I Ne&an Arts & Entertainment PiT
[Student interest plays role in Lied success
By sieve rearson
Staff Reporter
Season-ticket subscriptions at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts arc
up this year compared to last year,
including an increase in the number
of student tickets sold, according to
Robert Chumbley, director of the Lied
Center.
“We’ve sold about 5,000 more
subscriptions than we did last year,
but what’s most important about that
is it is over a fewer number of per
formances,” Chumbley said. “That
translates into an increased percent
age of tickets sold.”
An increase in the number of stu
dent season ticket sales is a part of the
turnaround the Lied is experiencing,
Chumbley said. He said that the Lied
tries to attract students in a number of
ways.
“We hope that some of the pro
grams like Take 6 and Wynton Mar
salis will attract the student ticket
buyer. Also (students arc offered) the
half-price tickets; we can’t do any
better than that,” he said. “We also
have a student marketing intern, Bryan
Wilson, and he’s doing a great job on
(attracting students).”
Chumbley said the Lied is plan
ning a new series that will be attrac
tive to students.
“The Venture Series in the Johnny
Carson Theater will be announced in
several weeks and was developed with
the student ticket buyer in mind,” he
said.
Chumbley is hopeful that with the
improved tickets sales the Lied Cen
ter will be able to operate on a bal
anced budget this season, a rarity
among performing arts centers.
“Thai’s what wc’rc shooting for.
We hope if wc sell more tickets and
can find a friend or two, we’ll be on
our way,” Chumbley said.
Chumbley said that Lied officials
arecxploring the possibility of sched
uling more popular music acts in the
Bob Dcvaney Sports Center. He said
that the acts that Lied officials envi
sion scheduling in Dcvaney “wouldn’t
be anything near hard rock or heavy
metal.
“It would be more on the lines of
Whitney Houston, Bryan Adams or
Billy Joel,” he said.
Chumbley said that the athletic
schedule makes it difficult to plan
concerts for the Devaney Center.
“We’re finding trouble getting into
Devaney. You can imagine how hard
it is to work around the athletic sched
ule with an artist like Whitney Hous
ton or Billy Joel,” Chumbley said.
Single ticket sales begin today at
the Lied Box Office.
Brad Simmons/Daily Nebraskan
Ticket sales at the Lied Center for Performing Arts are up this year, according to Lied Director
Robert Chumbley.
Last Fair Deal pounds out blues with a twist Saturday night at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14 St. The
band, which features violinist Lionel Young (left) as its frontman, made its debut in Lincoln
Friday.
NETV to rebroadcast Funny Bone
6-part comedy series starting tonight
From Staff Reports
-— ■ ----—
An encore broadcast of the Ne
braska ETV Network six-part scries
“At The Funny Bone” will be pre
sented beginning tonight.
The presentation will consist of
four 30-minute and two 60-minutc
programs of late-night stand-up
comedy by nationally-known come
dians as they perform at the Omaha
and Lincoln Funny Bone comedy clubs.
The premiere program will feature
Chas Elstncr, beginning at 11:30p.m.
On Tuesday at 11 p.m., the first
hour-long program will feature ven
triloquist David Strassman (Showtime
and “Comic Strip Live”) with his
wooden sidekick Chuck Wood.
Comedian Michael Pace (Showtime
and “Evening at the Improv”) attacks
such institutions as neighborliness,
adolescence and Catholic schools,
while Frank King makes fun of hair
dryers and quick shops on the pro
gram airing Wednesday at 1 l;30p.m.
Thursday al 11 p.m. the second of
the hour-long programs will feature
magician/comedian Mac King and
comic Bert Borth.
Jack Thomas and Steve Marmel
are featured on Friday at 11:40 p.m.,
with the series concluding Sept. 2 at
11:30 p.m. with Brad Stine (MTV,
Showtime and Fox Network) as the
featured performer.
The series “At The Funny Bone,”
which contains some adult material,
is a production of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln Television Science,
Outreach and Specials Unit for broad
cast on Nebraska ETV.
Last hair Deal features
unique approach to blues
By Matthew Burton
Staff Reporter
To describe Last Fair Deal as an
ordinary blues band would be mis
leading.
Last Fair Deal, which made its
Lincoln debut Friday night at the Zoo
Bar, takes a unique approach to the
medium by featuring Lionel Young,
a classically trained violinist, as its
frontman.
Young, resembling Gregory Hines
with wiry thin dread locks lied behind
his head, took the stage with his three
cohorts Saturday night in front of a
sparse crowd.
The band played extended arrange
ments of various blues standards. Using
his black electric violin and various
effects such as reverb and wah-wah
pedals, Young plucked and bowed a
sound more reminiscent of Hendrix
than a concert violinist.
Capitalizing on its versatile, funk
driven rhythm section consisting of
Rusty Logsdon on bass and Jake
Ciancia on drums, and Young trading
off leads with David Moore on guitar,
Last Fair Deal quickly proved itself
to be more than a blues band.
Logsdon got the funk out by lend
ing an occasional vicious slap bass,
while Ciancia added the salt and pepper
with his reggae-tinged drumming.
Toe lose its first set, Last Fair Deal
cooked through Robert Johnson’s
“Preachin’ Blues” with a solid, rau
cous train rhythm and plenty of dis
tortion courtesy of Moore’s cherry
red Gibson.
“This band is slowly melting to
gether with a little funky reggae style
... but blues is still the main thing in
this band,” Ciancia said.
By the second set, the crowd had
grown considerably.
Last Fair Deal proceeded to tear
through blues standards such as “You’ll
Be Mine” and “Walk Away,” for which
Young picked up a slide for his violin,
adding an eery flavor to the set.
Capping off the second set the
band played a very long version of
another Robert Johnson tunc, “Last
Fair Deal,” the band’s namesake, which
showcased each member’s abilities.
During “Last Fair Deal,” Young played
a variety of styles, from a country
blues fiddle toa flamenco style pluck
ing. Using strange arrangements, the
band went into a Bob Marlcy tune
before going back to the “Last Fair
Deal.”
Ending the third set, the band played
a funky version of James Brown’s
“Sex Machine.”
By the end of the night. Last Fair
Deal answered any questions about
using a violin in a blues combo. To
say the least, Last Fair Deal got down.
^ "^^^^^CourtW^^Sbrlska Public TetovSlon
Comedian Chas Elater is a featured performer in Nebraska
Public Television’s encore presentation of “At the Funny
Bone.’’