Courtesy Photo
THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS, a Scottish lounge-rock hand with strangely Uncoln-like speech patterns and
addresses, will perform at the Zoo Bar this weekend.
Eclectic ‘Scots’ to rock
righteously at Zoo Bar
By Jason Hardy
Senior Reporter
The Self-Righteous Brothers
have been playing music for 66 years.
Its members claim Weatherbee,
Scotland as their homeland.
They travel by blimp or jet.
They tend to drink just a bit.
And this weekend the Self
Righteous Brothers are celebrating
the release of their first compact disc
with two shows at the Zoo Bar, 136
N. 14th St. The shows will mark the
first Self-Righteous Brothers perfor
mance in Lincoln in three months.
Though Lincoln fans have only
been familiar with the Self
Righteous Brothers for the past four
years, the band claims to have been
playing in and around Scotland for 60
odd years. That’s quite a feat; of
course, they are self-proclaimed liv
ing legends.
Trendy McFadden, guitarist for
the band, said that after 60 years of
living life in the fast lane, he’s grown
accustomed to all the traveling.
“We’re getting pretty used to it.
Now the jet lag is pretty much a part
of our high,” McFadden said, in an
oddly American accent. “So many
years, so many jets.”
Sweet Basil McJagger, organ
player for the group, said the band
usually traveled by blimp, which was
slightly slower than jet travel, but
more fun in the end.
“As with everything we do, there
is plenty of cocktails and young girls
around,” McJagger said, also sound
ing as American as apple pie and
baseball.
McFadden said even though this
was the band’s first compact disc to
date, the group has been busy.
“There have been numerous vinyl
releases. People search the globe for
some of the rarities out there,”
McFadden said. “There has even
been movie ideas that we turned
down.”
As for the actual album, he said it
was quite an accomplishment.
“It presented some challenges,
but we just went for it, and I think it
sounds quite true to the live shows,”
McFadden said. “It’s not your pristine
Ocean Way (recording studio)
$100,000 release, but it’s very much
us.”
He said recording the album pre
sented a few challenges because the
band includes seven members, mak
ing studio space limited.
“We had amplifiers in the bath
room sitting on a toilet and the organ
player in the lounge of the studio,”
McFadden said. “It was really a trip.”
McJagger, who describes^the
group’s sound as being three-chord
original rock masquerading as a
lounge act, said the two shows this
weekend would be funk-rock bad
ness and over-the-top madness.
“They’re going to be all-out free
for-all’s with lots of general debauch
ery occurring,” McJagger said.
As for the future of the white
tuxedo-wearing Self-Righteous
Brothers, McJagger said they were
concentrating on their mission.
“We’re not going to rest until we
have a pinball machine that’s based
on the band,” McJagger said. “We’re
already on lunch boxes in the UK, so
we’re getting there. It’s happening.”
The Self-Righteous Brothers will
celebrate their album’s release with
performances Friday and Saturday
nights at about 9 p.m. Each show has
a $5 cover charge.
Third time’s a charm for Urge
St. Louis band to perform at Knickerbockers Sunday
By Patrick Miner
Music Critic
This Sunday, Knickerbockers
will get hectic.
The Urge, a self-proclaimed
“rock-n-homs” band from St. Louis,
will perform Sunday at
Knickerbockers, 901 O St., with
New York rap and funk act, 2
Skinnee J’s.
The Urge will be in Nebraska for
the third time since January, when it
played shows at the Ranch Bowl Jan.
2 and 3.
At those shows, the band mostly
played songs from its fifth album
and major label debut, “Receiving
the Gift of Flavor.” Tracks from that
album, such as the guitar-speedy
“Brainless,” the horn-centered
“Violent Opposition” and show fin
isher “Gettin’ Hectic,” are high-ener
gy numbers that keep the crowd
moving at a feverish pace.
The band also played a few tracks
from its upcoming record, which is
tentatively scheduled to be released
April 21. These songs include the
lively “Straight to Hell,” as well as
the album’s first single “Jump Right
In,” which features backup vocals by
311’sNickHexum.
2 Skinnee J’s appeared in
Nebraska more recently than the
Urge when they played at the Ranch
Bowl Feb. 19. The J’s also are await
ing the release of their self-titled
debut, which should come out in
April as well.
The 12-track album features the
J’s doing what they do best, playing
funky music behind the solid rhymes
of J Guevera and Special J, who is a
graduate of Omaha Central high
school. The album features four
songs, including the anthems “718”
and “Mindtrick,” from the bands
self-produced EP “Return of the
New and Improved.” Also, the record
has some brand new tunes, with
“Pluto is a Planet” and “Ball Point
Man” standing out.
The all-ages show begins at 8
p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and
$12 day of show.
Woodwind quintent
to make rare showing
By Sarah Baker
Senior Reporter
If it hadn’t been for a 19th cen
tury innovator, they might never
have existed.
But thanks to the work of
Theobald Boehm, an originator of
flute construction who influenced
the manufacture of all future
woodwind instruments, the
Boehm Quintette graces Lincoln
this weekend.
The internationally famous
Boehm Woodwind Quintette,
named after Theobald Boehm,
performs Saturday night at 8 in
the Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery, 12th and R streets.
The five-piece ensemble
comes to Lincoln as part of the
Lincoln Friends of Chamber
Music’s 33rd annual concert
series.
Carlos Messerli, publicity
director with the Lincoln Friends
of Chamber Music, said the group
formed 20 years ago.
“They are all individual artists
in their own right,” Messerli said.
Messerli said woodwind quin
tets are different than their coun
terpart, string quartets.
“Woodwind quintets are dif
ferent than string quintets because
in a woodwind group, all the
members are playing different
instruments,” he said. “It’s chal
lenging in a different way.”
Messerli said the Boehm
Quintette plays a lot of contempo
rary music.
“There is really no historic lit
erature for woodwind quintets,”
he said.
Messerli said this visit of the
quintet is a rare opportunity.
“Internationally famous artists
like this rarely come to Lincoln,”
he said. “They have really accom
plished a lot in their field.”
The performance will be pre
ceded with comments from John
Bailey, a University of Nebraska
Lincoln faculty flutist. Bailey’s
speech begins at 7:30 p.m. After
the show, a reception for the
artists and audience will be held
in the Sheldon Great Hall.
Tickets are $25 for adults and
$5 for students at the door. For
more information, call (402) 435
5454.
The Artist
“Crystal Ball”
NPG Records
Grade: A
As one of popular music’s most
prolific and bootlegged artists, The
Artist’s (you know, the guy we used to
call “Prince”) release of a rarities
compilation was an inevitable event.
But whether said compilation
would be worth the price of purchase
or even the effort of listening was a
debatable proposition.
“Crystal Ball” is that compila
tion, and it’s worth every penny. It
was first released late last
I <
retail
debut.
A
three-disc set of
alternate versions, never
before-released tracks and live ren- vi
ditions, “Crystal Ball” is a well-con
ceived and well-executed collection.
The set is complemented by an addi
tional disc called “The Truth,” which
is an all-acoustic collection of new
material
And although the release of any
thing more than a double disc by any
artist is a recipe for disaster, The
Artist pulls it off hoe for the second
time in a row (the first time being last
year’s three-disc “Emancipation”).
“Crystal Ball” contains music
dating from 1983 to the present The
most consistently good tracks are the
live tracks culled from the now-noto
rious late-night “Love40neAnother”
jams that were held at The Artist’s
residence in Minneapolis, including
“Days of Wild,” a chant-heavy and
instrumentally funky piece.
In fact, most of the set’s best
tracks come in the form of funk jams,
which reveal The Artist in his loosest
and most creative state.
“Get Loose” is a solid, free-flow
ing jam that segues perfectly into a
remix ofr“P ContrbI^oHnBRtf The
Artist’s most indisputably bottom
heavy tracks. “PoomPoom,” an
equally funky track, injects a sense of
humor into the mix.
But ballads are present here as
well, with the best among them being
“Crucial,” a song originally intended
for “Sign O the Times.” Had this one
been included in that album’s release,
“Sign O the Times” might have been
even better that the masterpiece it
already is.
Please see ARTIST on 10
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Matt Haney/DN
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