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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1984)
i llonday, September 17, 1984 Uaiiy Nebraskan 'Pago 13 .R.JS.M. displays 'power and DOI1S Review By llztlx Hendricks and Julie A. Jordan Dally Nebrsakan SttSt Writers R.E.M. was in perfect season Thursday night at Omaha's Music Hall. From the first note of "Radio Free Europe" it was apparent why the popularity of the Athen3,'Ga., based band A 1 4. has continued to sure Concert review "Pretty Persuasion, a cut from the band's latest album Reckoning is even played on the all-mighty top 40. But R.E.M. is far from falling into top 40 gulch to be spit out as profit seeking music manufacturers. The band members have con tinued to intensify and move toward expressing their inde pendent attitudes and styles. R.E.M. has been recording actively since 1981 with the release of "Radio Free Europe" and "Sitting Still" on a Hip Tone 45. In 1982 they released a five-song EP, Chronic Town, on the IRSJabel. In 1983 they released their first LP, Mur mur, also on IRS. Murmurmis chosen New Artist Album of the Year by the Rolling Stone Critics Poll. Reckoning released this year, is their second IRS LP. On stage the band displayed an incredible amount of power , and polish. Their sound has a spontaneity that is uplifting. A lot of it comes from the way the vocals and instruments in teract. At times they are com plementary, as are traditional harmonies. Other times dis sonance is created by deliber ately playing notes a half step sharp or flat. Michael Stipe's syncopated vocals lent themselves to his on-stage antics, which included singing with his back to the audience, hitting himself on the back of the head with his 1.- i ! - - . f I' rv 1 .V : " ; I R.E.M. hand as if to help the words out, and dropping out pieces of words. Peter Buck was alive on stage, running and jumping about. His ringing Kaga-guitar style and intricate rhythm licks are hypnotizing. It was a surprise to see Buck armed with Fender telecaster guitars instead of his usual Rickenbachers, but the tone was the same. Bass player Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry once played together in a southern rock top 40 band and now provide R.E.M. with a sturdy rhythm section. Mills also does an excel lent job singing back-up vocals. This allows Stipe to use his voice more experimentally and stylistically. Stipe showed off his voice in a variety of songs, (thanks to an exceptionally good vocal mix). From upbeat rock songs like "Second Guessing" and "Chronic Town" to crooning slow songs like "Camera" and "S. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)." During one encore the audience was presented with an acap pella version of "Moon River" by Stipe and Mills. Later on Stipe broke into what sounded like a Rudi Vallee imitation. At one point during the show politics was mentioned briefly when Stipe said, "R.E.M. would like to remind everyone to reg ister to vote. So we can get Reagan out of office." Photo Courtesy of I.R.S. Records Opening for R.E.M. were the New York-based dBs. The band recently has regrouped and changed their sound. Unfor tunately, the sound is a little too distorted and their new material has too much of a mainstream touch. For exam ple, the dBs played a good ver sion of "Amplifier that sounded a lot more innovative than the later "New Gun In Town" that had a definitely cloned metal loid tinge. olcx.1 Gourr nr i city, a wmt snrnN miss m$ (mmp M ntn 'mm tm swmf.pcfttottii&ss e&ANIHSFIKSrfWOF HHP. yi4 ij mm reams msm, Sheldon art display features forgotten urban open spaces Kimball to stage 'next wave' styles A performance of "next wave" dance will be nresented when the Trisha Brown Dance Company I comes to the stage of Kimball f Recital Hall Saturday at 8 p.m. as I part of the UNL Kimball Perfor mance Series. The "next wave" features new works and collaborations by the next generation of international artists in everv discicline. The first Next Wave Festival is being held this fall at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Trisha Brown will perform works in her Lincoln performance which will be a part of the festive! The program for her dance company will include "Decoy" (1979); "Son of Gone Fishin' " (1981), music by Robert Ashley, and "Set and Reset" ( 1 933), music by Laurie Anderson. The performance is part of the Mid-America Arts Alliance pro gram. Brown will explain how she "builds" a dance at 6:30 p.m. Fri day in Kimball Hall. Then, using her company of dancers, Brown will demonstrate excerpts of the pieces of the company will per form at the concert. . An original member of the Jud son Theater and the Grand Union, a now legendary improvisational group of the early 70s, Brown formed her own company in 1970. Brown has made dances to be performed on museum walls and the sides of buildings and roof tops. Her kinesthesia the sheer sensation of the body in motion" hss made her one cf the nation's most original choreographers. Currently, Brown is creating multi-layered dances for the proscenium stage in collaboration with visual and musical artists. Two of these dances will be seen in the Saturday performance. The performance is made pos sible by support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts through their participation in the Mid America Arts Alliance, a regional arts organization. It also is sup ported by a direct grjmt from the National Endowment for the Arts. Tickets for Saturday's perfor-. mance are $10 or $8, and $8 or $3 for UNL students. For more ticket information contact the Kimball box office between 11 am. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. By Julie A Jordan Dally Ntebraskan Staff Editor Most of us notice very little of our environment. Each day we follow our routines while taking for granted many aspects of the environment and its design. That is, until a closed road or block aded sidewalk causes us to change our routines. Sheldon Art Gallery cut rentlv is displaying a Smithsonian Tra veling Exhibit titled "Urban Open Spaces," which focuses on the design and nature of urban open spaces. Communal outdoor spa ces, such as streets, sidewalks, parks and malls all are urban open spaces. The exhibit consists of photographs of various urban spaces and design applications throughout the world. .The UNL CoUege of Architec ture and the Nebraska Chapter of the American Planning Asso ciation (A.PA) have scheduled a series of events that coincide with the exhibit. They began Sept. 11 with a wine and cheese party that accompanied the grand open ing of the exhibit. Other upcoming events include: Brown Bag Speaker Series, "Urban Spaces in Socialist Coun tries," Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. in the Architectural Gallery. UNL geography professor Dean Rugg will use slides to illustrate his work in identifying a model of Socialist city planning. A walking tour of Lincoln's sidewalks and skywalks, Friday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Meet in the Architectural Gallery at 4:30 to 5 p.m. Carol Jess of the Lincoln Center Association and Robert G. LeZotte of Bahr, Vermeer & Haecker provide a briefing on the importance of pedestrian path ways to the downtown environ ment. At 5 p.m., the walking tour of downtown begins, and it ends at 6 p.m. with drinks at the Corn husker Hotel. 9 The Urban Design Commit tee and the Downtown Streets-! cape, Friday, Sept. 28, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Meet in the Architectu-' ral Gallery from 4:30 to 5 p.m. Members of the Urban Design Committee will describe the group's functions. They also will lead a walking tour of downtown that focuses on how their deci sions impact the downtown's streetscape. The tour ends at 6 p.m. with drinks at HJB. Brand's in the newly developed Hay market district.