Group changes, name’s the same
Indie pop band The Spinanes returns to Lincoln with new lineup
By Jim Zavodny
Staff writer
The last time indie band The
Spinanes played a show in Lincoln,
audiences were shocked only two peo
ple took the stage.
Since then one has left
But remaining member Rebecca
Gates, with a few friends, has taken to
the road again to promote “Arches and
Aisles,” The Spinanes’ newest release.
Gates, despite her accompanying
musicians, is die sole member of The
Spinanes, who roll into
Knickerbockers on Sunday evening.
l He band s original two piece
arrangement consisted of singer/gui
tarist Rebecca Gates and drummer
Scott Plouf. They first appeared in
Lincoln at Duffy’s Tavern in 1993. 4
The Spinanes’ latest offering on
Seattle’s Sub Pop Records is basically
Gates’ first solo album since no new
musicians have been permanently
added to the lineup. For the recording
of “Arches and Aisles” and the current
tour, Gates hired musicians - some
friends, others just admirers - to play
the songs she composed herself.
“Basically they’re just people
whose work I respect and who I enjoy
being with. And I just asked them if
they would help me, and I was really
lucky that everybody said yes,” she
said during a phone interview.
Replacing Plouf for the “Arches
and Aisles” tour is Jerry Busher, a
drummer from Washington, D.C., who
normally plays in a punk band called
The All Scars. Boston native Ted Leo is
manning guitar and bass, while
Kendall Maade, a member of the band
Masco tt, lends her keyboard abilities
to the mix.
Writing the songs for the new
album without Plouf didn’t faze Gates,
she said, because she wrote almost all
of The Spinanes’ material even while
Plouf was still with the band.
“The only tiling that really changed
is that I felt, like, with this album I just
spent more time working on the songs
themselves and sending them in what
ever direction I felt like sending them.
because I knew dial I could get whoev
er I wanted to play on them,” she said
On the new album’s first track,
“Kid In Candy,” Gates makes a refer
ence to her recent move from Portland,
Ore., to Chicago (“I just wanted a larg
er city to live in for awhile”) when she
sings: “Feeling good, yeah, feeling fine
every day, that’s because you’re 3,000
miles away.”
Gates said that lyric had a lot to do
with the fact that sometimes people
like each other a lot better when they’re
not around
“My lyrics always mean a couple
of things to me, but I think that all I was
really trying to say was that a lot of
times you feel better when there’s ...
(pause) nothing on this record is point
ed towards Scott I mean, not nothing,
but by the time I made his record, we
hadn’t worked together for over two
years,” she said
Gates and Plouf started playing
together in Portland m 1991, and they
planned on adding a bass player to the
band after their first show. Gates said
crowds couldn’t believe only two peo
ple were making such incredible
music.
“The first show went really well,
people really liked it We started realiz
ing that the songs felt pretty complete,
and that we totally worked on stage
together,” Gates said.
“So we thought, well, we’ll just
kind of keep going with this and add
people latex, and it ended up taking like
four or five years to add people.”
After The Spinanes created a pair
of critically acclaimed albums, 1993’s
“Manos” and 1996’s “Strand,” Plouf
left and joined the Northwest rock out
fit Built To Spill. Gates, meanwhile,
continued to write songs under the
name The Spinanes by herself.
“If there was a big musical change,
then I would feel it’s more appropriate
to make a name change,” Gates said.
“But I still felt like the songs that I was
writing and the way that I was thinking
about music was very much in line
with the first two records.”
When the band went on tour in sip
port of “Strand” in the spring of 1996,
they added two musicians to die lineup
for the first time. Plouf departed soon
after, and his absence hasn’t affected
Gates, she says.
“For me, this isn’t an adjustment A
lot of people have said that they like the
band, and a couple of people have said
they miss the two-piece. And you
know, whatever, everyone is entided to
their opinion, positive or negative.”
Anticipate a positive vibe when
The Spinanes debut their new look for
the first time in Lincoln on Sunday at
Knickerbockers, 901 O St
Opening act Holy Ghost will kick
things off around 9 p.m. The 18-and
over show costs $6.
I Concert combines music, politics I
Just imagine, a chance to Rock
the Vote without Idalis offering polit
ical inspiration in-between rock
blocks.
Tonight, Nebraskans for Peace,
PAC is supporting a free concert to
get young people interested in local
politics, particularly Initiative 413 -
the hotly disputed proposed tax M
The show brings together local
acts Happy Dog, Electrolyte (former
ly G.I.O.) and Luck of Aleia at the
Culture Center, 333 N. 14th St for a 8
pm. show.
The coordinator of Nebraskans
for Peace, PAC and organizer of the
concert, Aaron McKain, will be reg
istering voters at the show and asking
for donations to fight Initiative 413.
He said no one, particularly stu
dents, would agree with the initiative
once they understood its implications.
“It denies any type of real proper
ty tax relief to citizens as well as
promises to stifle the future of educa
tion in this state,” McKain said.
He argues that the tax lid, will end
up costing students more for tuition
each year as the state could not
increase spending on programs like
public education.
Although tonight’s benefit con
cert encourages young people to take
an active stance against Initiative
413, McKain said die show, which
features three bands composed of
well-established Lincoln veterans, is
open for all to enjoy.
Gallery shows local artists I
GALLERY from page 7
play, “Catnappers” and ‘Tears,” capture
what seem to be solitary moments of
separate lives.
“Catnappers” depicts a young girl,
actually Spangler’s daughter, sleeping
as a cat rests comfortably in her lap.
“I do a lot with kids,” Spangler said.
“Kids think of fantasies and pretend.”
Another portrait, entitled
“Maestro,” shows a young boy in a long
tailed jacket, leading an invisible
orchestra from an old box.
“Tears” represents another side to
the artist who said the blue-colored
woman was inspired by a mourning
friend.
That’s the kind of empathy you
hope to see from a tattoo artist
The Noyes Art Gallery, 119 S.
Ninth St, is open from 10 ajn. to 5 p.m.
All exhibits are free. Please call (402)
475-1061 for more information.
NEWTON from page 7
If you haven’t heard The Voice,
man, you haven’t heard anything.
Somewhere between silk and smoke,
that’s where Wayne Newton’s voice
resides.
Listen to the way he lilts his way
through his signature tune, “Danke
Schoen.” He was just a young pup
wlffen that song waa recorded. He
sounded like an old pro.
Revel in the way he ascends
through “Loving You,” filling it with
emotion but never sounding strained.
When Wayne Newton comes to
town, all you have to do is listen. Sit
back, close your eyes and think about
the Sands Casino, circa 1960. Think
about a smoke-filled room, clinking
glasses and a nattily dressed crowd,
snapping its fingers in unison.
Because, in die purest sense, that’s
what Wayne Newton is. He’s Las Vegas.
He’s its King. And, who knows, he
could be an innocent American savior.
Wayne Newton’s performance will
begin at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are
$39, $35 and $31, half-price for stu
dents. For more information, call the
Lied Center box office at (402) 472
4747.
fLin First Class Billiards Center
QJt . *30 Brunswick Pool Tables
• Electronic Games
• 6 Televisions
• Spirits
* Parts
liMtUti S&U Zim WU
399 Sun Valley Blvd.
474-3545
Hast be 10 to Enter, 21 after ^^HHjl||m|Bm|
8pm(20 after 8 pm with 20
Something Players Card)
Waa III II =a=^H fiSfifiSSS^B Wr
STANDUP COMEDY IN LINCOLN JUST GOT FUNNIER!
Seen on Eveningat the Improv
Headliner
Willie Farrell
Plus feature act Bill Martin
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snow
# for
* Christmas?
<^> a film by Sandpine Vfeysset
October 4th
Ross Film Theatre
Students: $4:00
i Non-Students: $6.
Showings at: J&jL
| # 3, 5, 7, & 9 pm
1 "Explodes with life, freshness,
I and spontanaityr
-Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES m
w
for more Information
call UPC * 472-8140
Nebraska
NU vs. Texas A&M
Friday, Oct. 2 @ 7 p.m. .
NU vs. Texas
Sunday, Oct. 4 @ 1 p.m.
Abbott Sports Complex
Tickets available at the door.
Body Basics and Lamer Quest would Hha the chance to
treat you and a friend to a free game of laser tag tat amt
Quest when you come support the Nebraska women's
soccer team.
The entertainment
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