thursday, november 29, 1979
page 10
daily nebraskan
Styx had audience in the palm of its hand
By Casey McCabe
Styx did everything good rock band
should do to please a crowd in its Tuesday
night performance at Omaha's Civic
Auditorium.
But judging from the wild response
from the well-lubricated audience, the
band could have stood on stage reciting the
Bill of Rights and it would not have dim
med the spirit of the sell-out crowd.
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Opening the show an unexplained half
hour earlier than the normal time, was the
fairly capable heavy -metal outfit April
Wine. They too knew most of the crowd
pleasing techniques, like asking them, "Do
you like rock?-which they obviously did,
and then getting the crowd to scream, "I
like to rock!" in unison to introduce a song
of the same name.
Flashy leads, references to marijuana
and an impressive drum solo are all ways to
get an audience on your side and April
Wine capitalize d: on all three, though the
difference, between a band whose material
is well known and one that isn't became
apparent as their set progressed.
. They returned for one more song, des
pite a less-than -convincing plea for an
encore. ' 1
ALL THIS SET the stage for Styx,
whose loyal following produced a surpris
ingly rapid sell-outvat ticket offices, and
inspired scalpers to ask anywhere from $10
to $25 per ticket.
Styx's sudden rise from a moderately
successful back-up band, to one of .the
industry's biggest attractions came from
increased radio play that brought it strong
support from the teen-age audience. Tues
day nights' crowd was slightly younger
than average and many were enjoying their
vices as much as the music on stage.
A well-polished outfit, ' Styx's fun
loving enthusiasm on stage never allowed
the audience to drift off for long. Opening
with "Borrowed Time," from their recent
Cornerstone album, it soon became a trip
down the hall of fame for Styx fans, with
tight renditions of "The Grand Illusion,"
"Fooling Yourself," "Lady," "Crystal
Ball," "Renegade," and "Come Sail
Away," with the opening strains of each
bringing the cheers of recognition from the
crowd.
THE SCREAMS TH.AT accompanied
the opening of Dennis De Young's key
on Styx's latest hit "Babe," shows the
band's emergence as successful balladeers.
But for this night, it was the band's heavy
metal influence that dominated the show,
with guitarists Tommy Shaw and James
Young romping around on all edges of the
'f "...
'" to
1 a (i
Styx entertained a receptive crowd at the Omaha Civic Auditorium Tuesday night.
Photo by R. K. Hahn
stage, exchanging leads and encouraging te
the audience to join in . ,
The diminutive Shaw, in particular,
' developed a good rapport with the crowd
and was' occasionally taken aback by the
deafening cheers that accompanied what
ever the band seemed to do or say. His
comment that the crowd seemed to know
how to have a good time was quaintly
.understated.
Styx is certainly one of the fastest rising
show bands of the past" year, but wisely it
has made sure its stage presence is nothing
flashier than their music can handle. A
band that enjoys themselves on stage is al
ready a step ahead when it comes to pleas
ing an audience. Although the crowd was
nlraorlv a ctfn . iihp.irl in makinp them.
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selves happy, it was that quality that put
the band high in the crowds' favor.
If that was not enough, the dry -ice fog,
the spotlights, the backdrops, or the simple
act of throwing guitar picks into the front
rows ensured Styx that the audience was
the palm of its hands. . '
Texan artist
portrays life
of escaped slave
Frederick Douglass will reappear in the
20th , century in the Nebraska Union,
thanks to a Texas actor's one-man, show.
Charles Pace will portray the escaped
slave turned anti-slavery lecturer at 7:30
Friday night. His performance will be free.
iuufciaaa wus une ui inu ivui ceniury S
leading spokesmen for the abolition of
slavery and civil rights for blacks. He learn-
ed to read while a slave in Maryland and
after escaping to Massachusetts, he toured
the North, giving abolition lectures. After
the Civil War, he continued to speak out
for black civil rights.
Pace helped establish Austin. . Tex. 's
Afro-American Players and has been artist-iri-rcsidencc
in San Antonio with a grant
from the Texas Commission on Arts and
Humanities. He was a former staff program
advisor at the University of Texas Unions.
Pace tours extensively giving one-man
shows and workshops. Besides the Douglass
show, he portrays Malcolm X and Richard
III.
Packing bags haun
By Peg Sheldrick
Moving, aside from being a pain in several areas of the
anatomy, is a forced march down memory lane. Even
packing up the surface mess compels one to confront any
number of ghosts of foolishness past, as well as fruits of
foolishness present. It forces one to ask the probing quest
ion, "Where did I get 18 plastic soft drink cups and what
did I think I was going to do with them?" (Sell them for
. scrap in times of war, maybe)
Rummaging through the closets and finding the memo
rabilh collected by a you you've been laboring to forget,
the effect is almost like Sybil confronting one of her per
sonalities. Most of what you find doesn't fit the image
you've so carefully constructed for yourself. No one really
wants to admit they ever owned white go-go boots, much
less wore them. And it's hard to remember how you
managed to stand erect wearing that eight pound peace
medallion. Then there's the Paul Revere and the Raiders
album. It almost hurts to think about it.
Other things hurt more. Dog food coupons for the
beagle that ran away two months ago. Notes passed during
a brief coffee-soaked demi-romance (to be burned cere
moniously at midnight, the next time you remember). A
dog-eared photograph of a total stranger signed "To My
Very, Very Best Friend, Love from Tim."
SOME OF WHAT you uncover is faintly disquieting
the information sheet they gave you when you got your
swine flu shot (which recent revelations hint was more
dangerous than the swine flue itself). A mysterious note,
yellowed with age, that says, "Dropped by while you were
out, call me later, have I got a story for you- Ameila
Earhart." x
There's always a lingering hope that youll fun across
something of real value. But the crayon sketch that at first
glance seems to be a long lost Picasso turns out to be your
little brother's rendition of Miss Piggy and the 45 filled
books of coupons shoved in the back of the drawer expir
ed shortly after Ike took office. And that furry thing that
looks like a chinchilla in the back of the closet turns out
to be a very, very, very old piece of pizza. So much for
buried treasure.
The worst of it is the paper. Apparently while you
were shuffling sheets, a miracle happened and they manag
ed to reproduce, at a rate that makes rabbits look lacka
daisical. And since there just might be something among
them, you have to sort through all of them, even as they
continue reproducing.
ed:
SOME ARE letters that were started but never finish-
Dear Dad: Well, as you know, inflation continues its
ugly spiral, and nowhere is this more apparent than in my
check ledger ..."
"Dear Nancy: That was real cute, threatening suicide if
you didn't get a letter from me within a month . . (This
is dated over a year ago).
"Dear Dad: I know taxes are high, and I was wonder
ing if you might be in the market for a dependent . . ."
Etc., etc., etc.
Some of the pile is comprised of class notes, usually
from courses which, if marketed on a large scale, would
put Sominex out of business. The notes themselves are
, written in some bizarre code of abbreviations between
naps. "US gov. mt. inc. mo. opp. to prop, on th. rts. wo
reas. cl. evidently meant something at some point. But
no more.
Like most of the rest of the clutter, it had some signiH
cance about it that made you want to keep it, but what
ever it was is tucked away in the dust-laden corners of the
windmills of your mind. For all that the junk jogs your
memory, you find yourself with more questions than
answers, some best left as questions (such as "what was
that that scuttled away when we moved the refriger
ator? ) and others that torture and tantalize.
X1. fCVCr wUl ow where yu 80t tht cocktail
napkin that has scrawled on it, "I need you. I want you.
Be mine forever.
