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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1997)
Tur Dim .„u. ... _ _ . . . . . . Photo courtesy op Zoo Bar THE BUZZ will perfanB at the Zoo Bar taaiffct la a 21 -aad-aver slww. encompasses more By Ann Stack Senior Reporter There’s an alternative to everything these days, and the blues don’t seem to be an excep tion. And while there is always something to be said for tradition, injecting something new to the blues genre can prove to be worthwhile. That’s where The Buzz comes in. The Buzz, a Chicago-based blues band with a twist, will be at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St., tonight. Frank Blinkal, singer and lead guitarist, de scribes his band as “James Brown meets the Black Crowes meets The Paladins with a David Bowie twist.” Come again? “We’ll do some blues, then maybe an old school rockabilly, then the Beatles,” he said. The Buzz came together three years ago when three of the members — Blinkal, bassist Chris Bernhardt and drummer Jon Hanrahan— started playing Monday jam nights at Buddy Guy’s club, Legends, in Chicago. They started backing a female blues singer, doing straight ahead blues. They eventually became the Mon day night host band, jamming with blues musi cians like Guy and Otis Rush. “They’d hear us play this straight-ahead blues, and they’d tell us, ‘That’s great, but with your youth and energy, you need to be doing something else,”’ Blinkal said. “That’s some thing we’d been wanting to do anyway.” They added horn and keyboard player Jay Moynihan, and gave up the Monday jam ses sions, so “people wouldn’t think we were just a blues band,” he said. “Legends was always really cool about not curtailing our music just to appease sane 50 year-old tourist.” Blinkal can see the parallel one might draw between today’s insurgent movements combin ing rock music with other genres, like country or R&B, to what The Buzz does. “That’s kind of like what we’re about,” he said. “They play traditional stuff that shows their roots, that shows they’re students of the music, but then they put a twist on it and make it differ ent.” The Buzz deGnitely know their music. As well as getting their training in the blues clubs of Chicago, two of the members received music —~ - ' Please see BUZZ on 10 Vegas Vacation’ revisits old high jinks Br Bret Schulte Film Critic Another breakthrough in food preservatives leads to another va cation get-away for America’s most gleefully unfortunate family, the Griswolds. Once again Chevy Chase is the overly zealous, mostly faithful fam ily man, Clark Griswold, accompa nied by his patient and loyal bomb shell, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo). Clark rallies the reluctant fam - ily, who, in the Lampoon tradition, feature a new (and improved) Rusty and Audrey, played by Ethan Embry (“Empire Records,” “That Tiling You Do”) and Mari sol Nichols. Any possible high jinks that may have occurred on their minivan ex cursion are glossed over and the film abruptly begins in the sex-and neon-illuminated downtown of Las Vegas. The Griswolds quickly become ensnared by the trappings of Las . .1 . ,i. ■. ^ . Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Ethan Embry, Mari sol Nichols, Wayne Newton Director: Stephan Kessler Rating: PG (language) Grade: B Five words: Griswolds plus Vegas equals gamble Vegas: Clark loses a small fortune to a particularly menacing near midget blackjack dealer (Wallace Shawn of “The Princess Bride”); Ellen becomes enamored with the ever-enticing Wayne Newton, who attempts to win her affections through plenty of chest hair and pasta; Rusty turns into a major Ve gas player while Audrey ends up dancing in a cage. Appearing again as Cousin Eddie, Randy Quaid provided most Please see VEGAS on 10 Photo courtesy op Warner Bros. MWMMUMMWttm* CknyCfem star talk* MM kMMil ™ MIIW| VCNfd^PHa Theatrix cast opens season in fine fashion By Liza Holtmeier Theatre Critic Audiences to the opening of the Theatrix season saw two features con trasting in both tone and style. The first feature, directed by Heather Currie, consisted of three se lections by David Ives. Though flubbed lines slowed the pace of the play, the chemistry of the cast held the show together. Patty Dillon vacillated humorously between flirtation and indignation in “Sure Thing.” But her counterpart, Mike Zaller, seemed to pass over and rush through lines, ignoring their comic implications. The couples in “Foreplay, or the Art of the Fugue” were expertly matched. Zaller heightened his energy level for the role of the seducing Chuck, and Please see THEATRIX on 10