Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1985)
Tuesday, September 24, 1985 Page 12 Daily Nebraskan Arts z EmleTimmmemt Foreigner alienated after By Bill Allen Senior Editor Rule number one if you are looking for rock stardom and are a top-40 heavy metalpop band with a large following: Never, ever let a living legend open your concert. Foreigner was in Omaha Sunday night with special guest Joe Walsh. The English band put on a great show. The lights were terrific, the music was tight and loud, but clear, and the group seemed to have a good time. But by the time Foreigner came on stage at 9:30 p.m., the audience had already been rocked, and rocked hard by Walsh. Concert Review A former member of the Eagles, Walsh has maintained a radical image. About three months ago I reviewed another former Eagle, Don Henley, also in Omaha. Henley wore a white tuxedo and sang behind a pop star mystique. It was a fine show, and very nostalgic when he did "Hotel California" as an encore. Walsh didn't wear a tuxedo. He wore faded jeans and a fluorescent tank top. His shaggy, stringy locks shook while he played as few others can. He seemed molded, intertwined with the guitar. On almost every song Walsh spent at least a full minute jamming out the opening bars. Walsh performed a couple of Eagles songs early, "In the City," and "Life in the Fast Lane." Almost every song featured a guitar solo by Walsh. He was on stage a full hour, a long time for an opening act. Yet he played only seven songs, includ ing the encore. Just before the last song, Walsh began a spiel about wanting to be the next president, saying he would then legalize everything. "Stand up and salute your new national anthem," he said as he began an incredible perfor mance of "Life's Been Good To Me So Far." The crowd sang along. No one asked them too, they just did. And what a crowd. There were older people (prob ably there for Walsh) among the 12- and 13-year olds in Foreigner rock concert T-shirts. As a matter of fact, after Walsh finished, the older members of the crowd started to head for the back and seats (it was general admission seat ing) while the younger members pressed close to the stage for Foreigner. After Walsh was through, the crowd changed "We Want Joe." Walsh and Foreigner came on stage and together performed the Walsh party classic "All Night Long." Foreigner put on a fantastic show, don't get me wrong on that . The band was tight and didn't depend on an elaborate set and gimmickry. They did have a fine laser light show, but mostly they played their songs, and played V- J f ss a' , i i Mark DavisDally Nebraskan Foreigner's lead singer, Lou Gramm, reaches toward a screaming crowd of fans, who reach back. them well. Lou Gramm's vocal range is amazing. It is seldom that you hear a live perfor mance that has the same quality as an album (most groups depend more on energy and stage presence than pro duction for live shows) but Foreigner sounded amazingly close to their album sound. The show opened like a Foreigner's greatest hits program, which was great. I love the bitter lyrics and hard driving rock beats of their earlier work. The first three songs were "Feels Like the First Time," "Double Vision" and "Cold as Ice." The band stayed with the old hits theme for a few more songs, "Head Games" and "Waiting for a Girl Like ' You," and performed them perfectly. At that point the crowd was really into the show. There was energy left from Walsh which carried over to the old songs by Foreigner, making the evening somewhat nostalgic, filled with a rock fest atmosphere. But then Foreigner lost the crowd for a while. They moved into songs on their new album, "Agent Provocateur," and it seemed that the mood broke. Until then we had a nostalgic rock mood. People were standing around, dancing, getting stoned or singing along. " It reminded me of the simplicity of high school, when you could take a girl to a Foreigner concert, buy her a rock T-shirt, promise to love her forever and . enjoy the show. It is a great life when you're young and live at home. Now, though, I know that forever means two years, tops and there's a little more to life than a rock concert. This mood seemed to infect the crowd and set them up for "Yesterday's Gone," and "I Want to Know What Love Is," the group's current bittersweet hits. The songs were performed extremely well and the crowd sang along with the group on "I Want to Know What Love Is." During the song The Nebraska Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop came on stage to help out. It was a great image. About forty black women in long white gowns singing the chorus to a rook song. , 1 Foreigner and the crowd responded. However I think it kind of mellowed the crowd, making it hard for the band to start rocking again. Frankly, I think most people were just burnt out by the end of the night. I feel the audience got two great shows for the price of one, and weren't ready for it. It was an interesting contrast to see the older bluesy, edgy version of rock from Walsh along with the more main stream range of Foreigner. As an added note, Gramm wore a Farm Aid shirt during the concert. For eigner played earlier in the day at the Farm Aid benefit in Champagne, 111., then flew into Omaha for the night's show. Maybe, it's just me, but that kind of thing makes me feel better about a group. They are doing well enough that they really don't have to care about the audience or any special causes, but they do. Tina fantastic; love had everything to do with it By Scott Harrah Staff Reporter A mass of Tina Turner fans jammed 1-80 to Omaha Saturday evening and drove through rain and 20 mph bumper-to-bumper traffic toward their destina tion: The Omaha Civic Auditorium. Love had everything to do with it. Concert Review When the soul survivor finally saun tered on stage to belt out "Show Some Respect," it was evident that the bad weather, traffic and crowds had been well worth the trouble. An impeccable production and tech nical crew added to the excitement of Lady T.'s spectacle. A video screen suspended above the stage displayed shots of Turner for people in the back rows. It also showed film clips of her backstage in the dressing room, while she exited to change into her many flamboyant costumes. Most of the songs Tina sang in the sold-out show were from her quadruple platinum LP "Private Dancer," and her film "Mad Max Beyond Thunder dome." all were delivered with such razor-sharp timing and ardor that one sometimes wondered if she was lip syncing to the album, but her mesmer izing moves and the flawless band proved that notion wrong. Frenetic moves are trademark, and she managed to contort and twist her body incessantly as she used her pas sionate pipes to seduce a diverse crowd ranging from yuppies to students. Two of her numbers were especially commendable. During "Private Dancer," Tina donned a slinky dress, with a boa and danced elegantly upon a platform above the stage. And in the middle of "What's Love got to Do With It?" she decided to have a battle between the sexes. She first asked the women to shout the lyrics" then the men. "C'mon boys," Tina said after feeble male cries reverberated throughout the auditorium. "You can say that line bet ter! You've been saying it all your lives! She,also performed a few of her clas sics from Ike and Tina days in the '60s when she used to shake relentlessly on "The Ed Sullivan Show." When she shrieked out the sizzling oldie "Proud Mary," pandemonium ensued. j The crowd began dancing in the aisles, , screaming and mouthing the words to the song. Whether you were old enough to remember the song or not didn't matter it set your soul on fire anyway. Turner performed two encores com plete with discussions about her come back success and a few cover tunes like ZZ Top's "Legs'and Bruce Spring steen's "Dancing in the Dark." Surpris ingly, Tina actually gave the Boss' hokey lyrics some genuine soul. At the end of the show, after Tina gave the audience a big kiss and exited, everyone felt something remar kable. What had just transpired wasn't "I'll never slow down," Tina, said merely a concert it was an expe- once during the show. In every way on a rience headed by a performer who is rainy Saturday night in Omaha, proud nothing less than phenomenal. Tina kept on burnin. NBC wins 12 Emmys; 'Cagney and Lacey best drama By the Associated Press PASADENA, Calif. "Cagney & Lacey," CBS's once-canceled police woman show, and "The Cosby Show," a warm gentle comedy about a black family that has sparked NBC's ratings comeback, dominated the series awards at the 37th annual Emmys Sunday. "Cagney & Lacey," which came back on the air in 1983 because of critics' support and an avalanche of letters, upset two NBC favorites as best dra matic series: the neon-and-pastel "Miami Vice," which had the most nominations with 14; and "Hill Street Blues," which had captured the award the past four years. NBC, the ratings leader for 16 of the past 17 weeks, won 12 of the 29 awards announced during the ABC telecast, a streamlined production that was enli vened by an imposter's prank and still stuck to its three-hour schedule. CBS was second with 11 awards, then PBS with four and ABC with two. Including technical awards given earlier, NBC led with 25 Emmys, to 18 for CBS, 17 for PBS and 8 for ABC. Please see EMMYS on 13 .