THE PENDULUM
STYLE
WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 22. 2010 // PAGE 19
SLAMM! rocks and rolls in McCrary
Lauren Ramsdell
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Carmine Appice’s SLAMM! did
not, in fact, begin with a slam.
Rather, a haunting reverberation
filled McCrary Theatre the night of
Sept. 16 and rattled the audience
in their seats. Blue light sliced
through hazy air. One at a time,
Appice and his cohorts strode on
stage and began a slow rhythm on
what appeared to be rain barrels
covered with fluorescent tape.
BOOM. BOOM BOOM.
And then the sold-out show began
in earnest. Four drummers beat on the
rain barrels while a shrieking guitar
kept up the tune. In the background,
the fifth drummer pounded on
drums suspended from a stepladder.
The introduction kept
up for several minutes,
including times where
Appice and Adriane
Palikat, one of his four
fellow drummers,
played dueling and
then complementary
rhythms- on
full drum kits.
From the begirining
the energy never
let up. Elements
of coordinated
dance struck
a visual tone
to match the
harsh beats, as
well as jumping,
leaping and
a little silent"
acting- mock
arguments, and
exaggerated
showmanship .
the vibe on
COfiEY GROOM | Staff Ptxjtographer
Carmine Appice, left, and two other members of the group SLAMM! play on rain barrels during
their performace at Elon on Sept. 16.
Alexa Johnson
Columnist
PHOTO BY COREY GROOM
Stage
kept
upbeat.
■ The audience was, for the most
part, responsive, clapping along
during the many segments where
Appice encouraged involvement, and
even singing along while on stage
the drums were relentlessly beateit.
True to their claims, SLAMM! did us€
everything from plastic cups to ironing
boards, from rain barrels to buckets
and even a few traditional drums.
Each nontraditional item either
brought a completely new sound
to the stage, unreplicable on
a drum set, or a sound that
'blended well with other drums.
Nothing seemed out of place,
even though one is unlikely to
do the laundry at a rock concert.
And a rock concert atmosphere
was definitely in the air. Rather
than last year's visiting drum
group Xagata Sacho, SLAMM!
was neither a celebration of
culture nor just the drum
itself. Guitarist Artie Dillon
never let the audience forget
that while they were there to see
the .impressive drumming,- they
were getting a talented shredding
guitarist in the ■ deal as well.
. The concert felt mainly like a
rock band that made use of more
rhythm than ^ tune, and did so to
great effect, and like a love letter to
all the different forms of rhythm.
Junior Jesse Palmer agreed.
“It was intense,” he said. “They
really know how to put on. a show.”
Fellow junior Christian
Palmer also said he enjoyed the
program. "They really engaged the
audience,” he said. “There were
great lights and great costumes.”
Unique for both Elon University
and SLAMM! was the inclusion of the
marching band's drumline. For the
second-to-last set, the entire Fire of
the Carolinas drumline joined Appice
and his group on stage, doing a call-
and-resporvse to Appice's vocal scat
and joining in on rain barrel songs.
It was also a unique night for
drummer Curt Patrick. Patrick
stood in for his friend and
SLAMM! regular Felipe Torres,
who was- away with another band
“We're plifying with a living legend,"
said Patrick in reference to Appice,
“It makes you realize how lucky you
are. To be on stage with him is a trip."
Zoilo Ruiz, a co-creator of
SLAMM! is the only original cast
member from when SLAMM! began.
. Before SLAMM! ^ he toured with
Stomp!, a similar, yet different
drumming group. >Ie expressed- his
appreciation for the Elon community.
“We had an awesome time. We had
a great campus, great stage, great
stagehands and great lighting,” he
said-. “Everything was awesome."
Greene Street Club a student -
and wallet - friendly party place
Edith Veremu
Reporter
Located in downtown Greensboro,
the Greene Street ■ Club is a ^lively
place where college students -and
Greensboro residents frequent on
the weekends. The club’s rooftop
bar, which was added two and a half
years ago, is the largest-open bar in
Greensboro.
“We’re different from other clubs,
because not all clubs have rooftop
bars," Rajes Bangidiwa, production
manager of Greene Street, said. “The
rooftop bar at Heaven (another night
club in Greensboro) isn't as big as
ours."
Greene Street Club has been open
since October 2001, and the club has
become a popular venue where live
local and regional bands of varying
music genres perform. Bands from
around the country such as House
of Fools, Codeseven and Drop Dead,
Gorgeous have performed at the
club. Tribute bands that performed
at Greene Street include Appetite for
Destruction, a Guns N’ Roses tribute
band, and The Breakfast Club, an '80s
tribute band.
“Our main focus is on bands and
live shows,” Bangidiwa said. “Other
than the (Greensboro) Coliseum, we’re
the best place for live shows.”
Thursday night at Greene Street
is “College Night" and four levels of
entertalfim^nt are featured, according
to the weSsips and commercials on th^j,
radid. Night** is the only event
. speciftcaliy''-iargeted at student^
BangidiwS ?aW. He estimated* moft
than onfr'-'thousand people show up
every Thursday night, mainly from
UNC Greensboro.
Social media plays an important
role in marketing for the club.
UNDSAY FENOT | f>ho(o Edttx
DJ Blackout works the first floor at Greene Street on its Thursday College Night
“Facebook is great for anybody
getting the word out about anything,”
Bangidiwa said.
About a year and a half ago, the
club created its Facebook and now has
more than 4,000 fans. On its Facebook
page, the club posts pictures of past
events and shows, asks fans what
bands they would like to have perform
and notifies fans of upcoming events
and shows. The club created an
account on around the same
time ^S: ' M
TWIt teflt»Q-chlfcit-ac te^ i . t
only "pdsis fcrie^prfateS ftf%ll'6wers.
Upcoming events at Greene Street
include live performances by The
Urban Sophisticates, a hip-hop and
rock group from Greensboro, DJ Icey,
an electronic music producer, and
Guerrilla Radio, the official Rage
, tlie £^ub
Against the Machine cover band with
a performance by This is a Call, a Foo
Fighters tribute band. Admission for
shows at the club ranges from $6 to
$20.
The club has a strict dress code,
found on its website, which it expects
its goers to adhere to. Bandanas and
do-rags are prohibited headwear.
Baggy pants, long shorts or jean
shorts are also against the code. Plain
white T-shirts and boots are among
t^e l^anMB^^ems as well.
lOj^b’s strategic
location:#*il^^t6wii’tj^ensboro has
helped its gr«wth. r
“We’re downtown, but not too
downtown so it’s convenient for
people who don’t want to deal with
the craziness of Greensboro and Elm
Street.”
The weekly Web
roundup: Videos and
links going viral
Hipster
superheroes
Who knew
that spandex
and outrageous
costumes would
lend so well
to flannel and
indie sensibility?
In other news,
the Hulk is all
about .A,merican
Apparel, which
makes a lot of sense — spandex would
be kind of necessary if you were a mass
of muscle and rage and that’s pretty
much the only thing that .AA sells.
Source: www.Google.com Search: hipster.
superheroes
Craigslist permanently shuts down
adult services section
Many hours could be passed in a
bygone era: looking at the creepy adult
services tab on Craigslist. The great
American procrastination pastime has
now drawn to a close. While some arc
overjoyed that the online giant will no
longer be promoting Internet sex traffic,
others are worried that the move might
hurt efforts to control the illegal activity.
Source: www.Switched.com Search:
Craigslist
The most ridiculous additions to the
Oxford American Dictionary
This year the OAD welcomed words
such as bromanct, chillax and phrases
such as "my bad.” Why are these
additions so lame? Because they are so
obvious — the only people who might
not know them are grandparents and
they probably won’t be using them in
convers'ation anyway.
Source: www.Buzzfeed.com Search:
dictionary. .
Oscar Wilde love letters discovered
Like many great literary figures, Oscar
Wilde played for his awn team. Now the
dead guy’s love letters to a magazine *
editor have surfaced. In an unsurprising
turn of events, the letters are supposed
to be auctioned off by the Fine -^rt
Auctioneers Bamfords of Derby, with
the winning bid projected to be around
i iO.OOO, In a word: classy.
Source: www.Telegraph.co.uk. Search:
Oscar Wilde
The 45 dumbest signs at the 9/12 Tea
Party Rally
This isn’t about political affiliation.
Ridiculous is ridiculous, whether you
identify as aOemocrat or Republican.
And these signs are just hilariou.sly
awful. Some of the keepers include:
“Obama, the terrorist from within,”
“Stop pandering to Islam.” and “This is
your brain (Reagan picture), this is your
brain on drugs (Obama picture)."
Source: Buzzfeed. Search: 45 dumb signs.
J(m Stewart aimounces D.C *Rally to
Restore Sanity'
Where will all the cool kids be on
Oct. 30? The D.C. Mall for a truly epic
gathering of comedy and ptJitics. Jon
Stewart (The D^ily Show) is advocating
that middle of the road Americans show
their grasp of reality and reasonability
showing up for a few hours to gather in
D.C., while Stephen Colbert (The Colbert
R^ort) is encouraging people to join his
opposing “jKeepTeirXlive March."
Source: www.PopHater.com Search: John
Stewart rally