Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / June 16, 1988, edition 1 / Page 13
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The Tar Heel Thursday, June 16, 198813 Music Midnight Oil burns up Before Midnight Oil came to Raleigh for a stop on the Australian band's Diesel and Dust tour, it played in Washington, D.C., at George Washington University's Lisner Aud itorium last week. The quiet Washington audience members were propelled out of their seats when Midnight Oil took over the stage after the opening band, House of Freaks. Midnight Oil crashed into its set with "Blue Aurora." From the start, vocalist Peter Garrett commanded the stage and riveted the audience's attention to him. The stage lighting emphasized the band's attempt to involve the audience directly with the perfor mance through white floodlights and Reggae legend's son Ziggy Marley remains true to Jamaican sound On his new album, Conscious Party, Ziggy Marley's voice closely approximates his father's partly because of the true similarities between the two voices and partly because of the power of suggestion. But the sound similarities shouldn't really matter. What should matter is that Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers are reviving true reggae and making it a force in today's syntho glamour rock world of pop music. The title Conscious Party is appropriate, as the songs beckon the listener not only to be aware of the ignorant and dangerous state of the world around him, but also to tap his foot and celebrate life's potential beauty. The songs on Conscious Party seem to come in complementary pairs. "New Love," a wonderful and optimistic song, contrasts the realistic and cynical "Lee and Molly," a minor tune about an interracial relationship, "Tumblin' Down," which com plains about current social and political problems, reflects the other side of "We Propose," which suggests ways of making the world a better place. Rastafarianism is reaffirmed in a pair of songs named "A Who A Say" and "Have You Ever Been To Hell." Ziggy's poetry is not meant for the uninvolved. Marley has enough talent and meaty material to launch a reggae assault on the too-often complacent and formulaic content of FM radio ORIENT EXPRESS HHHH4HC EARLY BIRD SPECIALS AH Night Sundays In Our 1914 Dining Car $10.95 210 E. Main St Carrboro 967-8933 Credit Cards All ABC Five minutes from the Old Wei! . Robert Genadio Concert crowd-sweeping spotlights punctuat ing "Progress." These effects, com bined with Garrett's air of omnipo tence and the loud, multi-layered power-chord attack, hinted at the fascist techniques of shock rock, but the lyrics made it clear that the effects served only to call attention to the band's political feelings. Not only were the songs full of political content, such as the demand for better treatment of Australia's aboriginal population, but Garrett took the opportunity between songs Michael Phillips Album airwaves. Even rock icon Keith Richards is called in to leave his musical fingerprints on one of the tracks of Ziggy Marley's album. The album's faults seem to rest in the production headed by Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz. While Con scious Party would have worked best as a full-blast attempt at reinstating the power of reggae as a musical form, the Melody Makers are somewhat reduced on vinyl. But the authentic reggae party still shines through, even trapped under an image of Jamaica as seen on a travel brochure. Weymouth and Frantz trail the white college student brand of funk and soul, and this trail CHECK OUT OUR NEW LOOKS FOR SUMMER '88 50-70 OFF SELECTED MERCHANDISE 25 OFF Cambridge Dry Goods Women Too Hot Brazil Point Conception Sassafras 96 Raisins Coffeebags rT Cambridge Dry Goods Garron OpenTilllO the stage with political message to preach his concerns directly. He introduced "Dreamworld" by saying that Australia is not a Paul Hogan, a golf course or a place to catch rays, but really a place taken over by developers. After singing "We don't serve your country, don't serve your king" in "The Dead Heart," he lightly made fun of a fan waving an Aussie flag by pointing out the undesired presence of the Union Jack on it, calling him "a true follower of Georgetown fashions." The flag quickly disappeared. Almost all of the new album Diesel and Dust was featured, with the songs' immediacy felt much more directly when played live. When Garrett sang about wanting to shed his skin on "Sell My Soul," the takes away some of the music's potential "punch." But this problem isn't enough to make Conscious Party an ineffective collection of songs. There is enough of Ziggy Marley's true spirit and intention pouring out of stereo speakers to make the pop world sit up and take notice. fSpi American Heart y Association WFRE FIGHTING FOR KXJRUFE BHD? Men QUIKSILVER BlLLABONG Town & Country Maui Instinct Catchit Gotcha 968-323$ audience half-expected to see it happen, watching his face contort and his neck bulge. He paused only in his stagewide dances to stand motionless on "Artie World," looking like a strange blue god under the deep hues projected by the light crew. In the middle of an extended version of "The Power and the Passion," Garrett apologized for the omnipresent barrier between the stage and the audience, but then saved two young fans from the security staff and brought them onstage to dance through the rest of the song with him and close out the set. 2 All at below KENSINGTON TRACE lift The Student Community $ Weaver Dairy Road (off Airport Rd.) office in clubhouse Summer Sale White 201b. bond, autofed Course-Pak excluded 105 N. Columbia 933-2680 Predictably, the encore was "Beds are Burning," but drummer Rob Hurst pummeled the song into a strong and chaotic end. The band finished the evening with "Read About It," leaving many satisfied fans with plenty of diverse issues to muse on and many different songs still running through their heads. Midnight Oil clearly proved its growing success has much more to do with its increased songwriting sophistication and its unrelenting energy onstage than with the I-love-Australia craze. Your First Apartment? Let Us Do All The Work We Provide: Completely furnished 2 bedroom, 72 bath garden or townhouse condominiums. Free bus pass, Clubhouse, pool and tennis courts. dorm prices 967-0044 r. 705 9th Street 286-1809
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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June 16, 1988, edition 1
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