North Carolina Newspapers

6The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, September 26, 1989 Spotlight Local band Dillon Fence The college radio scene in Chapel Hill enigmatic names, young faces, simple chords and underground lyrics. How can a band distinguish itself from the pack? "Sometimes I think we need Elvis to come back and join Dillon Fence," said Kent Alphin, one of Dillon Fence's two guitarists. The members of Dillon Fence, not including Elvis, are Alphin; Greg Humphreys, lead singer and guitarist; bass player Chris Goode; and Trent Pitts on drums. Humphreys is a senior at UNC and Alphin is a 1989 graduate. The band was formed two and a half years ago. "We started opening up for other acts at fraternity parties, and then we got to know Keith at the Cat's Cradle," said Alphin. "He really helped us out." Alphin described how the group chose the name Dillon Fence. "We started talking about how a lot of our Juilliard Quartet opens season If Sunday night's concert of the nationally acclaimed Juilliard String Quartet is any indication of what is to come, the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild's 1989-90 season will be an over whelming success. As the opening performance of the season, Sunday night's concert in Ste wart Theatre at N.C. State University was nothing short of amazing. The four performers, Robert Mann, Joel Smirnoff, Samuel Rhodes and Joel Krosnick, demonstrated such talent for listening to each other while perform ing that they continuously achieved a beautifully balanced quartet sound at any dynamic level, whether playing classical or contemporary music. The performers opened with Felix Energy, musical maturity highlight Michael W. Smith concert The colored lights came up on his zebra-striped suit, the black and cream colored horizontal stripes of the over sized jacket clearly delineated on the dimly lit, foggy stage as Michael W. Smith made his way down a ramp with the words of his first song ringing out: "I'll help you find your way." As part of his i 2 ( eye) tour this fall, Smith performed at UNC's Memorial Hall Sunday night to an audience who ' enthusiastically received his Christian rock message the inherent value and importance of being one's true self. I MPROUE VOUR if? s- A' l i if 1 V. Date: Wednesday, September 27, 1 989 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: 106 Berryhill Refreshments will be served! TTONDGDiTT! and every Only $1 00 No Cover Book Your Private Maria Lee Band Profile relatives got married in Dillon, the closest town in South Carolina to the North Carolina border. We kind of wanted to keep the Southern rock tradi tion with the name, not be (something like) the Eclectic Test Tube Babies." Rehearsals and concerts are differ ent dynamics for the group. "When we rehearse, we usually work on new songs. Our old songs, we play so much, we don't go over them that much," Humphreys said. "What rehearsals?" Alphin said. "We never practice." Interaction between group members during a concert is an important part of the band's shows, Alphin said. "We're real silly. I'm more reserved than they Gretchen Davis Concert Mendelssohn's Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Opus 13. From the quiet but purposeful beginning of the first move ment it was apparent that first violinist Robert Mann was "in charge." The other performers looked to him for changes in tempo, followed his lead when he used rubato and watched him for all entrances and cutoffs. Between the movements of the Mendelssohn there was complete si lence all attention remained riveted on the stage. The quartet's playing Helen Jones Concert Unlike his efforts to concentrate primarily on rock and roll with the 1986-87 The Big Picture tour, Smith's present focus is on writing and per forming the whole range of music he cares about, from hard-driving rock to mellow ballads and keyboard instru mentals. IMAGE . . . 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He's a Tasmanian bass player. Greg's the smoothie. We're very dif ferent on stage. We try to give each other mean looks if we screw up." Although the band has started play ing engagements other than fraternity parties, Alphin said the crowds at those parties could be positive. "A lot of the time the crowd is less inhibited to throw a beer on stage," he said. "We really feed off the crowd," Humphreys said. "If there's a good energetic crowd, we really put our selves into it. If it's a pathetic group we get pretty lackadaisical." The two agreed the band's best show was opening for the Connells at the Raleigh Civic Center. "Basically, be cause it wis a bunch of screaming teen agers thinking we were some band from California signed on a major label, and we somehow got the same idea in our head," Alphin said, explaining why he demanded intense concentration, be cause the audience knew if it didn't pay close attention, it would miss some thing important and wonderful. The music was played with such obvious care and study that every measure was a significant contribution to the overall performance. The dynamic range was exquisite in all movements of the Romantic Men delssohn. The pianissimo phrases were so gentle and delicate, but still so clear and vibrant, that it was tempting to crane forward or even sit up on the stage just to be closer to it. Every cli max and crescendo was treated as though it were the final breathtaking cadence. The performers also played with impressive rhythmic precision in Smith's freedom to express himself in many ways, regardless of what's hot in mainstream rock, showed Sunday night in his relaxed attitude toward the audience, as well as in the selections he played and sang. Still primarily a "music man" who lets his songs speak for themselves, Smith made a pronounced effort to describe what has been happening in his life during the past few years. The music from his most recent album, i 2 (eye), shows an .added maturity and a more autobiographical picture than of many career of Science oj IL-My? Baa.ogr.pl,,, Catheterization y CHAPEL HILL Tuesday! VA (refills) - 0101 for Details! succeeds chose that performance as the band's best. "We thought we were hot shot rock V roll stars for a night." Audiences don't always act so en thusiastically, or even predictably, Humphreys said. "One time we were playing at a club, and a very drunk army guy, enlisted man, was screaming at us to play the (expletive) Clash for about an hour and shaking his fist in our faces. He finally passed out on the stage and threw up." The band doesn't have a unified "look" for concerts; each member dresses in his own style. "Chris, he's definitely the heavy metal member of the band. He comes clad in leather, boots, cigarettes, and long hair. Greg and Trent are the cool fraternity image the Duck Heads and a cool T-shirt. I wear plain jeans, a T-shirt, and my Pumas," Alphin said. . But being in a band isn't all games and glory, Humphreys said. "We're with outstanding performance their bowing as well as their pizzicato. The Mendelssohn ended as quietly and serenely as it began, leaving the audi ence disappointed the piece had to end but satisfied because it had done so beautifully. The concert continued with Stefan Wolpe's Quartet, in two movements, written for and dedicated to the Juil liard String Quartet. The music proved the quartet' s versatility. The techniques used to obtain the desired effect (such as swooping slides between pitches) were decidedly un-classical. The piece is characterized by kinetic movement all the way through, and it aggressively holds the audience's attention by its sheer intensity. Sunday night's version ended with a single, independent note previous music illustrated by the tal ented 31 -year-old keyboardist, song writer and singer. He sang for two hours to a crowd of about 1,500, which was dominated by college and high school students, and he played most of the songs from i 2 (eye) and The Big Picture as well as a few old favorites from his previous albums. Concert highlights included a spir ited rendition of "Secret Ambition" that ignited the crowd after a set of mellow tunes. The song describes the threat Jesus posed to the authorities of his day and their confusion over his purpose. Also on the fast-moving side, "Old Enough to Know" caused an explosion of dancing in the aisles, and "Live and Learn" continued the fireworks. Judg Come ride with us. TM3MBJS otl 4503 Chapel Hill Blvd., A ME HOMECOMING EVEMT Sat., Sept. 30th 11:30 am-3:30 pm McCorkle Place next to Silent Sam Post Office on E. Franklin St.) ENJOY THE HOMECOMING PARADE & ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT BARBECUE! ($8, student $4) Live Entertainment: Carter Minor The Clefhangers UNC Pep Rally with 'bent pop' putting out an EP ourselves on our own record label. But it's just been really hard, because we've been having to save all our money. And it's hard to get a sense of organization, to keep your sense of determination about the rec ord, and to keep from getting demoral ized." Dillon Fence members say it's hard to pigeonhole their music. "I'd defi nitely say we have a pop muse," Humphreys said. "We're in love with the really good hooks you hum in your head. We try to add our own touch to everything we do. One reviewer called it 'bent pop' and I really like that." Alphin agreed. "It's pop. It's funk. It's funk pop. That's exactly what it is. We've got a real clean sound." The band has varied musical influ ences, including Elvis Costello, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zepplin, R.E.M. and the Smiths. Alphin reflected on the group's held strikingly by the violist. After the intermission, the perform ance was continued with Beethoven's Quartet in A minor, Opus 132. This five movement quartet was the centerpiece of the concert, demonstrating beyond any doubt why the Juilliard String Quartet has a reputation of matchless Beethoven interpretation and perform ance. The first movement started haunt ingly with a sustained cello note and soon grew into a full sound which seemed produced by many more than just four instruments. There was less a sense of Mann being the "director" in this piece; all the musicians seemed equally in control but still amazingly together. The harmonies and the tuning ing by their grins and energy, Smith and his band clearly were having a good time, and the audience ran with it. On a more mellow note, Smith and lead guitarist William Owsley ended "Leesha," a haunting melody written out of Smith's grief over the death of a teenage neighbor in an automobile accident, with a unique keyboard and guitar duet. The two instruments blended the melodic line and comple mented each other unexpectedly well. In his introduction to "The Last Letter," Smith described a letter he received from a young man named John, who was about to commit suicide when hearing the song stopped him. In a moving gesture, Smith told the crowd, "I dedicate this song to any other Johns in the audience tonight." on sale now with savings up to LV7 lUi Durham 489-7478 across from the $0 I AME UNC vs. NAVY KKCICOFF 4:00 Tickets can be purchased at the Alumni Office, next to the Carolina Inn, Tbe Downtown Commission, Ste. 14, Tbe Courtyard, or in tbe Pit, SepL 25-29. For further information call 962-1208 or 962-9700. PUBLIC WELCOME songwriting, and he picked "Why" as the band's best song. "It's about love and cars and alcohol," he said. Humphreys chose "Preppy Dead head" as the worst song. "It was just a jokey, campy satiric song of rich frat people nothing meant to last. And now, when we play a fraternity, I'll see a fraternity, freshly-scrubbed guy with a tie-dye on asking us to play that song, and I wish I hadn't written it, because it makes them feel they have a legitimate existence." The band has very definite goals, Humphreys said. "Hopefully, an EP in the second week of October. We're doing a double release with Satellite Boyfriend and we'll be mailing them out to college radio, selling them in the area." The group's long term goal is to get signed by a record label, he said. "We would enjoy being able to make a living playing our music." were deftly handled throughout all the movements characteristically Juil liard and characteristically Beethoven. The middle movements were full of varied dynamic ranges, tempo and mood, but it was neither overdone nor mechanically carried out. The crescen dos and de crescendos were played with glorious feeling, and the piece built up to the climactic fifth movement steadily and with increasing intensity. The final movement was of a com pletely different character: a dancing melody with exquisite ornamentation. The performers handled this transition beautifully and continued on to end the performance with all the triumph and grace expected from Beethoven's music. In "Thy Word " a song written by Smith and recorded by Amy Grant, Smith quoted several verses from Psalm 139 during a keyboard interlude to amplify his theme of the individual's worth in God's eyes. Instead of preach ing at the audience, he spoke eye to eye to them about his own experiences and involved the crowd by asking it to join in singing the last refrain. The band members played well to gether, and their energy and excitement added a great deal to the performance. Keyboardist Mark Heimermann, who sported a Carolina Tar Heel T-shirt, and guitarist Owsley were especially enthusiastic. Guy Moscoso, on alto and soprano sax and flute, turned in notable solos on "Hand of Providence," "On the Other Side" and "Live and Learn." Renee Garcia, the background vo calist, was also featured in a three-song set in the middle of the performance. She showed a talent for exciting the crowd, which the opening act, Marga ret Becker, seemed to lack. Becker played six songs, primarily from her new album Immigrant's Daughter. The show's chief flaw was the 25 minutes needed to set up Smith's key boards and other equipment after Becker finished, evidence that all the kinks were not yet worked out on this third stop of a 40-city tour. But Smith's outstanding perform ance overshadowed the lull created by the wait after the opening act. His confidence, ability to communicate with the audience and newfound musical maturity combined to create a concert with unmistakable depth and meaning. For a resume that can do the job, depend on Kinko's. Fine Stationery Matching Envelopes the copy center Open 24 Hours 114 W. 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