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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1998)
Performer combines disciplines By Sarah Baker Senior Reporter It’s storytelling with more than just words. And it’s probably not whai anyone is going to expect Dan Froot, an experimental dance and performance artist, comes to Lincoln’s Wagon Train Project this weekend. Froot, who has presented his work across the United States and Europe, said he con siders himself an “interdisci plinary artist.” “I play saxophone, I am an actor and also a dancer,” Froot said. “In this act, I perform all those disciplines virtually at the same time, intermeshed.” rroot said his performance is more than just music, acting and dancing. “I do all these things virtu ally simultaneously, and through that, tell stories,” he said. Froot said this particular piece is a collaboration of sev eral of his own solo pieces and includes a duet with saxophon ist David Dorfman. “The dance part of the pro gram doesn't frt into any cer tain mold,” Froot said. “It’s movement more than anything. It’s very high-energy.” Froot said he decided to perform at the Wagon Train Project after he got to know director Amy Lamphere. “I am an old colleague of Amy’s, and I have been to Lincoln on several occasions, once just recently,” he said. “But I have an ongoing rela tionship with the Wagon Train Project.” Lamphere said she thought Froot’s show would be one of the more extraordinary acts to come to Lincoln. “He dances and plays saxo phone, and through those cre ates movement theater,” Lamphere said. “His act is very unusual and very fun.” Froot said the show is experimental, but in a welcom ing way. “If people are put off by the thought of ‘experimental’ the ater, this is something new,” he said. “I try to demystify the arts and communicate with the audience on a more personal level.” Froot said the show has an intimate and comforting feel to it. “I think the audience can expect to have whatever expec tations they have coming into the show to be broken in some way before the night is over,” he said. “It’s going to be both fun and informative in a very provocative way.” Dan Froot performs this weekend at the Wagon Train Project, 504 S. Seventh St. Performances are Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is free, but contri butions of $ 1 0 for adults and $5 for students are suggested. For more information, call the Wagon Train Project at (402)435-7776. Radio King finds niche in rockabilly By Bret Schulte Assignment Reporter They wear old suits, play even older instruments and sing about love when it strikes a trailer park. It may sound like a group of poor Elvis impersonators, but Radio King can’t help the way it looks. Radio King drummer Rand Paul said wearing suits to the shows began with the band’s guitarist, Tony Robertson, who wears a suit every day. “We re not trying to make Tony look like Elvis,” Paul said. “He’s always been that way. It’s nothing intentional at all, we’ve been playing this kind of crap for a long time.” Although Robertson, Paul and bassist Marty Steinhausen have played together for years in an outfit called Cowtow’n, they formed Radio King as a means to take their music in a different direction. “Some of the bands that we used to be in were pushing too hard toward that alternative kind of thing and got in a rut,” Paul said. After playing together for about four years, the Lincoln group made a musical U-turn and returned to the rock ’n’ roll that the band always found itself playing just for fun: rock abilly. A little after a year since its con ception, Radio King continues to make a name for itself around Nebraska with its roots-rockabilly sound, vintage instruments and slick appearance. “We’re way more popular now that we went in the direction we were naturally drawn to,” Paul said. “It’s much more effortless now, and we don’t have to think about the music as much.” Like most bands, Radio King’s appearance closely relates to its Courtesy Photo RADIO KING, a local band that is as known for its snappy attire as well as its music, will perform Thursday night at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St. music, which in this case shows a strong fondness for classic American culture, especially its music. Along with classic-looking suits, members play exclusively vintage instruments. Robertson owns several guitars from the ’60s, including Gibsons and a ’63 Gretsch. Neither Paul nor Steinhausen are as old as the instruments they play, said Steinhausen, who owns a Kay upright bass from the ’50s. “Vintage instruments seem to have more style and class,” Steinhausen said. Using classic instruments in the band helped members finally find the sound they were searching for, Paul said. The result has been overwhelm ing responses from audiences, which frequently end up dancing near the stage to the group’s rapid rockabilly delivery. “It’s a thrill when people dance,” Steinhausen said. “We used to play in bands that people would never dance to. It’s pretty typical now, especially after they've had a few drinks.” The group has become so popu lar, in fact, that it cut an independent album only a few months after its conception. Steinhausen said the record has been selling well at their shows. One of Radio King’s most popular songs is “The Flies are Bitin’,” a bal lad with bullet-like delivery about love between two trailer-park resi dents. Steinhausen said the songs he writes for the band usually involve classic American themes such as trains and jails, although he claims never to have served any jail time. Radio King plays Thursday night at the Zoo Bar, 136 N.14th St., at 10. There is a $2 cover charge. Steinhausen said he loves playing this music for people and watching them dance to it. “Any time you see people in the crowd reacting - bobbing their heads, singing along or getting off to the music - that’s where th^real magic happens. “If it wasn’t for the feedback we’d stay in the basement and play with ourselves.” (6 — Any time you see people in the crowd reacting - bobbing their heads, singing along or getting off to the music - that s where the real magic happens Marty Ste inhausen bassist Madonna constructs ethereal electronica Madonna “Ray of Light” Maverick/Warner Bros. Grade: B i In her decade-plus of music indus try work. Madonna has been called | everything from a master of pop to a j shameless self-promoter. One thing she’s rarely been called ' is derivative. But on “Ray of Light,” Madonna’s first post-childbirth album, the undis puted queen of MTV and dance-floor pop music is being just that. Along with co-producer William Orbit, she dives headfirst into the still-simmer ing kettle of electronic music that was all of last year’s rage. The result is an album full of songs that ring with familiarity and, occa sionally, redundancy to anyone who is familiar with the so-called electronica genre. For pretty much anyone else, such a trick would sound ugly and point less; but in Madonna’s hands, it sounds beautiful. As America’s dance-craze leader for a generation, Madonna’s embrace of electronica in its truest form some how legitimizes the entire genre. From the opening track, “Drow ned World/Substitute for Love,” it is evi dent that Madonna has changed her musical style yet x n. The slow-jam style of this track and several others on the album reveals her penchant for the darker side of music, both lyrically and aurally. The music follows the line of established electronic artists such as Faithless (most famous for its song “Insomnia”), whose stripped-down sonic approach and relatively simplis tic song structures make for a more pedestrian and palatable form of elec tronic music. This restrained approach is most likely because of Orbit’s production. Orbit has earned a reputation with both his solo work and his production and remixing skills, which he previ ously has applied to other artists, including Peter Gabriel, Prince and Depeche Mode. His past work with Madonna (on remixes of “Justify Mv Love” and “Erotic,” most notably) showed hints of what was to come on this album. But “Ray of Light” goes beyond the duo’s previous collaborations and, even while working in a familiar genre, breaks new ground. Tracks such as “Candy Perfume Girl” and “Frozen” are as strong as most of Madonna’s past hit tracks. Lyrically, most of the album fol lows Madonna’s traditional vein of love and loss, lust and desire, with the occasional personal political state ment injected for good measure. But on “Little Star,” one of the album’s last tracks, she sends a sw'eet message to her daughter that, although probably not destined for major radio airplay, is notable. Overall, “Ray of Light” proves that just because Madonna has decided to take a couple years off, she cannot be kept on the sidelines of pop music. In fact, she still rules the game. And that condition w ill last for a long time. Jeff Randal!