■ . ... , , v, .. Wednesday, September 1B, 1SS3 Akts@Entertainment Midnight Oil warms to enthusiastic audience I Travis Haying/DN Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett on stage at Pershing Auditorium Monday night. Hothouse Flowers opened the show. Australian group brings music, message, good will to Lincoln Monday’s Midnight Oil concert was more than a University Program Council event—it was Ireland, Aus tralia, an entourage of environmental organizations and an estimated 2,000 fans all under one roof at the Pershing Auditorium. Opening the concert promptly at 7:30 p.m., the Irish rockers Hothouse Flowers proved they were no light weight band. Melodic keyboards, coupled with the voice of lead singer Liam O’Maonlai, ran the crowd through a gamut of emotions. After an hour-long set, the band cleared the stage. As Midnight Oil’s crew began to prepare the stage, fans wandered through the lobby, check ing out the environmental booths. Concerts for the Environment, an organization that connects environ mentally conscious performers with benefit shows, sponsored three re fional groups: Save Boyd County— top the Nuke Dump, C.L.E.A.N. (Citizens Leading Environmental Action in Nebraska) and the Omaha chapter of the Sierra Club. Peter Garrett, lead singer for Mid night Oil, is on the board of directors of Greenpeace, which also was repre sented. Farther down the corridor. Bob *42artcr3Df San Francisco answered questions about Coral Forest, a non profit organization fighting to save the coral reefs. Carter said he was\lucJcy to be a part of the Midnight Oil entourage. “The band lets us travel in the tour bus and has saved our organization $7,000,” he said. “Midnight Oil’s environmental commitment is more than skin deep. It’s what they live for.” Garrett and his bandmates would make that commitment clear in the set to follow. At 9 p.m., Midnight Oil hit the stage, and the audience on the main floor rose to its feet. Most remained standing during the 90-minute set, which focused on selections from the band’s latest album, “Earth and Sun and Moon.” On stage, overhead purple and blue lights reflected on Garrett’s sweating bald head — his stiff hand motions transforming him into a towering ro bot. At other times he moved with the fluid grace of a martial arts master. The uninhibited crowd craned necks, screamed, swayed hips and heads ami pumped fists into the air Midnight Oil's environmental commitment Is more than skin deep. It's what they live for. —Carter environmentalist -tt - during every song, with the exception of “In the Valley,” when respectful silence accompanied the piano and a gold beam of 1 ight focused on Garrett. The singer built a solid rapport with the crowd. At one point he even invited a student on stage and ques tioned him about school. “You have the best ofboth worlds,” Garrett told him—a cue for the band tp begin the next song “Best of Both Worlds.” rff r "5 Throughout the show, guitarists Martin Rotsey and Jim Moginie, along with bass player Bones Hillman, boast ed a brill iant network of guitars tied to the movcsofGarrctt, who even played the harmonica during the song, “Truganini,” Midnight Oil wrapped up the set with “Beds are Burning,” followed by a short set of encore songs. During “Bushfire,” one of the final See OIL on 10 [New KRNU disc jockey pushes ‘heavier’ heavy metal By Anne Steyer ■ Senior Rtporfr_ Radio listeners beware: “heavi er” heavy metal hits the airwaves tonight at 10p.m. when Mike Buell takes over KRNU’s sound board for “Heresy.” Buell, a 21-year-old junior broadcasting major, said his metal show inherited the title “Heresy” from previous KRNU metal pro grams. But, he said, he’s planning on playing a different breed of metal than past disc jockeys. “I try to stay ahead of everyone else, I cton’t want to play stuff tnat’s a year old,” he said. “I guess it could be called progressive metal — stuff that hasn’t been heard yet, no mainstream.” Buell said the label “heavy met al” incorporates everything from glam rock, grunge, and death rock to speed metal. He plans on plaving a bit of everything, except the glam rock ers, who Buell denounces as “lip stick rockers — guys that spend more time on their hair than their music.” “You won’t hear Bon Jovi on my show, or other would-be metal bands like Poison.” Some you might have heard, but most of it is outer fringe,” he said. “I’m planning on having fun, so I want the audience to have fun.” His plans include on-air inter views and give-aways, and although Buell said he makes most of the music selections himself, he hopes to have more audience-oriented play lists as the show gains listen ers. Buell, an Omaha native, moved to Lincoln in August, after spend ing three years at UNO. It was there he first encountered radio—Buell spent his free time as a volunteer at KBLZ, UNO’s stu dent radio station, working as mu sic director for a year and metal director for two. His time at KBLZ gave Buell much needed experience, he said, but it didn ’ t do much for his school work. “Shuffling all that responsibili ty gave me a badG.P. A. at the same time,” he said. Buell retired from double duty —station music director and metal director simultaneously—and con centrated on just the metal job and hi« rls)w