^ptyriicl^a n _ Page
Thursday, January 11,1990 Arts & Entertainment 11
Local,national acts welcome students back
By MICK uyci
Senior Editor
Some fine local and national mu
sicians will be in Lincoln between
today and next Thursday to welcome
you back for second semester and to
iclp make the transition back to the
academic grind a little easier.
Alternative:
Wednesday, The Millions will play
at Duffy’s Tavern 1412 O St. The
Millions play guitar-pop music with a
dark tormented edge, featuring pow
erfully beautiful vocals. The Millions
play songs that gel into your spine
and run around in there until you just
can’t stand it anymore and you gel up
and dance.
Blues/Jazz:
Tonight through Saturday, Lucky
Peterson will play at the Zoo Bar, 136
N. 14th St.
Lucky Peterson, a blues man since
the tender age of three, effortlessly
has made audiences laugh and dance
and have a good time for most of his
26 years. As a child prodigy of his
father, a musician/club-owncr from
Buffalo New York, you might say
performing is in his blood.
For those who arc old enough to
Itmcmuer, rctcrson pcrlormed as a
boy on the Ed Sullivan Show and
What s My Line? For those too young
to remember, or for those who needed
a gentle reminder, Lucky Peterson
made his debut as a young man at the
Zoo Bar last October. And as he
knocked the socks and shoes and hats
and things off the audience, he earned
instant recognition as the musician
and showman he is.
At any rate, it was quite a show. He
played the guitar on the stage and the
sidewalk and all moderately stable
points in-between. During a drum solo
he ran and hid off stage, then jumped
back to the organ to hit a chord with
out missing a breath, then ran off
stage again and again and again. On a
slow blues standard, he slowly sunk
down in his chair in front of the organ
until he was sitting on the floor play
ing the organ with his hands above his
head. He even played the organ with
his toes while lying on his back.
It was mad. The audience loved it.
Friday and Saturday, The Legen
dary Blues Band will play at Bourbon
Street, 2(X) N. 7()lh St. The Legendary
Blues Band features the last musi
cians to play in Muddy Waters old
band.
Monday, The Tablcrockcrs will
play at the Zoo Bar.
The Tablcrockcrs have long been
Lincoln’s premiere blues band. With
last summer’s addition of lead singer
See LIVE on 13
Courtesy of the Zoo Bar
The Fortune Tellers, of Czechoslovakia by way of Oklahoma City, will play at the Zoo Bar
Thursday.
4Born on the Fourth of July' role shatters pretty-boy image
Cruise proves his acting talent as Vietnam vet
By Troy Falk
Staff Reporter '
Omigod, Tom Cruise can act.
Glimpses of his talent shone through
in “Rainman” and “The Color of
Money,” but cnlics could pin Cruise’s
success on his accomplished co-stars
Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman.
Cruise now has proven he is not
just another pretty face. In “Bom on
the Fourth of July,” Cruise plays lead
character Ron Kovic, a real-life Viet
nam veteran whose story has been
adapted to the screen. The movie
depends entirely on Cruise to carry it
off. He does so beautifully as Kovic
metamorphoses from an all-Ameri
can boy to a long-haired protester.
At the movie’s beginning, Kovic
has typical small-town views. He loves
his country and blindly accepts what
ever the government spews out.
Kovic is influenced by his reli
gious mother who tells him: “As long
as you try your hardest, that is all God
asks for.’’ She supports his decision
to fight in Vietnam, a choice influ
enced heavily by a Marine recruiting
officer, played by Tom Bcrcngcr.
Early in the movie, Kovic and his
friends talk about war and their chance
to make it into history books like their
fathers and grandfathers. They con
sider it their opportunity for glory.
The setting then switches from the
small town to a beach in Vietnam.
Kovic, a sergeant in his second tour,
is setting up defenses when his pla
toon unwittingly starts shooting at
unarmed, innocent civilians. When
Kovic is sent to check for dead and
wounded, the Victcong attack and
chase Kovic’s platoon across the sand
dunes where he accidentally shoots a
fellow Marine.
In January, 1968, Kovic is shot in
the chest and becomes paralyzed. He
considers it punishment for his
“mistakes” during the war.
Kovic begins to drink heavily, and
his mother eventually throws him out
of the house. Kovic goes to a Mexican
resort inhabited only by paralyzed
Vietnam veterans. There he meets
another wheelchair-bound vet played
by William Dafoe.
Kovic’s emotional strain contin
ues to grow, resulting in a plunge into
a group of Vietnam vets who oppose
the war. They raid the Republican
National Convention in 1972, attempt
ing to speak out against war. Kovic
begins and continues to grow as a
political figure.
Especially strong supporting-cast
members include Raymond J. Barry
as Kovic’s father, Frank Whaley as
Kovic’s best friend and Kyra Sedgwick
as the girlfriend Kovic hopes to return
to.
“Bom on the Fourth of July,’’ an
Oliver StoneNRon Kovic production,
is destined to become a classic in the
league of “Platoon” and “Wall
Street,’’ both directed by Stone.
“Born on the Fourth of July” is
playing at the Cinema Twin, 201 N.
13th St.
Voivod cripples ltselr witnout
discernable message or style
By Troy Falk
Staff Reporter__
Voivod
“Nothingface” .
MCA Records
Voivod at first looks to be a new punk rock
group with a message. As it turns out, they arc
a punk\acid\ncw-wave\mctal band with no
discernible message.
The sound they have is a mixture of Hanoi
Rocks, The Cult and The Flaming Lips. One of
the major problems with their sound is that they
don’t know what they want to play or to be.
They need to decide who and what they arc and
stick to it.
“Nothingface” starts off with “The Un
known Knows,” which leads in with a slow
drum and guitar beat, then explodes. The sud
den change is so abrupt that it makes you think
the record has skipped. As the song progresses
the sound quality doesn’t.
Following along with this album becomes a
tedious and ominous task, from the blaring
music that changes tempo after each stanza to
the lyrics that are coded in an alien language.
With the end of each song and the start of a new
one, you hope for something to grasp to give
the album some credibility.
But, alas, no such relief is found. Even the
cover of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine’’
is no help. Voivod is crippling itself by not
being able to pick a style and slick with it.
The album describes itself as the “Newest
chapter in Sci-fi saga -- spun by Canada’s most
inspired futurists.’’ This is the type of music a
guy would expect to hear if he were living on
the streets of New York during the movie
“Blade Runner.”
Voivod is made up of Denis Belanger (Snake)
on vocals, Denis D’Amour (Piggy) on guitars,
Michel Langevin (Away) on drums and Jean
Y ves Theriault (Blacky) on bass. Piggy, Blacky
and Away wrote the music while Snake wrote
• all of the lyrics.
Snake has an unknown voice quality; you
never get to hear him sing. Sure, he screams
occasionally, but no qual ity check can be made.
Piggy’s ability to make his guitar screech is
admirable. His ability to make listenablc music
so far is not displayed.
Blacky’s bass cuts through the noise and
delivers a solid bass beat. He does give the
band something to build from, but as ol this
album he doesn’t take charge and lead the
musicians.
Away has two credits to his name; one is
drums and the second is the cover design and
the artwork. The artwork is very creative and
powerful. It brings up emotions of fear and
loneliness.
Too bad the music can’t do the same.
Courtesy of MCA Records
