The Banner
March 2, 2000
Features
}darch
Bands bring metal trend
back to Asheville area
PHOTO BY JASON GRAHAM
Three heavy metal bands perfomed at the Patton Avenue Pub on Feb. 24. IT, the
headlining band got the crowd out of their seats and into the mosh pit
By Lena Burns
staff Writer
Three heavy metal bands from
around North Carolina, Clout,
Black Acid Disco and IT, rocked
out the Patton Avenue Pub on
Feb. 24.
The crowd was a sea of tattooed
and pierced local metalheads
showing their support for the
Clout, from Mooresville, N.C.,
was the opening band. It con
sisted of four members who
looked as though they were no
older than 19.
The vocals and the drums were
difficult to hear because the bass
and guitar amps were turned up
too loud. From what could be
heard, the vocals were good, ex
cept that the singer could not
actually sing in tune. He was
more of a melodic talker.
Clout definitely needed a sec
ond guitarist. The lead was a
weak guitar player and seemed to
try too hard to make his sound
The biggest flaw with Clout
was that they changed the tempo
of their songs too much and too
quickly. There was no kind of
melodic transition to warn the
listeners that the song would
change. It made their songs
choppy and disorganized.
Overall, Clout was an okay
band, but they need a lot ofwork.
The vocalist needs to work on his
Review
singing, and they need to orga
nize their music so it will flow
better.
“Clout had a pretty good stage
presence, buttheysoundedalittle
too Limp-Bizkit-meets-
Godsmack,” said Melanie Foster,
a junior psychology major.
The next band. Black Acid
Disco, from Charlotte, N.C., was
much heavier and more aggres
sive than Clout. The band con- .
sisted of five members, including
a keyboardist who played samples
in between songs. The band
showed great stage presence dur
ing their set by thrashing around
while playing and showing the
crowd their musical personality.
Black Acid Disco sounded noth
ing like any other metal band out
there. The musical styles of each
member blended well together to
form smooth, but hard-hitting.
Sometimes the guitar riffs
seemed the same in a couple of
songs, but the guitarist was strong
and held his own quite well. The
vocalist sang well. Not only could
he sing in tune, but he could also
scream and hold out those
screams, a plus in heavy-metal-
style singing.
The headlining band, IT,
straight out of Asheville, showed
the crowd what heavy metal was
all about. The band is a new
comer to the Asheville heavy metal
scene, only having been around
since December 1999. However,
the members are not new to the
scene, except for Shawn Xanders,
lead vocals and former punk vo-
“Metal’s always been truer to
my heart more than punk. I enjoy
doing metal a lot,” said Xanders.
They had a huge mosh pit going
for most of their set, and gave one
of their posters to the person who
showed them the most support.
■Before IT played, lead guitarist
Mike Merchant said, “I’m pretty
psyched about the show but I’m
a little nervous. ” Bassist and back
ing vocalist Roger Maynard only
said, “Whoooooooo!” This was
IT’s third performance.
“IT is a mix between grind core,
groove metal, death metal and a
httle hint of Goth,” said Shaun
Blanton, drummer and backing
guitarist for IT. Blanton has been
called one of the best drummers
in Asheville, but he could use
When IT began their set with
“Body Farm, ” they grabbed the
crowd and kicked them square in
the teeth. Almost everyone in
Patton Avenue Pub jumped out
of their seats and hit the mosh
pit.
They put on a great show for
the crowd. Maynard wore a
mask which seemed almost suf
focating, Blanton showed off
his hand that he cut open on his
high hat, Xanders drooled fake
blood out of his mouth during
“Biomech” and Merchant just
smiled at the mosh pit. No
matter what they did, the crowd
loved it. They even begged IT
for an encore.
IT is one of those bands who
sound as solid and as heavy
onstage as they do on their soon-
to-be-released compact disc.
Psychotic Penetrations.
“IT kicked butt. They were so
awesome. They’re a mixture of
all different sorts of music, not
just radio-play crap,” said Fos-
The Asheville heavy metal
scene is slowly pushing out the
country music and punk rock
that was once the founda-
c in this i
“Fads come and go. Heavy
metal is here to stay,” said
Blanton.
The Institute of Outdoor Drama will
hold its National Outdoor Drama Audi
tions in Chapel Hill on March 18. The
deadline to apply for the auditions is
March 13. For more information, see
http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor.
Giovanni speaks out
By Melissa Starnes
Staff Writer
Poet and author Nikki Giovanni
gave the keynote speech for Black
History Month on Feb. 24 in
Lipinsky Auditorium. Giovanni
read some of her poems and talked
about such issues as racial reconcili
ation and domestic violence.
“I hope students got some sort of
awakening,” said Nikki Young, a
junior biology major and president
of the African-American Student
Association (AASA). “She said a lot
of things that were real, and I hope
a lot of the students were able to
take the things she said not as offen
sive, but as things that will help
them interact better with minority
students here on campus.”
The talk opened with Young
thanking the groups that helped
organize this event. Then, Niambi
Hall-Campbell from Sisters in Spirit
and Service introduced Giovanni.
“We thought it would be an awe
some opportunity,” said Young.
“We’ve never had anybody this big
come here. We knew a lot of people
would be interested and that a di
verse group would be interested
since she’s so renowned.”
Giovanni is a civil rights activist
and author of 20 books, including
“Racism 101” and “Love Poems.”
She has also been named Woman
of the Year by three different maga
zines and was inducted into the
Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame. Cur
rently, Giovanni is a professor at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University (Virginia Tech).
“I think it was really great to have
a black female come and tell it like
it is. It just made me really proud
and I’m sure it made a lot of stu
dents proud,” Young said.
Giovanni received a standing ova-
after her in
troduction. After
tlie clapping
ended, she bega
talk about
nority issues, spe
cifically
Tech
where she said
nly 6% of the
students
American
She said she be
lieves that many
times black
dents are asked
learn about white
culture, but not
[he oth
around
street,” Giovanni
, keynote speaker for Black
spoke on Feb. 24
Nikki Giovanni,
History Month,
“I liked the
messages she
said,” said Jenny
Abler, an unde
cided freshman.
“The majority
were positive.”
When asked if Giovanni reached
both minority and majority stu
dents, Young said, “I think she
reached everybody, and I would
hope that the awakening I was
speaking of would be what each
student had; that they were exposed
to everything from a pretty fair
perspective.”
The first poem Giovanni read was
“Ego Tripping,” about a person
who talks about his/her achieve
ments and is perfect.
Before reading the next poem,
Giovanni shared some of her ideas
about love. She said it was good to
fall in love, but it does make us
crazy. Her suggestion was that some
one needed to create a “love ma
chine,” which could determine the
outcome of a relationship at its
beginning. That way, if people fall
in love for three days and then!
break up, they could j ust blame tiie|
machine and everyone would I
happy.
“Sound in Space” was the last!
poem that she read. Though manjl
people do not believe there is sound
in space, Giovanni said she does
and believes that it says, “I love
you. ” She commented about all the
songs there are about the moon,
stars and heavens, like “Blue Moon,”
and “I Wished on the Moon.”
After her speech, Giovanni did a
book signing in the Lipinsky lobby.
The event was sponsored by
AASA, along with Underdog Pro
ductions, the Office
Multicultural Student Progr;
the Humanities Program, and the
Cultural and Special Events Com-
Lunas
Feb. 2
Celtic
PAID OPPORTUNITY!!!!
Peer Advisors Wanted
UNC Asheville
The Office of Academic Advising & Retention is looking for qualified indi
viduals to join The Bulldog Connection team. The Bulldog Connection is the
early registration program for new students and runs over the summer. Indi
viduals need to be full-time students, have been at UNCA for at least one year
(sophomore standing or higher) and be in good academic standing with a cu- '
mulative GPA of at least 2.5. The individuals would serve as Peer Advisors
working with first year students primarily on schedule planning, understand
ing the general education requirements and academic policies and procedures
at UNCA.
We are looking for individuals with a good balance between academics and
involvement at UNCA. We want students to ije motivated and possess a
strong loyalty to UNCA and what it has to offer. We want to select a diverse
group of students to represent UNCA and encourage all students meeting the
academic criteria to apply.
Students should be able to commit to the four dates listed. However, those
who can only commit to two or more should apply and will also be consid
ered. The dates for Summer 2000 are June 16, June 30, July 14 and July 20,
2000. There will also be three training dates during the spring semester to be
set when applicants are selected so they can be worked around class sched
ules. This is a paid opportunity and is not affiliated with the orientation
leader selection. Students selected will be paid $50.00 per session with a po
tential of $200.00 if they participate at all four sessions.
Interested students should pick up an application on the door of
Lipinsky 206 and return it to Debbie Race by March 15, 2000.
Once applications have been reviewed, those individuals
selected will be called in for an Interview.
University of North Carolina at Asheville
Advis®g &. Retention Office
Lipinsky Bldg 206
Phone: 828-251-6417
Fax:828-251-6841
Email: drace@unca.edu