Meaningful act pleases crowd , Agassi
D I At the awards
The Daily Tar Heel Monday, April 24, 19897
from page 12
,For a band like the Violent
Femmes, performing live presents
something of a paradox.
On the one hand, Gordon Gano,
Victor DeLorenzo and Brian Ritchie
' are excellent performers. On the other
hand, their music is very introspective
and often unhappy. Since rock V roll
' audiences tend to be composed of
jung uui iu nave a guuu nine,
'unhappy music can be a problem.
'3 V As the audience grows, so does the
'problem, and the artist finds himself
playing to more and more people who
don't want to hear any heavy stuff,
dude.
When the audience outgrows the
band, performers quickly become
' self-parodies, as R.E.M.'s Michael
Stipe clearly proved Saturday night.
However, bands that refuse to make
'any concessions to their audience
cfiiickly become unpopular.
':l'So how does a band like the
Femmes satisfy its audience without
'losing its message in the process? At
the Thursday night show in Memorial
'Hall, the answer proved to be a
'delicate compromise. Lead singer
guitarist Gano teased, cajoled and,
: when he had to, ignored the audience
in the course of 25 songs in two hours.
' DeLorenzo and Ritchie provided
enthusiastic backup all evening, but
Gano was the center of attention. He
- IpH th KanH thmnoh sniriterf versions
of "Fat," "Nightmares," "I Hear the
:Rain," "Promise" and "Mother of a
r .Girl," just for openers. Then the show
.really started to come into focus with
Ron Crawford
Concert
a wire-taut rendition of "Country
Death Song," arguably one of the
grimmest songs ever recorded.
The crowd happily clapped along
with the music.
The Femmes then completely
changed the tone of the concert for
the first of many times by breaking
into the song that got Gano expelled
from the National Honor Society,
"Gimme the Car."
' Then the band, later joined by
Horns of Dilemma's Peter Balestrieri
and Sigmund Snopek, went on to
play a variety of songs from all four
of its albums, including "Never Tell,"
"Kiss Off," "Jesus Walking on the
Water" and its only cover of the night,
"Santa Catalina."
The Femmes didn't try anything
really risky, however, until the encore.
They started off with a crowd
pleasing performance of "Add It Up"
that got the audience on its feet,
dancing and singing.
Then the lights dimmed until a
single spotlight focused on Gano.
With the crowd still cheering, Gordon
strummed his guitar and sang the
dirgelike "Nothing Worth Living
For."
The crowd shuffled restlessly; here
and there an impatient fan yelled
something unintelligible.
After two verses, the band quietly
segued into "Confessions." The
somber tone was momentarily
broken when Gano coughed, but the
band quickly recovered and finished
the song.
At the end, the lights brightened
to a hellish orange as Gano sank to
his knees, eyes closed, and fingered
the same riff over and over. The song
collapsed into a cacophony of
improvisation that included blasts on
a hunting horn and conch shell. And
for a full five minutes, Gano knelt
in the center of the stage with his eyes
closed.
The show should have ended right
there with the visual incarnation of
all the Femmes' music, but it didn't.
Gano got up, dismissed the band
and, as if to say, "It's OK, I'm feeling
better," stood in the spotlight and
sang the upbeat spiritual "Faith."
Gano brought the rest of the band
back out "It wouldn't be right to
finish the show without the rest of
the guys" and the Femmes ended
with the syrupy "Good Feeling."
The show was an obvious success.
The band connected with the
audience, and the audience responded
eagerly too eagerly at times. There
was also no doubt that the large
crowd limited the band's freedom to
experiment. But that, as they say, is
the price of fame.
At the awards ceremonv Agassi
looked out at his adonng crowd,
saying "Charlotte what a place to
play tennis, huh? I love you guys, and
you'll see me here next year." Wild
applause and a few sighs of relief
followed.
After the ceremony Agassi, sur
rounded by bodyguards, walked off
the court to a gold Mercedes waiting
in the parking lot. He did stop once
more outside to sign autographs but
quickly sped off with his girlfriend
already in the back seat.
He may have lost a match he
should have won, skipped a press
conference following the finals, and
not gone out of his way to indulge
his fans with attention, but Andre
Agassi can rest assured that on April
29 his family won't be the only people
sending him gifts for his 19th
birthday.
The girls still love him.
Campus Calendar
The DTH Campus Calendar is a daily
listing of University-related activities
sponsored by academic departments,
student services and student organizations
officially recognized by the Division of
Student Affairs. To appear in Campus
Calendar, announcements must be submit
ted on the Campus Calendar form by
NOON one business day before the
announcement is to run. Saturday and
Sunday events are printed in Friday's
calendar and must be submitted on the
Wednesday before the announcement is
to run. Forms and a drop box are located
outside the DTH office, 104 Union. Items
of Interest lists ongoing events from the
same campus organizations and follows the
same deadline schedule as Campus
Calendar. Please use the same form.
Monday
2:15 p.m. University Career
Planning and
Placement Ser
vices will have a
summer job hunting
workshop in 108
, Hanes.
4 p.m. Math Clnb will spon
sor Professor Ladnor
Geissenger, speaking
about the new compu
ter software package
and dealing with small
abstract groups in 332
Phillips.
7 p.m. Human Rights
Week '89 will have a
committee meeting in
the Campus Y
Resource Center. Top
ics will include keynote
progress, steering com
mittee, T-shirts and
summer strategy. All
are welcome.
Anorexia Nervosa
and Related Dis
orders Sapport
Gronp will meet in the
Campus Y Conference
Room.
8 p.m. Speech Communi
cations Depart
ment will present
"Reflections on the
Wall: Letters and
Poems Left at the Viet
nam Veterans' Memor
ial" in the Union
Cabaret. Admission is
free.
8:30 p.m. Fellowship of
Christian Athletes
will have their last
meeting of the semes
ter. Everyone is
welcome.
Items of Interest
Elections Board has applica
tions available for the 1989-90 school
year at the Union Desk or Suite C.
They are due May 5; interviews will
be conducted early next fall. Call
David Smith at 933-4854 or 962-5201
for information.
University Career Planning
and Placement Services
requests that seniors with definite
plans for next year, either job,
graduate or professional school,
complete a follow-up form for
UCPPS in 211 Hanes.
UCPPS is also recruiting six
student representatives for a new
Advisory Committee. This commit
tee will also include employer and
faculty representatives. Rising
sophomores, juniors and seniors are
invited to apply in 211 Hanes by May
1.
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