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friday,8pril 25,1080
page 8
Profe
ssional Ronstadt show thri
llsOm
By Casey McCabc
Belting out song after long from a repertoire that in
cludes many Top 10 songs, Linda Ronstadt gave the sell
out crowd in Omaha's Civic auditorium everything it paid
for Wednesday night.
And, considering the $12.50 ticket price, that's driving
a pretty hard bargain.
Much of the enthusiastic crowd was made up of dyed
in-the-wool Ronstadt fans, and the wild ovations she con
sistcntly received often left the smiling Linda standing
sheepishly behind the mike waiting for things to die down
to go into her next song.
Sporting a colorful string-held top, baggy black
culottes, red spiked-heels, and a new short-cropped hair
do, she was a distinct audio-visual attraction and caused a
t )f "
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1 I J
I v I
Photo courtesy Adantic Releasing Corporation
ftfifc tf Hanging Rock, a suspense film directed by Peter Weir, will show Sunday and Monday at Sheldon
Film Theatre.
Sheldon to show Weir horror film
Picnic at Hanging Rock, directed by Peter Weir (The
Last Wave) will show at Sheldon Film Theatre Sunday
and Monday. Screenings will be at 7 and 9:15 pjn.
with a Sunday matinee at 3 ? jn.
"Picnic at Hanging Rock has run in New York City
for a long time. It is set on St. Valentine's Day of
1900, in a snobbish Australian school for girls which is
intent on keeping its dinner jacket on in the jungle. It
is a world of giggling, tight-corseted schoolgirls in straw
boaters and white dresses; of unspoken sexuality be
tween employers and employees, school mistresses and
pupils; of school mahogany doors solidly closed on far
from solid mysteries in the bush "according to reviewer
Penelope Gilliatt in the April 23, 1979 edition of The
New Yorker.
'The story, based on a novel by Joan Lindsay, with
a screenplay by Cliff Green, is about the disappearance
of some of the girls and of Miss McCraw, who is later
reported to have been glimpsed vanishing in her panta
loons,' Gilliatt said.
"This is not a Hammer horror film or a Boris
Karloff film. Its terror does not rest on frightening
makeup or on the sight of brains coddled in some
lunatic scientist's laboratory. . . . The picture is
eventually about the impropriety of imposing one
culture upon another,' the reviewer added.
aha cmwd
good many of the more devout to spend their time view
ing the show blissfully through the viewfinder of their
camera, out-maneuvering the security guards for a better
shot.
If there were many worries about the so-called "new
Linda Ronstadt, she dispelled them with her tame, easy
going stage presence and her selection of some 25 songs,
which covered all the bases of her ever-changing image.
She has excellent taste when deciding on whose songs to
cover, and her Wednesday night fare included some of the
ones she's made most famous. Such greatest hits ranged
from pure country with Hank Williams "I'm Still In Love
With You to pure rock with Chuck Berry's "Lfvin In
TheU.S.A..
More familiar songs
Sandwiched in, and performed with impeccable
precision, was almost all of her new album Mad Love, (not
quite as "mad" as some seem to.think), plus back-to-back
songs that were familiar to most all ears, including "It's
So Easy", "Just One Look", "Blue Bayou", "Poor, Poor,
Pitiful Me", "You're No Good", "Willin' , and "Heat
Wave".
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While many artists avoid tricky high notes, and styliza
tions in concert, Ronstadt excels in them. There was
barely a crack in her gifted voice all night, and for that
reason alone, she seemed to receive the loudest apprecia
tion from the crowd. Few were left unimpressed as she
held out notes for all they were worth.
Augmenting Ronstadt were noted L. A. session men
Russ Kunkel on drums and Danny Kortchmer on guitar.
And standing up on his own little tier, was Peter Asher
playing tambourine and providing occasional vocals. This
wouldn't be notable except that Asher is Ronstadt's pro
ducer, manager, and image-maker, and if he wants to join
in the fun on stage, nobody seems concerned in question
ing his musical abilities.
Also touring with Ronstadt is Wendy Waldman, a
respected female vocalist in her own right. A more
emotional singer than Linda, she was handed the spotlight
for two of her own songs and received a supportive re
sponse from the crowd.
Standing ovation
The highlights of the evening came on several different
levels. "Silver Threads and Golden Needles", the furthest
she went back in her repertoire, brought a roaring ovation,
while the bluesy, hypnotic "You're No Good" eventually
turned into a heavy spotlight guitar jam, for the night's
hardest rock output. But it was her most recent single
"How Do I Make You", that finally brought the apprecia
tive, though complacent, crowd to its feet.
Perhaps it is as a romantic balladeer that Ronstadt
created her largest following, and the crowd was not dis
appointed as she slid with the utmost smoothness into the
especially pretty "Faithless Love", Nefl Young's "Look
Out For My Love," and her second encore of the Eagles
desperado."
Linda Ronstadt is a seasoned professional who knows
how to live up to an audience's expectations. For that
reason her show is not particularly daring, different or
ambitious. And the crowd loved every minute of it.
Rundgren's songs prove his electronic wizardry
By Casey McCabe
Todd Rundgren once told a reporter
that he planned to become more famous
than Elvis Presley. A pretty brash-statement
from the young man who certainly
had his work cut out for him when he
made the remark some nine years ago.
dfeOOOuD K3UE3U
Even .as a teenager, Rundgren was
'making a name for himself as an electronic
wizard. By his early 20s, he was already
a much sought-after engineer and song
writer, impressing George Harrison enough
'that he signed him to produce Badfinger.
Nobody told Rundgren he couldn't be the
70s answer to Elvis, he showed consider
able savvy. An eclectic genius, but a genius
nonetheless.
Still, in the highs and lows of his career
this last decade, even the best highs have
not come near his lofty prediction. Ap
parently he never became tangible enough
for the masses he so painstakingly sought.
He divided himself between two very dif
ferent musical visions.
Rundgren was aware of this enough
to dedicate an album to that very point.
1973's A Wizard. A True Star had one
side featuring Todd Rundgren, the studio
wiz-kid, ambitious electronic rock genius.
The other featured Todd Rundgren, the
hopelessly mellow romantic pop idol.
What invariably happened is that the bud
ding Rundgren fan chose sides both literal
ly and figuratively and used that as a base
for future expectations.
After egos
In the past six years, Rundgren has
made attempts to separate these alter egos.
For his ambitious hard rock phases, he
acquired the group Utopia. For his insati
able romantic idol urges, he has chosen to
remain solo. His latest effort is with
Utopia, but seems to be aimed at syn
thesizing his two musical styles for that
ever important mass appeal.
Last year's Hermit of Mink Hollow was
t surprising solo success for Rundgren.
Meanwhile, Adventures In Utopia has
quickly peaked before hitting the top 20,
and made a rapid slide downward from
there. Ah, but the fans can be fickle.
It's strange too, because Adventures In
Utopia may well be the most accessible
album Rundgren's fronted since Some
thingAnything. Though Rundgren's assessments of
his own talent have not always been the
most humble, when he joins Utopia it be
comes a team effort. His name appears
in the tsS3 type vfcsi and his picture on
the back is no bigger than the other three
members of the group. The song credits
are attributed simple to "Utopia, but
Rundgren's vocals ati composing abilities
surface without much trouble.
The hardest rock on the album, "Last
Of The New Wave Riders and "Rock
Love are the tight, almost squeaky
clean examples of Rundgrens heavier
visions. His music assaults the senses, but
is not abrasive. The rest of the album
treads on even tamer ground, though often
not as appealing.
feimited success
Other members of Utopia take control
with limited success. Keyboardist Roger
Powell's "Love Alone" is cute, but has
trouble under the weight of its own
schmaltz. Drummer John Willie Wilcox's
jumpy new wave-inspired vocals on "You
Make Me Crazy"are mercifully saved by
a much more pleasant chorus. Hie team
efforts on compromised groundwork the
best.
"Set Me Free" and "Caravan have
that smooth flow that is attributed
to Rundgren's main asset of 'putting
together amazingly-tight vocals. The
album's best piece comes on "The Very
Last Time with a typically-Rundgren
romantic melody, dissected with a hard,
vengeful chorus and outstanding vocals.
Adventures In Utopia suffers from re
dundancy, some questionable lyrics and
perhaps too much ambition. But it is a
good album, that is easy to listen to for
any lover of studio rock. It s high points
show those flashes of brilliance Rundgren
is capable of and Utopia is an individually
talented band which serves as an effective
vehicle for him.
While that quest for the popular
connection continues for Rundgren, it
often seems he just miit be trying too
hard.