new, an occasional
catchy harmony and a few obligatory and predictable
guitar leads.
Blind Date, for all their pretense, is not totally without
talent. It is just that in cases like this, their ability to make
it in i the world doesn't even hinge on their talent, but in
stead their ability to find a good promoter and slick-talk-ing
publicity agents.
