Monday, October 17,1994 Page 9
Candlebox ready to light up Omaha tonight
Show: Candlebox
At: Mancuso Convention Hall at the
Civic Auditorium, Omaha
Time: 7:30 tonight
Tickets: $17.50. available through
Ticketmaster
By Jool Strauch
Senior Reporter
The rock sensation Candlebox will set
fire to the Mancuso Convention Hall in
Omaha tonight.
Touring in the wake of the phenomenal
success of its debut album — it’s been in
the top 40 for nearly a year — the band is
joined by The Flaming Lips and Mother
Tongue.
“The tour is going really well,” Scott
Mercado, the drummer for the band. said.
“This is our first full-production
headlining tour,” he said. “It’s a lot
smoother. We’re not on someone else’s time
limit.”
This will be the second time that
Candlebox will be rockin’ it up in Ne
braska.
“We played once at the Ranch Bowl in
Omaha.” Mercado said. “It’s totally fun to
play there. We don’t get out there very
much.
“1 really like the smaller venues in more
obscure places. It’s a lot less hectic.”
The band’s 11-track album is a virtual
cornucopia of hit songs and has fueled its
almost instant success.
“Compared to a lot of bands like Pearl
Jam, it (success) is not that rapid,” Mercado
said.
“But we’ve been basically unaffected by
it,” he said. “It doesn’t affect our music.
“We've been on the road for about a year
and a half, so we’ve been able to keep our
wits about it,” he said.
Candlebox is from Seattle but never was
part of that city's club scene, which seemed
to launch so many bands to stardom.
In order to get gigs in the Northwest,
they needed to tape a demo. The band’s
Court My of MavwfafcUsoonh
Rock bond Condi obex, on the bools of the success of Its debut album, will play a concert In Omaha tonight
members sold most of their worldly pos
sessions and cut an eight-song demo.
“It cost us almost everything," Mercado
said. “But our two biggest singles. ‘You'
and ‘Far Behind.’ arc from the original
demo.”
The band soon was signed with
Madonna's Maverick label and has been
with it since.
“It’s been a good label; it's a small la
bel, so we get a lot of attention." he said.
“They’ve been able to meet all our
needs,” Mercado said. “We’re happy so
far.”
The unique sounds displayed on the
“Candlebox” album stem from the diverse
background of the individual members of
the band, Mercado said.
“Peter (Klctt, guitarist) and Bardi (Mar
tin. bassist) like a lot of '60s and '70s rock.”
Mercado said. “Kevin (Martin, vocalist) is
into skate punk and R&B, and I like a lot
of jazz.
“Kevin is heavily influenced by Peter
Garrett as a lyricist, and a lot of our music
is based on late '60s and early '70s rock,
like (Jimi) Hendrix and (Janis) Joplin,” he
said.
To check out the peerless style that the
band has to offer, head up to Omaha and
try not to get burned when the Candlebox
opens up.
No experience needed to see
sexy comedv ‘Exit to Eden’
or
By Qwry Balti _
Staff Reporter
I love this job.
Granted, those feelings don't
occur all of the time, but tun mov
ies like “Exit To Eden” help to
make this job bearable — espe
cially after such abysmal movies
as “Look Who’s Talking Now!”
and “Surviving the Game.”
“Exit to Eaen” is based on a
novel by Anne Rice, who at the
time used the pseudonym Anne
Rampling, but director Garry
Marshall (“Pretty Woman”) added
some new characters to the story.
Thus, all plot lines become hilari
ously intertwined, making the
movie something reminiscent of
“A Fish Called Wanda.”
Photojournalist Elliot Slater
(Paul Mercurio) takes pictures of
Omar, a reclusive smuggler (Stuart
Wilson, “No Escape”), and Slater
unknowingly is pursued by two
straight-laced Los Angeles detec
tives (played by Dan Aykroyd and
Rosie O’Donnell).
Everybody follows Slater to an
exclusive tropical resort called
Club Eden, a place where people
are allowed to have all of their
Movie: “Exit To Eden”
Rating: R
Stars: Dana Dclany. Paul
Mercurio, Hector Elizondo.
Rosie O'Donnell, Dan
Akroyd
Director: Garry Marshall
Grade: B
Five words: Sexy comedy hits
big screen
sexual fantasies fulfilled.
At Eden, Slater gets the atten
tion of Mistress Lisa (Dana
Delany), a beautiful dominatrix
who decides that she needs to
“train” him personally.
All performers look like they
are having a good time making the
film, except for Aykroyd. However,
if he had been in a bit more of the
film, that may have put a smile
back on his face.
Mercurio, who dazzled audi
ences with his dancing in “Strictly
Ballroom,” is all right as Slater,
the cameraman who needs a good
spanking once in a while.
What makes the movie work is
the laughter. O’Donnell’s dry, sar
donic wit finds a new hunting
ground in a world where fantasy
and reality intermingle.
The movie has some scary
points, too, just in time for Hal
loween. It’s not monsters or de
mons. however, but Rosie
O'Donnell in a dominatrix outfit.
Brrrmr! It makes the spine shiver
just thinking about itl
There’s also some major ex
plicit stuff, too. Many buttocks and
breasts parade across the screen
like the herds of buffalo in “Dances
With Wolves.” The subject matter
gets rather interesting at times with
discussions of bondage and domi
nation. and there arc a couple of
rather explicit — and romantic —
sex scenes.
Translation: Leave the kids at
home.
Those who want the movie to
be EXACTLY like the book, in
both content and quality, will be
disappointed with “Exit To Eden,”
but those who can get by that com
parison will enjoy the film.
‘Pulp’ is bizarre
but compelling
By Chris H«ln
Senior Editor
If the urban crime scene is the
western frontier of the ’90s, then
“Pulp Fiction” might be a spa
ghetti western.
“Pulp Fiction” is an action/
comedy containing more fresh
brutality from Quentin Thrantino.
The movie takes place on the ren
egade frontier of organized
crime, where bizarre is the norm.
The originality of “Pulp Fic
tion” may nave a lot to do with
writer/director Tarantino’s non
film school background.
Tarantino was a video clerk prior
to his film career.
“Pulp Fiction” comes to town
with perhaps more hype and criti
cal acclaim than any film this
year. It won best picture (Palme
d’Or) at the 1994 Cannes film
festival and opened the New York
Film Festival in September.
Like “Reservoir Dogs.” the
first movie Tarantino wrote and
directed, “Pulp Fiction” dwells
on crime and isn’t short on vio
lence.
In Thrantino’s world, lurking
Movie: “Pulp Fiction”
Rating: R
Stars: John Travolta,
Samuel L. Jackson, Uma
Thurman, Harvey Keitel,
Bruce Willis
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Grade: A
Five Words: Irresistible,
brutal ride through
underworld
in the shadows arc characters
who participate in intelligent,
analytical discussions, complete
with everyday humanity and po
liteness, and then commit the
most shocking crimes
“Pulp Fiction” plays on a simi
lar paradox by inserting humor
into the most violent, demented
scenes. The result is laughter that
often is clipped by the audience's
realization of what it is actually
See FICTION on 10
