Arts
Harper shocks
audience with
variety of tunes
BY GEORGE GREEN
In the tradition of a true Renaissance Man, Ben
Harper gave listeners a taste of loud rock and roll
tunes, searching soul songs and inspiring solo
acoustic guitar jams.
Harper, along with his band, the Innocent
Criminals, played their way through musical barri
ers Friday at the City Market in Kansas City Mo.
They showed fans their high musical aptitudes
and their love of performing throughout the show.
The crowd waited, at times impatiently, for
Harper’s arrival for nearly an hour, passing the time
by gulping beers and smoking joints.
But when Harper made his entrance, the delay
quickly faded from fans’ memories.
Seated comfortably at the front of the stage
near his listeners, Harper was both a mighty king
on a throne and a humble shoe-shiner on a stoop.
The show opened with a rendition of
“Oppression” that slid perfectly into “Get Up, Stand
Up” by Bob Marley. Percussionist Ervin Pope punc
t tuated the opening song with rumbling drum beats
[ and jubilant smiles.
i Following Pope’s jamming lead, Harper soon
I switched from an acoustic guitar to a lap-slide gui
tar, a staple of his arsenal.
With the lap-slide, Harper captured fans with
roaring guitar solos reminiscent of the works of
guitar greats such as Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page.
A lap-slide guitar, as Harper explained to the
audience, is a six-string guitar that is played while
sitting down instead of standing.
After the explanation, Harper joked about per
forming while seated, saying that if playing seated
makes him a nerd he is glad to be one.
Plumes of pot smoke from the audience filled
the air when Harper returned to the acoustic guitar,
to play his classic pot-head anthem, “Burn One
Down."
Harper needed six guitars to establish the
sound variety he wants for his shows.
He used two lap-slides to jam on loud and wild
tunes, an acoustic guitar to strum mellow songs
and two regular electric guitars along with a 12
string guitar to purge his soul in bluesy, rock jams.
Harper played each tool as only a true crafts
man can: with finesse and a willingness to experi
ment.
Throughout the show, Harper and his
Criminals danced around the stage interacting
with the audience and demonstrating their affec
tion for their fans and each other.
Such an open and loving performance style is
Please see HARPER on 6
gljHKEri o
Pinate strikes into diverse atmosphere I
■The creator of Poetry Slam
shared lyrics about societies
hardships with students.
BY JOSH NICHOLS
Students file into room 29 in
the basement of Andrews Hall at
10:30 a.m. expecting another day
af reading literature or analyzing
poetry.
But little do they know, they’re
about to get slammed.
In walks a casually dressed,
txjyish looking man from San Jose,
Calif.
After a brief introduction by
the instructor, the boyish-looking
man starts pacing the room and
waving his arms as he recites lyrics
like "Look at me mama with my
PHD on the wall and my big
house. I’m the shit.” and “When
the revolution comes, there ain’t
gonna be no cappuccino with it.”
He stares at each individual
attentively listening to his words.
His gaze penetrates while he
powerfully recites his political and
Frequently vulgar words. At one
point, he has the students stomp
and clap their hands as a back beat
to a poem he recites.
He speaks in some English,
some Spanish and even sings
some of his words.
The man providing this
engaging performance is Marc
Pinate, who has found success in
the art and competition of Poetry
Slam.
He spent last week reciting his
poetry to classes as part of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
\rtist Diversity Residency pro
gram.
Ron Bowlin, Kimball Hall
director, who was part of bringing
Pinate to campus, described him
as a very personable individual
who won the admiration of many
students whom he performed for
last week.
“Every class I was in with him,
the students came to him to talk
after class,” Bowlin said. “There is
a sincerity in him that people can
99
see.
Josh Wolfe/DN
Marc Pinate, a slam poet from San Jose, Calif., discusses the revolution of ideology he envisions with students in Avery Hall Friday.
Pinate spent last week on campus as a part of the Artist Diversity Residency Program.
He described Pinate’s work
and words as a language that is
very youthful with simple, under
standable words.
“When he did his poetry, the
students were able to connect
with him,” he said.
They connected, despite the
fact that many UNL students
probably aren’t familiar with
Poetry Slam, a relatively new,
underground form of expression.
Poetry Slam can be described
as an in-your-face kind of poetry,
in comparison to normal coffee
house poetry readings.
It appeared in the mid-1980s
when Chicago poet Marc Smith
came up 'vith the idea of a poetry
competition to entertain patrons
on Sunday afternoons at the
Chicago bar, The Green Mill.
Audience members were cho
sen at random to judge the con
testants.
Since this simple beginning,
these competitions have spread
throughout the United States, and
now, a national competition is
held.
Last year, the San Jose Slam
Team, of which Pinate was a
member, won the national cham
pionship held in Chicago.
Pinate graduated with a bach
elor’s degree in communications
from Santa Clara University in
Santa Clara, Calif., in 1994.
He is currently working on his
master’s degree in Theater Arts at
San Jose State University in
California and also is director of
Literary programs at the San Jose
Center for latino Arts.
A proud Latino himself, Pinate
also started the first Latino-based
poetry and music open-mic series
in San Jose, Calif., and co-founded
Grito Serpentino, a spoken word
and music ensemble.
Pinate’s dedication to his her
itage shows through in his poetry.
He uses contemporary lan
guage and present day news
events that affect Latino people in
the United States.
Every class I was in
with him, the students
came to him to talk
after class. There is a
sincerity in him that
people can see."
Ron Bowlin
Kimball Hall director
“He uses his art to address
issues important to Latino peo
ple,” Bowlin said. “He talks about
issues like profiling and police
brutality.”
He also talks about the diffi
cult lives led by many Latino peo
ple in the United States.
One poem he shared with the
class was about the hardships of a
Latino boy named Humberto
Rivera.
Please see POETRY on 6
Dred I Dread produces
confident, sure sound
BY CRYSTAL K.WIEBE
The Zoo Bar is a renowned
blues bar, but sometimes it pro
vides music that isn’t so blue.
Tonight, it goes astray with the
reggae band Dred I Dread, and
despite the blues expectations,
drummer Rawley Gopie hopes to
see an audience.
"It’s going to be a very, very
active show,” he said.
Bass player Art Erikkson said,
“We just get down. I get off on just
sprinting from side to side on the
stage.”
Although they are known as a
reggae band, drummer Gopie said
Dred I Dread’s unique sound isn’t
easy to pin down.
Calling the sound a "hybrid,”
with hints of funk, blues and even
hip hop showing up in the music,
you can hear a lot of reggae influ
ence in Dred I Dread’s sound,
Gopie said.
“We are like Fishbone because
we are very hard to define,” he
said.
When the Minneapolis-based
group came together two years
ago, Gopie had come to
Minnesota for a break from the
New York scene.
There, the Jamaican man had
been writing and performing
punk rock.
“It’s pretty amazing for
Americans to see a Jamaican
singing punk rock,” he said.
But reggae has always been
his first love, and when he met
Peewee Dred, Gopie, who has
been writing music for 15 years,
was glad to come back to his roots.
Even though he had known
founding member Peewee Dred
from college, Erikkson first heard
about Dred I Dread at a street fes
tival where he was handing out
flyers. Someone came up to him
and said the band was looking for
a bass player.
Erikkson had recently gradu
ated college and said he was
“looking for something to keep it
Dred I Dread J
—C Where:
—C When:
interesting” between working at a
music store and teaching.
“The first time I performed for
them, it was a live performance,”
Erikkson said.
Although the band has had
trouble keeping a steady line-up -
they are currently in between key
board players and have a new
female vocalist - they recently
released their debut album,
"Listen to the Revolution," partial
ly thanks to Erikkson’s efforts as
band manager.
“When you’re a new band,
people don’t give you much atten
tion,” Erikkson said.
After he realized the band’s
potential, he decided to take on
the dual role of bassist/manager.
“I was working part-time at
the music store, but it gradually
got to the point where I was at
work and I was trying to get shows
booked,” he said.
For the past few months,
Erikkson’s life has been more or
less devoted to “just doing band
stuff,” he said.
Erikkson attributes much of
the band’s success to the originali
ty of their music.
“We don’t do cover after cover
of Bob Marley,” he said.
In the twin cities, Erikkson
said Dred I Dread’s music can be
heard on stations ranging from
hard rock to light rock.
“We cross all those sides,” he
said.
“There’s a pop-like influence,
Please see REGGAE on 6