Arts ^Entertainment
Tuesday, September 20, 1994 Page 9
Reznor, band delight Omaha throng
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
OMAHA — Nine Inch Nails were driven
into the Omaha Civic Auditorium Monday
night.
Playing to a crowd of more than 5.0(H).
they delivered a thrashin’ performance in the
half-sized Civic.
The Jim Rose Circus set the stage with its
revelry of disgusting, but compelling, antics.
The Amazing Mr. Lifto pcndulumncd a
concrete block that was dangling on a chain
from his nipple rings.
Mimi the beautiful circus queen climbed a
stairstep of scimitars and laid down on a bed
of nails while Rose stood on lop of her.
The Armenian Rubber Man put his whole
body through an old-model tennis racket.
Even Mr. Rose himself swallowed and
regurgitated razor blades.
And that was just for starters.
John Moffatt ofOmaha had eagerly antici
pated the Nine Inch Nails show.
“I’m so stoked to see Trent.” he said. “It's
all him.”
Moffatt was upby the stage and planned to
stay there.
“These young kids had better stay out of
my way,” he said.
One of those young kids was 14-ycar-old
Joe Knapp of Omaha, who was attending his
first concert.
“It’s gonna be a great concert.” Knapp
said before the show. “Bigger than the uni
verse."
Trent “Mr. Self Destruct” Reznor came
out singing that song to a wild, crowd-surfing
throng. Alternating between types of songs.
Reznor and the rest of the group kept the
crowd in a mild rampage for the rest of the
night.
The stage was set with wooden pillars
covered with nailed-in shreds of cloth. The
light show was just short of mesmerizing.
Strobe effects, coupled with yellow, hexago
nal lights gave the band a holographic ap
pearance.
After almost an hour of intense mosh mu
sic. the group gave the audience a slide show.
Black-and-white time-lapse photography on
See NAILS on 10
Shaun Sartin/DN
Nino Inch Nalls’ Trent Reznor performs Monday night at the
Omaha Civic AiKfltorlum. The freak show opening act, the Jim Rose Circus,
featured Mr. Ufte, who uses various pierced body parts to lift cinder
Mocks, clothes Irons and suitcases.
Wagon Train
to perform
spirituals
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
The Wagon Train Project, in partner
ship with Lincoln Public Schools and
Mid-America Arts Alliance, presents the
return to Lincoln of the Harlem Spiritual
Ensemble.
The ensemble will be performing with
choirs from Lincoln public schools at
7:30 tonight at Lincoln High School.
“They are just love,” said Amy
Lamphere, the director of the Wagon
Train Project. “They are so warm and
very nice to their audiences.”
The ensemble gave a performance at
the Lied Center for Performing Arts last
November and was well-received.
“The concert at the Lied was so packed
that we decided to bring them back,” she
said.
The group, consisting of six singers, a
pianist and a percussionist, will be per
forming “Free At Last,” “Go Tell it on the
Mountain,”“Rockamamumba”and many
other spirituals.
Founded and directed by Francois
Clemmons, formerly the singing police
man from “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,”
the ensemble is devoted to the preserva
tion of the American Negro spiritual.
“They are spiritual, not gospel,”
Lamphere said. “The whole concert is
American music and also very rich in
African traditions.”
The mission of the Wagon Train
See SPIRIT on 10
Show: The Harlem Spiritual
Ensemble
At: Lincoln High School. 2229 J
St.
Time: 7:30 tonight
Tickets: $12. available at door
" '*■.
Playboy offers
jazz film fest
WEST HOLLYWOOD.
Calif. (AP)—Movies and jazz,
have always been a big part of
what Hugh Hefner secs as the
Playboy way of life. Now Play
boy is offering movies ABOUT
jazz.
Hefner said his Playboy Jazz
Film Festival would give fans
a sample of the best and most
historically significant movies
available from archives and
private collections.
“We will be able to share
with jazz fans the cinematic
record of the roots of this
uniquely American music,
from Dixieland to Bebop —
the music of the 1920s. 1930s.
I940sand 1950s,” Hefner said
The three-day festival, “Bix
to Bird,” opens Sept. 27 at a
theater in west Hollywood. It
will feature the theatrical pre
miere of “A Great Day in
Harlem,” which chronicles the
1958 gathering in New York
Ci*y of dozens of jazz legends
for a magazine photograph.
.
Jazz orchestra will feature blues pianist
ly Paula Lavlgiw
Senior Reporter
From Kansas City, Mo., to Lin
coln, the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra
will open its 1994-95 season to
night with a combination of na
tional and local talent.
The orchestra's first Lincoln
performance will feature Jay
McShann. an internationally known
blues pianist and singer from Kan
sas City.
McShann's release, “Paris All
Star Blues,” was nominated for a
Grammy Award in 1992.
McShann’s interest in jazz
stemmed from his childhood. His
father owned a furniture store, and
inside was an old Victrola. On oc
casion, he would bring home jazz
records for his son.
“I really took care oflhc records,
especially the ones that I liked."
McShann said. “That’s when I re
ally started fooling around on the
piano.”
When McShann came to Kansas
City, he developed an admiration
for the city’s jazz musicians.
“When you came to a club in
Kansas City, you heard the music
piped outside, and you had to get in
as fast as you could." he said, laugh
ing.
McShann said Kansas City jazz
varied from New Orlcans-styfe to
eastern or western jazz.
Concert: Nebraska Jazz
Orchestra with Jay
McShann
At: Main ballroom of
Ramada Hotel and
Conference Center
Time: 7:30 tonight
Tickets: Adults $12, senior
citizens $ 10. students $6:
available through Nebraska
Jazz Orchestra office.
“New Orleans jazz has a two
beat. like marching jazz." he said.
“Kansas City jazz doesn't have a
march beat. It has a four-four beat,
a steady, full beat.
“When Kansas City jazz is com
pared to eastern or western jazz.
Kansas City jazz always swings
more.”
McShann just finished perform
ing at a jazz blues festival in Kansas
City two weeks ago. He’ll be with
the NJO for two performances.
Dean Heist, executive director
of the NJO, said the orchestra really
was excited to have McShann for
its first performance.
Heist said sometimes it was dif
ficult to bring in musicians of
McShann’s stature because the or
chestra was in a financial struggle.
“We’re a nonprofit group. We
can't afford to pay a lot of money
for musicians,” Heist said. He said
the orchestra schedules perfor
mances on wecknights to accom
modate musicians who might have
prior commitments on weekends.
“We rely on ticket sales, the gen
erosity of our fans and corporate
sponsors,” Heist said. “We're fac
ing a very specialized audience.
There is a strong, but small, contin
gent of people in Lincoln who sup
port us ”
And they arc a loyal group. Last
year, about 250 people attended
each concert.
“Thai’s close to a sellout.” he
said. “For (Tuesday's concert),
we're expecting a full house.”
Heist said jazz was a fun type of
music that “rubs off' on the audi
ence.
“It’s a very creative art form
that’s constantly changing and
evolving.” he said. “A lot of other
types of musical events happening
in the city don't have that spontane
ity.
Heist said many students came
to the concerts, thanks to NJO saxo
phonist Dave Sharp. Sharp, a jazz
professor at the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln. requires his stu
dents to attend NJO performances.
“You'll see several students
huddled i n a corner taking notes for
Dave’s class." Heist said
An NJO performance is not ex
pensive. Heist said, and student tick
ets are half-price.
The orchestra will perform at
7:30 p.m. in the main ballroom of
the Rain a da Hotel and Conference
Center in downtown Lincoln. Adult
tickets arc $ 12. Student tickets arc
$6. Tickets for people 65 and older
are $10.
The orchestra's next perfor
mance will be Nov. 8. The concert
will feature saxophonist Jeff
Newell, a native Nebraskan now
living in New York.