Page 8
Daily Nebraskan
Friday, April 19, 1985
Ants
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Hall and Oates fail to make lasting impression
ByWardW.Triplett III
Sports Editor
In just under two hours Wednesday
night, Daryl Hall and John Oates man
aged to reel off 16 hits with no errors
and several nifty lighting effects. Need
less to say, this made the concert at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center professional
and upbeat from start to fininsh.
REVIEW
WSEMM
But. like their records, the concert
didn't make for many great memories.
Hall and Oates are still the pop music
equivalent to the old tale on Chinese
food. Men you hear them, they're
great. There's enough hooks in the
duo's material for any audience and a
steady in-concert beat made even their
chummiest AM radio material like
"Kiss on My List" and "You Make my
Dreams Come True" pure rockets. But
still, when it's all sung and done,
there's not enough meat in those hooks
to keep you sated. Somehow, despite
those two overplayed encores, you feel
there should have been more.
I have never been a great fan of Hall
and Oates, and I don't feel like I'm any
more of a fan now. However, the concert
was a fine you-had-to-be-there perfor
mance. Perhaps the singing of Daryl Hall
made it that way. Hall, whom Rolling
Stones magazine calls perhaps the
greatest singer rock has ever had (in
terms of vocal capability and range),
betrayed that by shouting his way
through the opening "Dance on Your
Knees-Out of Touch" medley that also
opens the Big Bam Boom album.
Then, he gave credence to it by adding
special parts to "Method of Modern
Love," "Rich Girl" and "Some Things
are Better Left Unsaid," to show off
doo-wop, gospel and classic touches.
Oates is, in effect, a glorified back
up band member to Hall, who domi
nates the stage side of the band as he
does the recording side. Oates practi-
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Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates performs Wednesday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
cally disappeared for several songs, but
emerged long enough to share a lead
vocal on "You've Lost that Loving Feel
ing," and handle the lead on "Posses
sion Obsession," one of only two songs
tht duo performed that have not been
major hits.
"Loving Feeling" was a highlight for
the singers and the audience, who
chose this moment to rush the stage.
The elaborate lighting effects were
unfolded here. The stage was sur
rounded on three sides by nine lighting
grids, which rose and fell with the
polite response through their first five
songs off their debut Epic album before
getting good response for "Voices Carry,"
their first release and No. 71 on this
week's Billboard listings. Their concert
performance was polished enough to
suggest MTV exposure isn't the only
reason they merited the opening act
bill with Hall and Oates.
music. With some glaring gold and
aqua-blue color schemes, the lights
showed a bit more diversity than the
average concert beams. The standards
were there as well, but were used with
a bit more imagination. Fo the first part
of "Loving Feeling," the nine grids
shined a dim red on the duo to accom
pany two main spotlights, which also
were red. When the drums kicked in for
the second half, all nine exploded with
blinding white lights.
Above those grids, another set of
horizontal lights also dipped and dove
with the sounds. By the end of the
regular set, all the lights lowered and
extended to resemble something George
Lucas should have thrown into "Star
Wars."
The rest of the band was more than
adequate, and Hall was kind enough to
leave the stage for a while as each
member took his shot at a solo. The
band tried to liven this up with "rap"
introductions, but lead guitarists' Gene
Smith solo was good enough to merit
the break in Hall's singing. Smith also
was featured on another special effect
borrowed from the Jacksons' Victory
show as a grid he was standing on rose
five feet from the stage during his solo
on "Maneater."
The overall effect of all this was
instantly pleasing, but it's unlikely it
was good enough to win the band new
fans or destroy their reputation as
commerical pop lackeys. But in Lin
coln, the only ones going to a Hall and
Oates show are those who are already
big fans or those starved for entertain
ment. Wednesday's concert gave both
of those groups more than enough.
The show opened with Til Tuesday,
a Boston-based four-person band that
can best be described as a Missing
Persons who have found themselves.
The crowd of over 8,000 still was wand
ering in throughout Til Tuesday's 25
minute set, reducing them to little
more than background music. But, lead
singer Amee Mann's high voice and the
rare (for Lincoln) mix of heavy rock
guitar and bass with synthesizers made
"Til Tuesday an interesting sight and
sound at the very least. The group got a
Contest offers $5,000
Murder game legalizes' homicide
By Tom Mockler
Staff Reporter
If murder is your hobby, you're in luck. Now
you can plot them for money legally. Univer
sity Games of Menlo Park, Calif., is offering over
$5,000 in cash and prizes to people or groups who
can create the best Murder Mystery Parties.
Murder Mystery Parties are group activities
where each of eight participants is a suspect in a
fictitious murder. Clues that incriminate the
murderer are revealed throughout the evening.
Each person role-plays his or her innocence in a
attempt to confuse the other participants.
"The Murder Mystery Party is based on the
parlour game concept of medieval Europe,"
according to University Games President Bob
Moog. "The upper classes entertained them
selves by playing word games and mysteries
based on imagination and creativity. This was
before radio and television. We expect Murder
Mystery Parties to become a new form of social
interaction for college students."
University Games has published three games.
They are "The Willing Dead," "The Icicle Twist"
and "Revenge in Rome." These games are
available at college bookstores throughout the
country and at some selected specialty games
stores. Moog said the games could be available
at the Nebraska Bookstore this month.
Entries for the contest are welcome from all
students or groups of students 18 or older, and
who were registered in school during the spring
session 1885.
First prize will be $2,500 in cash and a royalty
contract with University Games if the entry is
published. Second place is $1,000, and five
honorable mentions receive $300 in prizes and
cash. Winners will be selected based on original
ity, character development, writing skill and
game payability.
All entries must be received by July 1, and
should be submitted to: CONTEST, University
Games, 4055 Bohannon Drive, Menlo Park, Calif.
94025.
All entries become the sole and exclusive
property of University Games. Moog said non
winners could be eligible for royalty contracts (if
they are published), since the rules of the con
test and the rules for publication are different.
All entries must include eight characters with
descriptions, four rounds of clues, a solution to
the murder and the name, address and phone
number of all author(s).
A typical Murder Mystery Party lasts two to
three hours, Moog said. After buying a game,
which typically cost3 "around $10," a host mails
out eight invitations, telling what character
each person will be. After receiving a one-page
description of the character, people are ready to
play.
After forming a circle, each person draws four
rounds of clues, or "dirt" on another person, with
which they can publicly question another char
acter. At the end of the rounds, people must
decide who the murderer is and make their
accusations.
Finally, the host reads off how the murder was
committed and who did it. One rule is that
everyone must tell the truth except the mur
derer. If the invitations are mailed out randomly,
it is possible for the host to be the murderer, in
which case he or she could lie about the true
circumstances.
By all indications, theMurder Mystery Party is
in its rebirth infancy. The three games that Uni
versity Games carries were created only earlier
this year.
They were created by child psychologists in
Denver, who originally had published them
themselves, but were not selling well. According
to Moog, since University Games took over with a
nationwide distribution network, sales have
increased 10-fold in the past two months, to a
total of 2,000 units.
Moog said other small murder mystery firms
may exist, but University Games is the only one
targeting a college audience. Moog said he hopes
to have 100 college accounts by September.
He said he hopes to have five games on the
market by December and introduce a new one
every month next year.
Moog said the games are appealing because
they provide a new form of social interaction.
"A person can get to know people without
having to talk about one's self. The games pro
vide a lot of social interaction, similar to trivia,
and don't require a lot of concentration."
At the Sheldon
They Don't Wear Black Tie, a Brazi
lian film directed by Leon Hirszman, will be
shown at the Sheldon Gallery Theatre, at 3, 7 and
9:15 p.m. on Sunday and 7 and 9:15 p.m. on
Monday.
The film, sponsored by the University Program
Council's Foreign Film Series, is a warm family
drama that deals wth an important problem in
Brazil the question of democracy. The lives of
one family reflect change and political progress.
Tickets are $2.50 for UNL students and $3 for
general admission.
Around Town
Stephen Kiser, a candidate for a doc
tor of musical arts degree at UNL, will give a viola
recital at 8 p.m. Saturday in St. Mark's Episcopal
Church.
The Union College Family Entertainment
Series will present a film, The Road to Tim
buktu by William Stockdale. The film will be
shown Saturday at 8 p.m. in the college audito
rium, 49th and Prescott Streets.
"The Road to Timbuktu" takes viewers on an
adventure through Africa while capturing the
interesting sights and people in route to
Timbuktu.
Charles Musselwhite with the
Tablerockers will play Friday and Saturday
nights at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St. Cover
charge is $3.
O The Model Citizens and the Reno
Brothers will play Friday and Saturday nights
at the Drumstick, 547 N. 48th St.
