2006-11 Vital Source Mag – November 2006
My Morning Jacket @ The Riverside Theater
By Caz McChrystal + Photos by Kat Berger The Riverside Theater (GO HERE to see more photos from the show) My Morning Jacket presented a perfect specimen of an elusive form at the Riverside Theater this past Tuesday night, the modern rock concert. But it is difficult to tell what a rock & roll concert is supposed to look like circa 2006. Decades of formulaic mayhem have littered the genre with beefed-up boredom and created a vacuum. The days in which a rock band’s greatness was measured by its ability to roll into a city like Rommel and conquer a submissive audience waiting to be played at are over. Rather, My Morning Jacket exploded the notion of what a rock concert is by playing to a rapt audience and treating the show as if it was a fragile being to be nurtured and coaxed out into the open. By the time the lights at the Riverside had gone black and MMJ emerged to open with “Wordless Chorus,” the crowd was already on its feet and moving along with the intelligently complicated rhythms. And it stayed that way for the nearly two hours that MMJ played. The first quarter of the show steadily built upon itself, reaching a high point with the reggae nod “”Off the Record.” The tune’s intro, a direct quotation of the seminal Hawaii Five-O opening riff thawed-out the mid-November crowd, warming up the audience before cooling it down with a run of slower-paced songs. The downshift to slower, searching improvisations broke down the rock show format, in which slower songs usually get tossed in only sporadically, and then only to give the drummer a brief respite. Here, it felt as though the band wanted to give the audience a chance to regroup, and it was well timed. Although some of these extended instrumental breaks noodled a little too long, MMJ never lost the audience. Coming out of this mellow and spacey section, MMJ slid into “Golden,” an archetypal country song off the It Still Moves record. For that song, guitarist Carl Broemel sat before a pedal steel and belted out one of those heartbroken but hopeful Nashville harmonies that felt down home and far out at the same time. This wonderful slide playing, accompanied by the plaintive vocals of Jim James, drove home the fact that MMJ is not just a group of guys who plays instruments, but musicians who not only take pride in their craft, but take it seriously. My Morning Jacket ended its show with the anthemic “Mehgeetah,” which came at the close of a half hour long encore. The impact of the show, however, did not flow from any single song they unexpectedly pulled out or effectively performed, it came from the overall arc of the evening. The concert seemed to ebb and flow, rocking with high intensity for periods only to draw back into esoteric musical self-searching in other parts. The mood would change within some songs, and sometimes without any discernible […]
Nov 27th, 2006 by Vital Archives
Give ‘Em Hell, Harry
By Peggy Sue Dunigan Speaking directly, loudly and customarily cursing, Harry S. Truman’s voice and words ring shockingly true and remain relevant in the production of Give ‘Em Hell, Harry that opened at the Boulevard Ensemble Studio Theatre November 8. The audience in the packed space greatly appreciated those words, generously sprinkled with humor and truth, both of which marked Truman’s life. Moving through the time and space of Truman’s adult years on stage, Don Devona aptly caries the one man show. Dapper in a taupe double breasted suit, Devona appears both presidential and genuinely familiar, although slightly frail. The production builds steam through the second act as Truman reminisces about the “whistle stop” campaign of 1948, ending vibrantly as he struts with his walking cane on the streets of his hometown Independence, Missouri. Opening on the day after an election that witnessed the Democrats making stunning gains, Give ‘Em Hell, Harry surprises with the timelessness of the truths expressed. Truman begins as he describes his first political campaign for county judge of Jackson County (“a new war of words instead of guns” ) after returning from France in World War I. Continuing through to World War II, Truman again reflects on after only 86 days as the 33rd President, thinking, wrestling with the decision to “drop the bomb.” He claims, “Options… didn’t have any options. Thought it was going to end the war. Dropped one. Dropped another. They capitulated. Would do the same damn thing if I thought it was going to end the war. Waiting for someone to apologize for Pearl Harbor.” As it is for politicians today, war was consistently on his mind. And facing war for a third time as he utters these thoughts on Korea: “Damn Korea thing…blowing up in our faces.” Truman again could well be verbalizing current events, such as North Korea’s recent experiments with their own nuclear bomb in 2006. However, it’s the Korean War of 1950 to which he’s referring. “We weren’t there to win. What were we there for? To stop something. Preserve the peace of the world.” Has this been said before? Or is he speaking to the reality of war and “the innocent lives of American men and women are being destroyed. It’s a tragedy.” A tragedy, similar to 1940, 1950, decades later in Iraq; the same truths exist. As the play continues traveling through Truman’s life, whether spewing political or personal wisdom, the audience is left wondering what, if anything, has changed. For Truman addresses corruption in business, dirty politics, racism, falsified bids, public housing and the minimum wage. All timely subjects for any current political arguments. Speaking like a true Democrat to the Republicans 60 years ago, Truman says, “I’m not giving ‘em hell. I’m just telling them the truth to make them feel like they’re living in hell.” VS Give ‘Em Hell, Harry runs through November 19 at the Boulevard Ensemble Studio Theatre in Bay View. Tickets: $20.00 by reservation. Please call 414-744-5757 for details.
Nov 15th, 2006 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Not Now, Darling
By Russ Bickerstaff With all the right treatment under the right conditions, life can be a late 60s British sex farce. One needs only gather the right adults together and get them to be a bit more fictitious than usual. No elaborate sets are needed. Costuming need not be extensive. The comedy comes naturally. With this social dynamic in place, RSVP Productions’ Artistic Director Raymond Bradford delves into an enjoyable evening of theatre as co-director and co-star in Ray Cooney and John Chapman’s 1969 hit comedy Not Now, Darling. Bradford himself stars as a diligent, honest furrier named Arnold Crouch. Alan Stevenson co-stars as his business partner Gilbert Bodley. Crouch, being a womanizing adulterous husband with a suspicious business sense, is quite the opposite of the virtuous Crouch. Crouch finds his morals slipping in a chain of events brought about when Bodley attempts to give a young married woman the gift of a very expensive fur coat. The chain of events is written to rush through the play in a blinding flurry. This is a comedy of escalation. With some 11 people in the cast swimming through the tiny stage at the Astor Theater, RSVP does a pretty good job of keeping things quickly enough to spark some laughs. The momentum may slip in places, but it rights itself quickly enough to shoot through a relatively entertaining evening of comedy. The roles are all written as exaggerated comic characters and the RSVP cast seems to have a really good time performing them. Kelly Simon plays the young Janie McMichael, hopeful recipient of Crouch’s gift coat. Simon plays Janie with the surreal affectations of a grossly amplified material girl. Earl Scharnick seems suitably confused as her husband Harry, who is also in an extramarital affair with an attractive young woman named Sue (played by Anne Miller) whose husband occasionally storms through the action, played by Ken Dillon. Things, of course, get even more complicated with Bodley’s wife Maude (Marcee Sturino) coming back early from vacation to find things in disarray. Notable supporting performances around the edges include Cynthia L. Paplaczyk as Bodley & Crouch’s oddly comic secretary and the tiny, talented Marilou Davido as a young, overly-friendly employee of the business. Rather than setting the production in a late 1960s England, Bradford has opted for a more ambiguous “Modern Metropolitan City” in the present. This spares the audience of having to hear a variety of different mid-western attempts at British accents, which makes the production all the more enjoyable. For anyone familiar with the style and pacing of dialogue in a British comedy however, it’s a bit disorienting. That ineffable use of silence, inflection and sarcasm with a hint of exaggeration seems to have been lifted from the script along with the accents. This distraction doesn’t detract enough from the comedy to be anything other than subtly confusing to those familiar with the genre. This is by no means deep or deeply moving comedy. Closing just one week before the Christmas […]
Nov 15th, 2006 by Vital Archives
Trudy Blue
By Jill Gilmer “Can I speak to them?” Ginger Andrews asks, referring to her family as she watches them weep at Ginger’s funeral. She poses the question to a fellow angel who is watching the funeral with her from their heavenly perch. “No,” the other angel replies. “That is what your life was for.” Talk to the people you love while you are still alive. This is the simple yet provocative message of Trudy Blue, a play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marcia Norman presented by the Dramatists Theatre. The play is based on Ms. Norman’s personal journey after she learns that she has two months to live. Like Ms. Norman, lead character Ginger Andrews, a novelist, later learns that her doctor’s diagnosis of lung cancer is wrong. Thus, she will have to continue living her dreary life, a fate more devastating to Ginger than the death prediction. The play takes place nearly entirely in Ginger’s mind as she contemplates conversations with her family and with Trudy Blue, a character from one of her novels who also represents Ginger’s alter ego. The play mingles these “real conversations with imaginary people and imaginary conversations with real people” interchangeably, an intriguing technique that is at times confusing to the audience. Despite the erratic effectiveness of this dramatic technique, the play succeeds in illustrating the results that ensue when a writer channels painful thoughts and feelings into fictitious characters and stories instead of sharing them with the people involved. As a series of surprising revelations unfold over the course of the play, the audience witnesses the potential damage to relationships when a person conceals their true persona from the people they love. It’s a dynamic that is likely experienced by introverts and artists of many types. The Dramatists Theatre’s production of Trudy Blue is a commendable adaptation of a difficult story. Unfortunately, its overall impact is diminished by an inexperienced cast, which offers the audience minimal assistance in understanding or caring about the two central characters, Ginger and her alter-ego, Trudy Blue. A tedious first act may lose some audience members while the stage is set for the more compelling second half. This notwithstanding, a play of this complexity is an impressive accomplishment for a theatre company in its second season, operating on a shoe-string budget. (The actors were not paid, and artistic director Marjorie Shoemann also manned the box office and snack bar.)VS Trudy Blue is the second installment in the Dramatists Theatre’s series of plays by Marcia Norman. Each season, the company showcases the work of a single playwright. Trudy Blue runs through Saturday, November 18 at the Marian Center for Non-Profits, 3211 S. Lake Drive. Tickets are $16. For reservations, please call 414-243-9168.
Nov 15th, 2006 by Vital Archives
The Hold Steady
By DJ Hostettler Once upon a time back in the 1980s, there was a genre called “alternative.” It’s hard to believe these days, but back in the day, labeling a band “alternative” actually meant it was an alternative to what you’d hear on your local corporate top-40 radio station. Siouxsie and the Banshees didn’t sound like Pat Benatar, and that was a beautiful thing. Then when “alternative” became meaningless in the 90s, “indie rock” sprung up to remind us that no, Sebadoh doesn’t sound like Pearl Jam either. These days, indie rock still doesn’t sound like what you’ll hear on the local Top 40 station, but thanks to The Hold Steady, it definitely sounds like your local classic rock station. It’s an odd state of affairs when Vagrant Records’ hottest new acquisition sounds like Bob Seger with Thin Lizzy’s guitar solos, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. Boys and Girls in America is the perfect title for The Hold Steady’s third full-length. The no-frills hard rock herein evokes images of Midwestern blue-collar Night Moves-style Americana, while Craig Finn’s trademark love-‘em-or-hate-‘em spoken-sung vocals spin yarns about modern boys and girls going to “all ages hardcore matinee shows” (the crazy catchy “Massive Nights” ) and apparently taking lots and lots of drugs (just about every song on the album), giving the retro soundtrack distinctly modern subject matter. The constant theme of teenagers in love taking loads of drugs is worn thin by the end of the record – “Chillout Tent’s” dueling he-said/she-said boy/girl choruses are pretty annoying, to be blunt – but overall, Boys and Girls in America is solid, rockin’ and has a few potential classics (I dare you to not hum along with the “woah-woahs” in “Chips Ahoy” ) without sounding as stale as the classic rock it references. VS
Nov 15th, 2006 by Vital Archives
Lloyd Cole
By Blaine Schultz Lloyd Cole and the Commotions’ 1984 debut album, Rattlesnakes, garnered a good amount of airplay (both on college radio and MTV) and press. In the years that followed, this competent record would be lionized as a masterpiece. In hindsight, the dude had a ways to go. Twenty-plus years and a dozen albums find Cole releasing another sophisticated pop album. Or mature pop album. Or literate pop album. Let’s just say that, lyrically, Cole comes across as pretty sincere… verging on humorless. He is content to merely litter the landscape – dropping hip, young urban references whenever he gets the chance. His jumbles of words come off like a blatant attempt to impress the listener. Covering Moby Grape’s “I Am Not Willing,” he sings of a romantic breakup: “I’m so grateful, no longer willing to have a home,” relieved that she gave him a reason to split. The very next song, “Slip Away,” offers this: “I propose an exit strategy… to slip into the ether where I belong.” Maybe only a true artist can blur the lines between woe-is-me and self-satisfied sneer. Maybe Lloyd Cole is that artist… Maybe. But a typical album is a good year’s hard work, so let’s not pitch this disc into the landfill just yet. Musically and sonically, the album is brilliant. The stylish arrangements build on Cole’s modern folk tunes, adding brushed drums here, textured keyboards there and even a richly impressive string section on a few tracks. Rhythms lean toward bossa nova, while subtle loops and delayed guitar riffs add to the palette. If you can get beyond the lyrics, Antidepressant would be perfect listening in a Starbucks or Barnes & Noble.
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Halloween Guide October 2006
By It’s that time of year again, when the air starts to sharpen, the leaves start to turn and everyone, if only for a night, gets to act like a child. Halloween is, indeed, a magical time of year. A palpable sense of folly and frivolity permeates the city as costumed kids fill the streets, cobwebs and cardboard skeletons drape houses and adults sneak candy from their children’s baskets whenever their little Supermen or Princesses aren’t looking. And despite (or perhaps because of) its pagan origins, Halloween is a unique and wholesome celebration. From haunted hayrides to haunted caves, Wisconsin is awash in paranormal activity this season. For details on the following events plus a complete listing of Halloween activities in Wisconsin, check out www.hauntedwisconsin.com. All Hallow’s Eve: A Beggar’s Night October 28 Old World Wisconsin S103 W37890 Hwy 67, Eagle 262-594-6300 Bear Den Haunted Woods October 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 6831 Big Bend Rd. (Hwy.164), Waterford 262-895-6430 Bloody City Haunted House & Burial Chamber Haunted House October 6-7, 13-15, 19-22, 26-30 500 N. Lake St., Neenah 920-727-4669 Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” October 20-22 Old World Wisconsin, S103 W37890 Hwy 67, Eagle 262-594-6305 Charlie House Halloween Happenings October 27 & 28 The Charlie House/Studio 5545 N. 40th St., Milwaukee 414-536-9924 Creepy Cornfield Adventure at Meadowbrook Farm October 1-30 2950 Mile View Rd., West Bend 262-338-3649 Dominion of Terror October 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 26-31 2024 North 15th St., Sheboygan www.dominionofterror.com Fright Hike October 27 & 28 Lapham Peak State Park W329 N849 Highway, Delafield 262-364-7773 Halloween Candlelight Cave Tours October 20-21 Ledge View Nature Center W2348 Short Rd., Chilton 920-849-7094 Halloween Nature Hikes October 20-21 Kettle Moraine State Forest N1765 Hwy G, Campbellsport 920-533-8322 Haunted Cornfield at Meadowbrook Pumpkin Farm October 1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-22, 26-29 Meadowbrook Pumpkin Farm 2970 Mile View Rd., West Bend 262-338-3649 Haunted Tours of Burlington October 1, 6-8, 13-15, 19-22, 27-29; November 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 24-26 UFO and Paranormal Center 549 N. Pine St., Burlington 262-767-2864 Mars Haunted House October 6-7, 13-15, 19-22, 26-30 734 W. Historic Mitchell St. 414-384-7491 Morgan Manor October 1, 6-8, 13-15, 19-22, 26-31 Waukesha Expo Grounds 1000 Northview Rd., Waukesha 262-547-6808 Pumpkin Walk October 24 Brillion Nature Center W1135 Deerview Rd., Brillion 920-756-3591 Rosebud Cinema Drafthouse Midnight Movies October 13-14 (The Shining) October 20-21 (The Exorcist) 6823 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa 414-607-9672 Salem’s Plot Haunted House October 6-8, 13-15, 20-22, 27-29 Don Happ’s Pumpkin Patch, 24121 Wilmot Rd, Salem 262-862-6515 Splatter Haus October 6-8, 13-15, 20-22, 26-29, 31 W5806 County Rd. W, Cascade www.splatterhaus.com The Corn at Linden Farm October 6-7, 13-15, 20-22, 26-29 Lindners Pumpkin Farm 19075 W Cleveland Ave., New Berlin 262-549-5364 The Dark Side October 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 N1255 Hoard Rd., Ixonia 920-273-0612 The House of Darkness October 1, 6-8, 13-15, 19-22, 26-31 Walworth County Fairgrounds 411 East Court St., Elkhorn 866-9-HAUNT Not-so-Scary Halloween October 26-29, noon to 4 p.m. Little Monster Bash October 27, 5:30 […]
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Joanna Newsom
By Erin Wolf When one insists on being called a “harper” rather than a harpist and becomes peeved when told that one sounds “childlike” (“Bjork-ish,” too) even though the description is nail-on-the-head, it’s obvious one’s perception of oneself is a tad bit off-kilter. Some would call this stubborn, some would call it quirky; most would call it self-absorbed. This self-absorption, though, is just what makes Joanna Newsom’s music work. Her first two EPs and full-length album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, were studies of self-absorption, created from a world not known to anyone other than the 24-year-old herself, characterized by music and lyrics straight out of the writings of Homer and a “childlike” voice more like a infantile gnome with a bad cold piped in between harp pluckings. To write music that sounds centuries old, the writer must obviously not be spending too much time watching television. Going from the intriguing base that is her first album, Newsom’s latest, Ys, is a wash of strings and rich orchestral sounds, surrounding the ever-plucky “harper’s” own string manipulations and warbling. Ys was produced and mixed by Steve Albini (!) and Jim O’Rourke, and adding even more magical elements with string arrangements was Van Dyke Parks of Beach Boys fame. Blending lyrics that are pure poetry (“there is a rusty light on the pines tonight / sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow / down into the bones of the birches and the spires of the churches”) and music arranged in a manner that resembles an old school Disney score takes incredible patience and craft. It also takes incredible patience on the listener’s part, as most of the songs clock in between 7 and 17 minutes long. It is worth it to be patient with Ys, though. It is an album meant to be reflected upon, for it has definite stories to tell. There’s a slim to none chance that the five songs featured here will ever make it to Top 40 radio, but this is just exemplary of the diamond in the rough quality Ys possesses.
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Anders Parker
By Frank Olson On his self-titled album, former Varnaline frontman Anders Parker displays a knack for capturing a lonely highway vibe not dissimilar to The Rolling Stones on their old country songs. Parker, though, is neither as engaging as Mick Jagger nor as good a songsmith as the Glimmer Twins, which, while not a criticism in itself, casts a long shadow for Parker to sidestep. The end result is a singer-songwriter album with dreary, light-grunge singing and forgettable songwriting. There are a few decent songs here, including the opening “Circle Same,” which uses a looping structure to give the standard going-nowhere lyrics more weight, and “False Positive,” which marries a tightly-coiled verse section to a George Harrison-esque chorus. But even these bright spots seem more the work of a good producer (Adam Lasus, who has worked with Clem Snide) and a good band (including former members of Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks) than of the spotlight talent. The album’s best moments are the ones that allow the band to stretch out and reshape the generally uninteresting songs. A dramatic electric guitar/steel pedal duet ends the otherwise dull “Dear Sara;” instrumental breaks change up the pace of “Airport Road;” thundering percussion underlines a sensitive pedal steel solo in “Under Wide Unbroken Skies.” But these moments are few, and most of Anders Parker is dominated by generic alt-country songs and lyrics that often literally sound like Hallmark cards.
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
Matthew Schroeder
By Blaine Schultz + Photo by Kate Engeriser Matthew Schroeder, guitarist and department chair at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, has traversed the entire spectrum of music, from guttural electric with local rock groups Pet Engine and The Barbeez to Signal, his recently released debut solo album of original acoustic finger-style compositions. On November 18, Schroeder will launch the Midwest Guitar Summit with longtime friends and collaborators Dan Schwartz and Ben Woolman at the WCM. Find tickets at www.matthewschroederonline.com. 1. With instrumental music, do you have certain images that come to mind for songs when you play them? Imagery is central. In composing it helps you stay the course, and in performing it takes you where you need to go emotionally to best play the piece. If you play well, you create art in the mind of the listener, and much like a good book, it’s a bit different for everyone. Many times someone will know just what the tune is about, and what’s best is when they add surprise details to the picture. 2. What makes for a good instrumental guitar tune? There are no particular elements that need to be present. I simply need to enjoy hearing and reacting to it. I do like tunes that incorporate something slightly off the beaten path in note choice or technique. A tune that succeeds in the imagery category is John Fahey’s “The Approaching of the Disco Void.” Recorded live in Tasmania, it will scare you! In the groove/melody area, Leo Kottke’s “Orange Room” is pure fun. 3. What drew you to this music? Coming from a rock background and looking for more, finger-style guitar was a means of expression outside of the traditional classical or jazz guitar idiom. Along the way I fell in love with the style. Many people keep searching for what they should be doing with their life. I feel I’ve found it. 4. What is the Midwest Guitar Summit? The Midwest Guitar Summit is a finger-style guitar concert featuring myself, Dan Schwartz and Ben Woolman. We all met in the early 90s while attending the cooperative guitar program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee/Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and received BFAs in American finger-style guitar performance. We enjoy each other’s music and friendship, and have stayed close over the years, so doing some shows together is a natural result. A typical MGS performance will consist of each player doing a short solo set, some duets, and culminate with all three guitarists onstage together, displaying their versatility by including other instruments such as lap steel, bass and electric guitar. 5. How do you define success as a musician? I currently teach and perform. When my students are learning, and I am moving people with music, that is success for me as a musician. VS
Nov 1st, 2006 by Vital Archives
