The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 05, 1999, Page Page 4, Image 4
The Gam
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Johny Ve
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wi
John Calveric, lead singer and guitarist for J
27 night at The Elbow Room Music Hall.
D'Jasz serves
by William Cramer
Staff Writer
"Everybody likes country cooking,"
said Dianne Simons, owner of D'Jasz,
a "soul food" restaurant off Sunset DriAn
inconspicuous place surround- j
ed by fast-food establishments, Mm|
D'Jasz stands as a testament to another Wm
of Simons' statements: "People get tired |eS
of fast food." !
D'Jasz does well surrounded by such
competitors, thanks to a reputation for
good country cooking and a steady
stream of regulars.
Return diners include Police Chief
Charles Austin, who, according to Si
mons, comes in at least tnree times a u jasz,
week. few res
Bettye Roundtree of the USC School
of Medicine said she doens't go to D'Jasz bread c
often enough. about $
"The food is good, and they give you How
plenty for the price," she said. for so n
Everything is served cafeteria-style, french f
behind the counter. On Wednesday,
there was fried pork, fried chicken, roast ^ ^
chicken, liver and onions, ox tail, and *ooc* res
pig feet as the main courses. With D'Ja
any of these dishes, you get three of sev- ness. Hi
eral sides, including collard greens, cab- catering
bage, rice and gravy, baked beans, li- has onl}
ma beans, black-eyed peas, macaroni an(j ^
and cheese, and candied yams. Corn- ,
J restaur?
janitoria
Get ready
for the real
'Payback' *
!
! by Chris Rictiter
Staff Writer
Tayback,"Mel Gibson's new movie, The 1
opens nationwide today. Walker,
When I first saw the preview near- are to a<
ly a year ago, it looked like a completely pick-up.
original action movie. , ke ]
However, after recently reading a j? b]
plot synopsis, I realized I've already
seen this movie. "Payback" is a remake
of sorts, a second screen adaptation of whose y
Donald Westlake's novel The Hunter." en<^ Wa
Hie video pick this week is the first group ki
-J-.-A^A: fXIT A1-1 ? _? A: TT_
auajpuuKmui??ta>uaK.e s novei. rouii uuu. nt?
Blank" (1967), directed by John venge 01
Boorman, stars Lee Marvin as Walk- &on
er, a stone-faced ex-accountant intent
on getting his hands on $93,000 that .
. * j/9,. icanCin
is owed to him.
c
Kick 1
gas se
Sff
Eflk
Sean Rayford Photo Editor
ohny Vegas, plays a show Jan.
up tasty
on Sunset Drive, serves up the
taurants of its kind in Columbia
omes with every meal. All for
4.
'ever, if you're not in the mood
tuch food, a cheeseburger and
ries arp hist. $9 50 a fraotinn of
e same would cost at most fasttaurants.
sz also serves as a catering busiowever,
the restaurant and the
: take their toll on Simons. She
j eight employees to help her,
works six days a week at the
int during the day and runs a 1
il service at night. Simons said
V&o II
\ Fiok. I
<
1
Sim opens on Alcatraz, where
his wife and his friend Reese
it as middlemen in a money
1
3ick-up doesn't go as planned, 1
ker is shot and left for dead, (
mossed by Reese and his own ^
the help of a mysterious man 1
entity isn't revealed until the
Iker kills his way through a
lown only as The Organizais
less intent on exacting re- *
l members of The Organizai
on collecting his money.
it Blank" is a movie that can t
Bed as part of the New Amer- f
ema.
mc(
NT o o k o n d i
All Alioard ft
>t to laun
by Sean Rayford
Photo Editor I
8
John Calveric, lead singer of Johny ^
Vegas, has aspired to be a rock star for s
most of his life.
"Once I saw Bon Jovi and all the t
chicks in [his] video, it was all over for 11
me. I knew that was what I had to be,"
he said. F
And maybe one day, as Calveric explains,
he and his bandmates will be- e
come "the next great American rock *n'
roll band." They place special emphasis
on songwriting and quality lyrics.
It's part of what they believe makes
Johny Vegas special.
In 1987, Calveric met Mike Shimshack
during his freshman year at Oswego
College in upstate New York. Together,
they formed Johny Vegas and
eventually found Mike Miller and Alex
Smolinski to play bass and drums, respectively.
Their first recording was dubbed
No Soap Radio, and soon Johny Vegas
had sold all 500 copies originally pressed.
"We started out playing in bars four
nights a week, making lots of money,"
Calveric said. "Now we travel the country
playing our own stuff and make
no money."
But despite the rough times, "it's
the music that's important and it's what
we love to do," Calveric said.
Small bands often face numerous
obstacles during a tour. As Calveric ex
plains, law enforcement poses a problem:
"Cops, bastards ... we got busted
this last trip. Got pulled over, and the
officer said our license plate was dirty.
Searched the van, pulled out a sack of Jl
weed... two fat tickets." n
soul food
IfcJ
-A jX
I Tmlri ft
I HuillKf?!ifea?r .IBS
1 Mil .Wl WM Iff " *'
Ann Marie Miani Assistant Photo Editor
i best in soul food and is one of the
i.
she gets only about an hour and a
half of sleep each night.
So, how does she do it?
"T ,",,o+ tqon an omilirtA W cKa nni/1 ?T
ijuoi/ un oixuiuig, one ocuu. X
like working with people, making them
happy. I get complaints sometimes,
cussed at, yelled at, but I just keep on
smiling."
That kind of attitude, and the terrific
country cooking, keep the customers
smiling. Dining at D'Jasz is just like (
eating at a friend's house.
D'Jasz is located at 1212 Sunset Dr. ]
The New American Cinema brou^it I I
life into a stagnant industry that was 1
facing financial and creative difficulties
in the mid-1960s. ,
Films such as "Point Blank," "Bon- 1
trie and Clyde," "The Graduate" and
KV1A1 ?1 .1 i. iLt I
-6WJ. tsuuua. unrigs up. 1
The protagonist in "Point Blank" is
an extremely mean character fas James
3oburn says in "Payback," "That's just '
y*\ 1
?ean, man. .
Money drives Walker, and he will
stop at nothing to get it. i
There are few light moments in the *
Sbn, and Walker shows no remorse for
lis actions "Point Plank" iikas maov ^
>f the unconventional editing techniques
and flashbacks that can be seen
n other films of the New American Cinsma
("The Graduate," in particular).
Tt S***rr?ft if fi-ihenn'c nenir film unll
>lay more to the audience than
Point Blank." 1
The ads say, "Get ready to root for \
he bad guy." Personally, fd rather root
or Lee Marvin.
y
ire
ft l b t 0 r t a
it Fun Time ?
ch tour v
Following No Soap Radio, the band
eleased Dog and eventually another th
dbum, Super Cool American. Johny 19
fegas is scheduled to release its third coi
dbum, Forest Hill Drive, on March 16.
"This new album is kind of a com- tb
jination of the two previous," Calver- 20
c explained.
Dog was considered a fairly sim- th<
)le production, without any studio tricks, ev
The next record we did was at a super- H(
expensive studio and it seemed like we da
ost a little bit of that down-home edge,"
ohny Vegas's drummer, Alex Smolinski,
lembers of Johny Vegas hope to eventua
Son Volt tal
by Kevin Langston and "S
Todd Money /0
Staff Writers ,
tu
In support of their third album,
Wide Swing Tremolo, Son Volt performed
Wednesday night in front of a
dense and diverse crowd at Tremont ^
Music Hall in Charlotte, N.C.
Frontman Jay Farrar muttered on- ai
ly the words "How y'all doing?" before m
the foursome launched into their set. m
The first five songs were all hard in
rockers as the band tried to rev up
their audience. tr,
The band opened with "Flow" from CI
Tremolo before going into a spirited
version of "Caryatid Easy" from br
their second album, Straightaways. eri
After three more numbers, Son Volt
changed gears a bit, choosing to concentrate
on their slower, subtler tunes, fej
such as "Tear Stained Eye," "Between
the Lines" and "Ten Second News."
Just when the crowd needed a pickup,
though, the band was ready to give
one.
The catchy "Drown," the band's er'
first hit off Trace, their major debut, on
got everyone's attention.
At that point, the 13th song of the ^
set, the band seemed to catch some ex- ^?]
tra fire as well, not missing a beat even Mi
with the frequent stops and starts re- in
quired by the song.
That was followed by two more fast- poi
paced numbers, "Now or Never" and fla
Exploring
the Weird
Wide Web
by Valerie Byrd
Staff Writer || || ;
There are some strange people in
he world, and I have found that they onli
dl have Web sites. There are Web 78 %
rites dedicated to just about anything the
"Ou can imagine. Parts of the body,
inimals, appliances, dirt ? yon get ^
he point.
I clicked my way through what
elt like hundreds of sites and found
hree weird ones that are not only n
?dd, but fun. " Bar,
vww.armory.coni/
iests / purity Jitml oca
way
Full of tests to measure how nice Boll
-ou are, how nerdy you are, etc. evei
!
I n m e n t
/ith new
Johny Vegas sent in a demo tape to
e Ticketmaster Music Showcase in,
96 and achieved some success in the
mpetition, winning at the local level.
"They picked us, and we went on to
e regional... and finished in the top
in the country," Calveric said.
Johny Vegas also participated in
e Kool Band to Band Combat, which
entually earned them a slot on the
3RDE Tour, where they played two
tes in Toronto.
At each gig they play and in each
y they pass through, Johny Vegas at'
J
, |l,-JM
plays during last week's show a1
lly become "the next great America
[es rock ba
itraightface," the opener from Tremoand
perhaps the hardest-rocking
ine of the evening. "Straightface" was
esented as the band's last song, with
irrar uttering a quick "Thanks" here
Son Volt's members scurried off
e stage.
There wasn't any scurrying in the
idience, though, and within a few
inutes, the band was back for four
ore tunes that kept pace with the
ipending end of the show.
Here, the band revealed two more
acks from Tremolo, "Dead Man's
othes" and "Carry You Down."
However, one of the evening's
ightest spots came when the crowd
ipted at the familiar chords of "WindII,"
the first track from Trace.
To close the encore, the group again
1 back on their debut album. An upting
version of "Live Free" sent the
nd off the stage for the second time.
The crowd refused to let the
ening end on a slow song, howevand
called the band back out for
e last ditty.
Although they hadn't dipped far
o Straightaways during the show,
a Volt sent the fans home with "Last 1
nute Shakedown," a jarring rocker 1
the essence of Tom Petty.
It certainly placed an exclamation 1
nt on an exhilarating and nearly 1
wless performance.
u
[ discovered Fm 70 percent pure, jr
r 23 percent weird and a mighty
lercent nice. It's laid out well, and h
tests are very easy and quick. ^
/vvv.driveways.com h,
[ didn't learn anything about myhere,
but I did learn what Bob tii
ker's driveway looks like.
Fhis site is all about the drive- -v(
s of the stars.
3ome man has driven around with
mera to take nictures of drive
s of such celebrities as Michael
xm and Kirk Cameron. What's
i funnier is that he appears to in
Section
Friftav FehriiarvS 1QQQ
r album
tempts to reach a few fans one at a time.
In time, those few fans will maybe add
up to make them superstars. But regardless
of the aspirations of fame that
might linger in the back of their minds,
ultimately, it's the love for music that
pushes them on.
"I can't imagine doing anything else
anymore; it's probably too late to get
a real job," Calveric said.
t The Elbow Room Music Hall. The
n rock 'n' roll band."
ck to roots
The band said very little during
the show, instead allowing their music
to speak for them.
They also showed a pleasing versatility
throughout the performance.
Guitarist Dave Boquist showcased
his prowess on fiddle, slide guitar, and
of course, lead electric guitar, consistently
delivering a clean, twangy sound.
Farrar belted out on harmonica, with
two incredible solos, and on acoustic
and electric rhythm guitar.
The rhythm section of the foursome,
with Mike Heidorn on drums
and Dave's brother Jim Boquist on
bass, provided their share of snare
crashes and snappy bass lines.
Son Volt has established a fan base
in the Southeast with their alternative
country sound.
Based in Raleigh, N.C., they
have epitomized the "No Depression"
music movement since their debut.
Farrar was formerly a member of Uncle
Tupelo, the band that defined roots
rock in the early '90s.
The band will close out its tour with
several more dates in the Southeast
in the near future.
On Saturday, they'll play the
Music Farm in Charleston before con;inuing
throughout the region.
ave put a lot of time into this site. It
>oks nice and is easy to navigate.
vww-person^imch.
idu/ ynbrown/tart
This site is about one kid's expernents
with Pop Tart explosion. Pictres
are included, as well as a minute^-minute
observation of what exactly
appens during Pop Tart explosion.
Not a large site, only observaon
and pictures, but worth the time
>u spend getting there.
Next Fridaytcill be dedicatedf
the World Wide Web of love. Just
time for Valentinefs Day.