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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1995)
Arts ©Entertainment Monday, October 9, 1995 Page 9 Cliff A. Hicks Concerts: the smaller the better Big shows, little shows, lots of shows all. It can be a shame when great bands get popular. I mean, it’s marvelous the bands are making more money, but the problem is there’s this annoying ratio. The larger the show, the less per sonal the show. Granted, this isn’t always true, but nine times out of 10, it’s an unchange able thing. It’s sad too, since one shouldn’t be greedy with music. This is the problem that I have. A) I like this band. B) I share this band with my friends. C) They like this band. D) The band that I saw at a show, of 400 is now playing to crowds of 10,000. Anyone who has ever seen a small concert and a big concert knows what I’m talking about. At a small concert, there’s a connection between the band and the audience. The band can be friendly* person able and enjoy what they’re doing, as can the audience. For the most part, the same is true for the large show, but you try and be friendly with 10,000 all at once and see how well you do. Plus, it’s real hard to enjoy being a quarter of a mile back from a band. If I can’t see a band well enough to see the face of the lead singer clearly, 1 am definitely too far back. Big bands get better sound, it s true. No matter where you are, you can hear the band well. But is that really the only point of going to a concert? You listen to a band; you join the energy between the band and the mass of people you arc a part of. Besides, sometimes the .squelch, crackle and pop can add some like to a show. Until you hear a soundboard operator go insane, you have no idea what it 1s like to be bombarded by a full frontal sonic assault that haunts you for days after you’ve left the con cert. Large shows only give the people up front the feeling of being filled with music, and the people in back hear it, but don’t feel it. It’s one of the joys of being at a live show. In a small venue, the music actually ebbs through my veins, pulsing inside me. Teeth rattle, bass throbs, a singer pleads desperately over drums going “rat-tat-tat.” As Zen-like as it may sound, 1 become one with the music. Don’t you? At large shows, it s also true that a group of people can cause a lot of trouble for the majority. Mosh pits are fine for moshers, but the non-moshers who get caught up by the frenzy of people are, according to one mosher 1 talked to, “out of luck.” Sometimes a large scale show can capture that contact between audience member and band member, if only for a moment, and that can make the con cert all worthwhile. The problem still remains that these moments are the exception, not the rule. There will always be that evasive trust between small crowds and good bands that can never be transferred into a mass market, and I, personally, am glad. Cliff A. Hicks is a freshman news-edito rial and English major and a Daily Nebras kan staff reporter. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Suzanne (Nicole Kidman) mixes business with pleasure while on her honeymoon with Larry (Matt Dillon) in “To Die For.” Kidman magnificent in ‘To Die For’ By Matt Woody Film Critic Ever since Cannes, the buzz about “To Die For” has been two-fold: that Nicole Kidman turns jn an outstanding performance; and that Gus Van Sant redeems himself after his universally-panned “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.” As it turns out, both counts ring true. Kidman deserves an Oscar nomination at the very least for her turn as Suzanne Stone, a small town girl determined to make it to big-time television—at any cost. And Van Sant has made a high-quality movie that, in its playfulness, show us the ri diculousness of our society’s obsession with television and fame. Suzanne Stone has an am bition to be a famous televi sion personality. To get her start, she lands a job at a local television station doing weather up dates, but has her sights set on other projects. One of these projects is a documentary about local youths, and in the course of making her film, she meets and befriends Jimmy, Russell and Lydia, three white trash teenagers. Meanwhile, Suzanne discovers that her husband’s priority in life is not the same as hers (her career), and she decides he is in her way. So she gets the three teens to help her kill him. It sounds like a movie of the week, but “To Die For” is far more than just the plot. Kidman is flawless, not to mention absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, as the obsessed Suzanne. Every little look or inflection seems to reveal more about her. And Kidman’s American accent is perfect. In the past, her Australian dialect sometimes would slip out, even during some of her better perfor mances. Joaquin Phoenix, brother of the late River Phoenix, also deserves recognition for his por trayal of Jimmy, Suzanne’s dupe lover. Much of the credit for the film’s playful tone should go to Van Sant. In effect, he mocks Suzanne by telling the story in a documentary style. And he and screenwriter Buck Henry (“The Gradu Movie: “To Die For” | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix Director: Gus Van Sant Rating: R (language, adult situations) ! Grade: B+ ) ! Five words: Academy Award nomination | for Kidman ate”) never miss a chance to poke fun at her, or any of the other characters, for that matter. “To Die For” really is a funny movie. The wit is hilarious; I’m still laughing as I write this. The movie’s ending, not predictable until just before it happens, is a very satisfying and funny twist, a joke that is set up throughout the movie. Five dollars for a ticket to “To Die For” is money well spent. Touring ‘Tommy’ rocks on By Paula Lavigne Theater Critic Theatrics married rock ‘n’ roll for the touring Broadway show of The Who’s “Tommy” at the Lied Center this weekend. The individual singers re sounded in their perfor mances. Michael Seelbach, who played Tommy, had an innocent, yet powerful voice suitable to his almost angelic character. Although Seelbach had the leading role, Peter Connelly, who played the roguish Cousin Kevin, was a real catalyst for the action. His hard-edged, punk attitude and lime-green disco ensemble typified the psychedelic London of the 1960s. The “rockumentary” in some ways paralleled Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” in its presentation, par tially because of its ties to post-war England. The cinema-like graphics scrolling across a mesh screen in front of the stage gave the perfor mance an animated look and also gave the audi ence a context for the action. But even with these achievements, what could have been a stronger, passionate performance package was sacrificed to a truncated Broadway show. The sequence of events tied to Tommy’s ill ness was not believable. The emotions weren’t there. This included his father’s disappearance in World War II and his witnessing of the murder of his mother’s boyfriend. The singing was good, but the acting bordered on being superficial. It was obvious that the cast was trying to squeeze a much longer Broadway production into a mere two hours. The Who’s “Tommy” wouldn’t be the same without the music of The Who, either; and while I wasn’t expecting Pete Townshend to jump on stage, the stage band could have put more power into its performance. Even though the special effects in a touring show can’t match those on Broadway, “Tommy” did have some exciting props. Still, it could have made better use of its lighting effects. Overall, “Tommy” shone its finest actors, but the group needed to work on presenting itself as a team. 'Hie theatrics package was visually stimu lating, but without the emotion it was comparable to a rock concert and not a rock opera. Radio Iodine leaves crowd wanting more By Cliff A. Hicks Music Critic Saturday night at the Hurricane, a tiny crowd got to see exactly how potent Radio Iodine truly is. The St. Louis _ band took the stage quietly. _0 No one really noticed them f getting on stage. _1_ Singer Ellen Persyn stepped up to the micro s' phone in her Batman T-shirt, wearing white boots she had Concert bought that day at The DauSai«* Ozone, as she told the w■ ^ [crowd. Drummer Steve Held was wearing a kilt, bassist Tony Persyn a black dress and sandals, guitarist Rom Bramer an orange jumpsuit that read “Crash O’Day” and backup singer/keyboardist Anna Berry a pair of cutoffs and poet-style shirt. See IODINE on 10