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courtesy or Epitaph records
California band Offspring brings Its “Smash” succass music to
Omaha's Ranch Bowl Saturday night
Offspring spawns sold-out
show at the Ranch Bowl
By Joal Strauch ___
Senior Reporter
The heavy punk band Offspring is open
ing up its “Smash” tour with a rebirth in
Nebraska at the Ranch Bowl.
Greg K, the bassist of this Orange
County, Calif., band, said that Offspring
had played in this state once before in Lin
coln.
“Wc played in front of about 150 people
at The Edge,” he said
Their performance will be attended to a
little more intensely this time. The show
sold out within the first week that tickets
were offered.
Nick Mclloy, the promotions director for
Omaha's Ranch Bowl, said. “They sold out
amazingly fast. Usually wc make a com
mercial for our concerts and then pump it
out a lot.
“We ran Offspring's commercial only
four or five times before they sold out. I’ve
been here for about a year, and it's the fast
est I’ve seen one sell out.”
The immense popularity of “Come Out
and Play” and “Self Esteem,” the first two
releases from “Smash,” have been instru
mental in the band’s recent success.
“Dexter (Holland, the band’s lead
singer) pretty much writes everything,”
Greg K. said. “For the lyrics to ‘Come Out
and Play,’ he saw a talk show on kids tak
ing guns to school to survive, and ‘Self
Esteem’ was written by Dexter and his girl
friend. It’s about what a lot of people have
been through.
“Musically, it’s stuff that he plays
around with. Lyrically, it’s stuff you sec in
the paper or something that a friend might
do.
The band steadily began to gain popu
larity with its first release on Epitaph. “Ig
nition.” According to Greg K, things got
more refined on “Smash,” the newest re
lease.
“Wc played about 80 shows alter wc put
out ‘Ignition,’” he said. “We’ve evolved a
lot
“A lot of people have been saying that
Show: Offspring
At: Ranch Bowl. Omaha
Time: 9:00 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: Sold out
we’re more mainstream, but I think we just
got better.”
Greg K said that the immense popular
ity recently heaped on the band hadn’t re
ally affected him.
“Well, we travel in a bus on tours now.
and the crowds are more enthusiastic.” he
said. “But I still do the same thing.”
Over the last year and a half, the band
has appeared in numerous surf/skate/
snowboard videos, adding to its renown.
“We just started getting thrown onto ail
these videos of all these professionals —
you know, the ones that kids put in and
watch 12 times in a row.” Greg K said.
Greg K said that the band mostly had
been influenced by the local sounds of Or
ange County.
“Local bands like Agent Orange were
what we listened to,” he said, “so that was
what we wanted to play. We put our own
sounds into it.”
There is a wide variety of music on
“Smash,” and even though it is hard for
Greg K to differentiate between songs af
ter playing them so many times, he said he
still had a few favorites.
“I like playing ‘Bad Habit' and the ska
song (“What happened to You?”), but ‘Self
Esteem’ is probably the funniest because
I’m featured on it,” he said. “It’s kind of
an ego thing.”
Malloy said the Ranch Bowl was really
looking forward to Offspring’s appearance.
“Their music is tremendous, he said.
“It’s part of the new punk explosion.
“They love playing and going crazy,”
he said.
Opening for the sellout show will be the
band Rancid.
Severinsen to play
at hospital benefit
By Ann Stack _
Staff Reporter
The doctor is in.
Carl “Doc” Severinsen and his Big Band
will perform at the Lied Center for Per
forming Arts Saturday night as part of Lin
coln General Hospital's Star Night.
Severinsen, a jazz and classical trum
pet player, is best known as the musical
director of “The Tonight Show” with Ne
braska native Johnny Carson as host, for
which Severinsen won a Grammy award
for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance
Big Band in 1987.
The members in his Big Band arc also
the original musicians from “The Tonight
Show,” although they can no longer use
their TV name.
Scverinsen’s professional career, which
has spanned more than 40 years, includes
more than 30 recorded symphonic, jazz and
big band albums.
He has toured throughout the country
with acts such as Tommy Dorsey, Benny
Goodman and Charlie Barnet before join
ing “The Tonight Show” orchestra in 1962.
Severinsen currently serves as the Prin
cipal Pops Conductor of the Phoenix Sym
phony and the Buffalo Philharmonic. In
July of 1995, Severinsen will be honored
with his own star on Hollywood’s Walk of
Fame.
The proceeds for the fourth annual Star
Night benefit will go toward purchasing a
mechanical ventilating system for the in
Show: Star Night, featuring Doc
Severinsen and His Big Band
At: Lied Center for Performing Arts
Time: 8 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $22 and $20, $2 discount for
students; available at the Lied box
office
tensive care unit at LGH, Star Night Gen
eral Chairperson Deb Schorr said.
“He (Doc) is really excited about per
forming here," she said. “He knows about
the Johnny Carson Theatre, and he's look
ing forward to performing at the Lied.”
The hospital is also working with
Severinsen in hopes of coordinating a hos
pital tour on Saturday.
In the past, Schorr said, the hospital has
routinely booked country artists to perform
at the benefit.
“This year, we wanted to get something
different to appeal to more people,” she
said.
Tickets are still on sale at the Lied Cen
ter for the 8 p.m. performance. The costs
for students with ID is $20 for the floor
and $18 for the balcony. The general pub
lic prices are $22 and $20.
Laughs, linguistics fill
musical ‘My Fair Lady’
By Jo— Btraucn _
Senior Reporter
The musical extravaganza “My Fair
Lady” will be appearing at Lincoln’s
Pershing Auditorium Sunday night.
Hailed as the most successful musical
comedy in theatrical history, “My Fair
Lady” focuses on a bet between Professor
Henry Higgins and Col. Pickering, both
language experts. Higgins vows that he can
transform Eliza Doolittle, a “cockney gut
ter sparrow,” into a high-toned lady just
by teaching her proper English.
Higgins teaches Doolittle English
through a series of disciplined lessons. In
one lesson, she must repeat: “In Hertford,
Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly
ever happen” until she puts all the ‘h’s
where they belong.
Another of his arduous instructions
leads to the now-famous song lyric: “The
rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain."
The snow is a National Touring Musi
cals’ production of the Lerner and Loewc
adaption of George Bernard Shaw's play
“Pygmalion.” It features a live orchestra
and three-dimensional backdrops.
In 1956, “My Fair Lady” ran for 2,717
consecutive nights, scoring a run previ
ously unsurpassed by any other musical.
“When you consider how many people
have worked with it over the years, it’s just
incredible,” Maureen Kehler said. Kenler
is the marketing director for Jeff Parry pro
motions, one of the shows publicity com
panies.
“The tour has been going really well,”
she said People are very receptive.
Kehler said that this production of “My
Fair Lady” was a bus-and-truck show.
“That means that there is only one truck
carrying all the stuff for their show,” she
said. “For a bus and truck, it has been go
ing over huge.
“Everyone has been real positive about
the scenery and about the whole show it
self.”
The part of Henry Higgins is being per
formed by accomplished actor Gary
Kimble. Kimble has held the roles of Daddy
Warbucks in “Annie” and Captain Hook
in “Peter Pan” in major touring produc
tions.
University of Colorado graduate Lcenya
Rideout plays the complex role of Eliza
Doolittle, and Richard David Springlc, who
recently completed an 8-month run of the
one-man show “Einstein,” will be playing
Colonel Pickering.
Tickets for the single show are avail
able through Ticketmaster. All scats are re
served. and tickets are $23.50 and $20.50.
Show: “My Fair Lady”
At: Pershing Auditorium
Time: Sunday, October 16 at 7:00
p.m.
Tickets: Ticketmaster, $23.50 and
$20.50