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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1997)
Tuesday, October 28,1997_ Page 9 11 V Power pop trio plays Lincoln By Sean McCarthy Assignment Reporter When guitarist Jon Ginoli misheard a newscast six years ago, a band name was bom,,«. _ i£4 t Chriy^inaii,rieaa5#^r'ifai bassist of the power pop band Pansy Division, said Ginoli was watching footage of the Gulf War when he heard “Panzer Division.” The Panzer Division was a German army unit in WWII. “Jon misread it, but we thought it would be a really cool name for a band,” Freeman said. Tonight, Pansy Division will play at Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St, along with Fagatron and Chris Becerra. Ginoli and Freeman met up in 1991 after Ginoli placed an ad in the San Francisco Weekly looking for “queer musicians into Ramones, Buzzcocks and early Beatles.” Pansy Division was signed to Lookout! records and released its first album, “Undressed,” in 1993. The band quickly madeaname for itselfonLockout! Within a year, it opened for Lookout! ’s most famous band, Green Day. “Opening for Green Day was a great experience for us,” Freeman said. “We thought we did a good job.” However, not all was well during the Green Day tour. Most of the people in foe audience looked like Guns N’ Roses fans with haircuts, Freeman said. Still, Pansy Division managed to win some fans over. “We were watching a certain num ber of people flip us off and a smaller number of people flipping them off,” Freeman said. Playing in an arena was a childhood dream for Freeman. However, foe lack + n ■ PANSY DIVISION (from left, Chris Freeman, Jon Ginoli and Luis) plays Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 0 St., tonight witliFagatron and^hSlecerra^ PANSY Bmsm ___. f fll-ljr I of intimacy did affect the way the band performed. “The first person in font of you is 20 feet away,” Freeman said. Ontheroad Pansy Division has played more than 500 shows and toured in 11 coun tries since they formed in 1991. Australia, Spain, Italy and England were some of the more receptive coun tries. Amsterdam was memorable just because die band got to sample some of die hash bars there, Freeman said. Perhaps the strangest experiences the band encountered were when it toured die Czech Republic, he said. Just outside of a small town in the republic, the band was pulled over by the police and ordered to pay a fine on the spot The troubles didn’t stop there, though. When they finally got to per forming, they were surrounded by some very intimidating Ians. “We thought we were going to get tom apart,” Freeman said. By die time they played their fifth song, the band wound up stripping. Soon after; the audience members start ed stripping to their skivvies. Freeman said not to expect a repeat performance of the one-time strip act for this tour. - “I told our performance manager that was soooo last year. We’re over that gimmick,” Freeman said. Aside from vowing to keep its clothes on, Pansy Division underwent some other changes earlier this year. Patrick Goodwin was hired as a second guitarist and the band also hired Luis, the new drummer. “It feels like a completely different band,” Freeman said. “It feels like some thing we can go forward with.” Are you curious? Pansy Division released “More Lovin’ From On-Oven” in August The album is a semiretrospective look at the bandk six year history. The album includes some rare songs as well as new material. Some of the songs were recorded with producer Steve Albini, who pro duced PJ Harvey’s “Rid of Me” and Nirvana’s “In Utero.” “The guy’s a recording genius,” Freeman said. “He’s great with micro phones.” The band is expected to record with Albini and release a new album in January. Until then, the band plans to tour through December. Tuesday marks the second time the band has played at - * Duffy’s. The first time was in summer 1995. “We got a decent turnout then; we’ll see if it improves this time,” Freeman said Though Pansy Division sings about homosexual experiences, Freeman said he did not want the band to be known as gay activists. “We’re (for) human rights, not gay rights,” Freeman said. Freeman said that curiosity was an element that brought in fans to see Pansy Division’s live shows. Playing in smaller venues does have setbacks though, Freeman said. “Some audiences in a bar are very apathetic; they don’t move,” Freeman said. “We want to get a rise out of peo ple.” Tonight’s show starts at 9:30 and costs $4. battaca lacks gene for entertainment By Gerry Beltz Film Critic To call “Gattaca” boring would be akin to calling the recent weather “annoying” In the tradition of films such as “THX-1138” and “Logan’s Run,” “Gattaca” sets up a futuristic society where people can be genetically engi neered, shaped and formed in any way their parents desire. The choices range from gender and eye color to tfie ability to erase all feelings of racism and inequality. (Apparently, this also means that perfect people have no emotion what soever, because I’ve been served fish dinners that had more personality than these people did.) But Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) wasn’t born through this process, and it shows. His physique is less than ideal, his vision is pathetic and he has a heart condition; all add up to his being labeled “In-Valid” - these genetic letdowns are destined to be stuck with jobs such as janitors, police officers and student loan col lectors. However, Vincent has great spirit, and he wants to achieve his dream of traveling in the stars. He works through less-than-legal channels and obtains a partnership with Eugene (Jude Law), a “Valid” who has been crippled because of an accident, but is willing to sell his genetic material to Vincent to help him achieve his goal. The ruse does work. Vincent pass es his “interview” (i.e., a urine test) at Gattaca, a space control cenfSr, and thus comes closer and closer to flying amid the stars. Along with this, he starts a relationship with Irene (Uma Thurman), whose minor heart defect will keep her from space travel. However, the requisite cinematic monkey wrench is thrown in when a brutal murder is committed at Gattaca, and one of Vincent’s eye lashes is picked up at the murder scene. Naturally, Vincent has nothing to do with the crime, but as the eyelash is identified as belonging to an “In Valid,” the wheels of justice are swift Please see GATTACA on 10