Arts
The following is a brief list of
events this weekend. For more
information, call the venue.
CONCERTS:
Duffy's Tavern, 1412 O St.
(402)474-3543
Sunday: Bottom, Ignitors,
Entertainment
Duggan’s Pub, 440 S. Uth St.
(402)477-3513
Friday: FAC with The
Cruisers
Saturday: Darlings
Knickerbockers Bar and
Grill, 9010 St.
(402)476-6865
Friday: The Aaron Zimmer
Band and Dago Red
Saturday: Think, Black
Dahlias, Joe Kring’s Prog
Inflation
Royal Grove, 340West
Comhusker Highway
474-2332
Friday: Cede
Saturday: Cede
Pla-Mor Ballroom, 6600W.O
St
(402)475-4030
Sunday: Cactus Hill and
Boidertown
WCs, 1228P St
(402)477-4006
Friday: Angry Salad
The Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St.
(402)435-8754
Friday: Rev. Raven and the
Chain Smokin’ Alter Boys
Saturday: James Solberg
THEATER:
Lincoln Community
Playhouse, 2500S. 56th St.
(402)489-7529
All weekend: “The Rocky
Horror Show”
Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater, 12th and R streets
(402)472-2461
All weekend: “Croupier”
GALLERIES:
Doc’s Place, 140 N. Eighth St.
476-3232
All weekend: Jerry Morgan,
Jen Helzer, Shawn Ballarin,
Nick Kauter, Jake Gillespie,
Melanie Faulk
Noyes Gallery, 119 S. Ninth
St.
(402)475-1061
Saturday. Julia Noyes Mural
Demonstration
The Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery, 12th and R streets
472-2461
All weekend: “Local Color II:
Judith Cherry, Patti
Gallimore, David Helm,
Larry Roots” and “American
Impressions from the per
manent Collection”
i
Angry Salad to dish out'melodic rock'sound
BY EMILY PYEATT
Now, lettuce begin. The self-described “melod
ic rock band,” Angry Salad, will rockWC’s tonight.
The Boston-based band formed in 1993 when
lead vocalist Bob Whelan, drummer Hale Pulsifer
7 was very, very much
underage, but I was talking
about the small band I had
just formed and mentioned
how we still needed a name.
A voice from the end of the
bar shouted out ‘Angry
Salad, ’ and that was it."
Bob Whelan
Angry Salad lead vocalist
when the colie
stuck with the
“The guys
music, will t;
Rydberg, the
Show” on KKN
“They have
with emotion i
Opting foi
Angry Salad “nr
the Goo Goo E
said.
“Our soun
come from inf]
Kiss to ABBA, a
and bass guitarist Brian Vesco
met at Brown University.
The three met up with gui
tarist Alex Grossi while in Boston,
adopted a name given by Freddie
Mercury of Queen and created
the full-bodied sound of Angry
Salad.
"We’re not a militant- vegetari
an group or anything,” Whelan
said.
“When I was in high school, I
went with my family to St. Thomas.
F got the worst sunburn, so my
brother and I stayed in the hotel
bar," he said.
“I was very, very much under
age, but I was talking about the
small band I had just formed and
mentioned how we still needed a
name. A voice from the end of the
bar shouted out ‘Angry Salad,’ and
that was it”
The voice at the end of the bar
was actually Freddie Mercury, and
ge buddies formed their band, they
lame and still can’t get rid of it.
’ personalities, along with their
ike them a long way,” said Matt
co-host of the “Brady Goodman
B-FM (104.1) “The Point.”
an underground alternative sound
nade for radio,” Rydberg said,
a mainstream pop-rock sound,
latches up favorably with bands like
lolls and Counting Crows," Whelan
1 kind of worked out that way. We
uences that range from Metallica to
nd one thing that they have in com
mon is melodic rock and roll Radio is for that rock
sound.”
The Boston music scene contributes just as
much to Angry Salad’s sound.
“There is something to be said for a town that
has at least twenty colleges,” Whelan said. “There
are always new people bringing new energy to the
music scene.”
That Boston energy has been a starting point
for some pretty prestigious people in the music
world. The city was the starting ground for bands
like Aerosmith, The Lemonheads, and The Cars.
“We feel as if we have become a tiny piece of
history by being a part of the Boston scene,”
Whelan said.
Angry Salad works cooperatively to write all its
lyrics and music and envisions its songs “popping
out of the radio,” Whelan said.
The band has produced two albums so far.
The first was an independent release called
“Guinea Pig,” and the current self-titled
album "Angry Salad” is under the
Blackbird/Atlantic label.
Fans may have caught glimpses
of Angry Salad on the Jenny Jone®
Show or recognized the band
singing the theme song to
theWB series, “D.C.” Its
“Milkshake Song” has
also hit the Lincoln airwaves.
The band previously
toured with Vertical Horizon
in April and is now touring the
Midwest with Cowboy Mouth.
"We both try to be strong,
live bands,” Whelan said.
“The Point” is covering
the show live tonight at 2109
Highway 2, and the Angry
Salad guys “promise not to
disappoint.”
Vertical Horizon in April
and is now touring the
Midwest with Cowboy Mouth.
“We both try to be strong live bands,” Whelan
said.
Scott Eastman/DN
r«
Show lets Dago Red gauge its fan base I
■ The Omaha band's
sound mixes early R.E.M.,
roots rock and Buffalo Tom.
BY KEN MORTON
Playing in an original band
in Omaha can be a bittersweet
experience, according to Glenh
Antonucci.
“Crowds can be scarce,
unless you play a bunch of cov
ers or start getting some breaks,”
he said.
Antonucci’s band, Dago Red,
will play at Knickerbockers, 901
O St., tonight, and Antonucci
hopes the change in scenery will
revitalize the band and win over
some new fans.
“Haying out-of-town means
taking friends and family out of
the equation,” he said. "That’s
when a band really has a chance
to gauge where they stand.”
The trip to Lincoln marks
Dago Red’s first venture outside
of Omaha, but guitarist and
singer Antonucci is no stranger
to the Lincoln music scene.
Originally from Chicago,
Antonucci moved to Lincoln to
attend college and played in
bands while going to school. He
said he appreciated the recep
tion original bands received in
Lincoln.
“In Omaha,” he said, “if
you’re not doing someone else’s
stuff, it’s really hard to get any
attention. Obviously it can be
done, but except for a few great
people, they just don’t seem to
care much about local, original
music in Omaha.”
Dago Red, which is an Italian
slang term meaning “cheap, red
wine,” started about 2 1/2 years
ago when Antonucci and
bassist/vocalist, Tom Adams,
first met. The band later added
violinist Dan Britt. •
Antonucci’s brother, Mike,
originally played drums but was
replaced by Adams’ brother,
Jimmy.
After Jimmy Adams left the
band, he was replaced by anoth
er Adams - Shane. Tom Adams
and Shane Adams are not relat
ed.
The band’s sound mixes
Buffalo Tom, with a little early
R.E.M. and roots-rock feel. The
songs on its debut EP, “A Month
and a Day,” range from guitar
fueled power pop to spacey,
Velvet Underground-influenced
art rock.
Antonucci said Buffalo Tom,
more than any other band,
helped define Dago Red’s
sound.
“Buffalo Tom may be one of
the best bands no one has ever
heard of,” he said.
Antonucci also cites current
Son Volt - and former Uncle
Tbpelo - front man Jay Farrar as
a major influence on his song
writing and vocal styles. He said,
to a lesser degree, Jeff TWeedy,
who split with Farrar from Uncle
Tupelo and now is in the band
Wilco, influenced his music.
After playing Lincoln
tonight, Dago Red is off to Sioux
City, Iowa, to play at the Tommy
Bolin Festival. Bolin, Sioux City’s
native son and legendary Deep
Purple guitarist, (fled in 1976 of
a drug overdose.
Shane Adams, who booked
the show for the band, said the
festival was held in the parking
lot of Rhonda’s Speakeasy, a
popular Sioux City nightspot.
"It’s mostly a bunch of local
bands getting together to play a
big show," Adams said. "But I
guess people do still worship
Bolin in Sioux City.”
Dago Red plans to release
another CD sometime early next
year, but for now, Antonucci
said the band is concentrating
on developing its sound, tight
ening its live set and building a
fan base around Nebraska.
Antonucci also said he has
set up a Web site on mp3.com,
where listeners can download
the band’s single, "Frank
Sinatra.”
Antonucci said he recog
nized the power of the Internet
but doubted whether it could
help many new bands.
“The Internet can be a useful
tool for someone looking for a
particular band,” he said. “But
as far as it being an equalizer for
unsigned bands, I just don’t see
it.
“Call me a skeptic, call me
old-fashioned or whatever, but I
still think word-of-mouth and
solid, live performances are still
the two biggest factors in getting
noticed."
However, that doesn’t mean
Dago Red won’t take full advan
tage of the possibilities the
Internet offers.
“We'll do anything to get our
music to people,” he said, “even
if it is just a handful of them.”
Album is good, but
has nothing original
BY ANDREW SHAW_
Daniel Cage takes full advan
tage of the “headphones experi
ence” on his debut album, “Loud
on Earth.”
From the first noise on the
album, the listener’s stomach
churns horn the sporadic left
to-right phasing, providing a
much-appreciated burst of
adrenaline.
Unfortunately, the music
Cage offers doesn’t deliver much
beyond the dual-aural mixing
and splatters of techno samples.
“Loud on Earth” sums up the
basic themes of modem, main
stream, cautious rock: basic
chord structure, mid-tempo
rhythms and the occasional
string choir.
Though Cage only supplies
the vocals and keyboards on this
album, he is slated as the main
composer, programmer and
arranger of all 11 songs. He is
also given production credits,
which he shares with Phil Nicolo
(Dishwalla) and Kevin Killen
(U2, Elvis Costello).
Cage’s bicoastal upbringing
may contribute to his main
stream sound, drawing inspira
tion from so many different
sources that his music falls short
of placement in any one tribu
tary of the rock genre. But it can
sit next to the Goo Goo Dolls in
the “inexplicably catch” section
of your local record store.
Fans of Five for Fighting or
Collective Soul will find Cage’s
raspy voice delightfully familiar
and his lyrics and melodies con
veniently derivative of similar
mainstream rode acts.
Though his music is not
quite original, it is appealing.
Cage has discovered ele
ments that work, producers who
can mold hits from the blandest
roots and veteran mixing engi
neers who know how to create
winning compilations from
clichd compositions.
“Loud on Earth” will, with
out explanation, undoubtedly
burrow a happy little hole into
the minds of its listeners.