University of South Carolina Libraries
5 THEY SAID IT NIKOLAI LENIN: “One fool can ask more questions in a minute « than twelve wise men can answer in an hour.” CONCERT REVIEW they ’ve got the ‘Rare lineup ’ of artists weather the cold for successful show BY HAMP NETTLES THE GAMECOCK It was a cold, windy Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, but the folks who braved the chill to attend the seventh annual Columbia Blues Festival were treated to a rare lineup of good musicians. The festival came to a rocking start at noon when Columbia locals Elliot and The Untouchables took the stage. Led by Elliott New on vocals and understated but fiery guitar, the band proved tight, capable and versatile. Joining Elliott and The Untouchables an hour into the set was local blues legend Drink Small, affectionately known as “The Blues Doctor.” “I started the blues in South Carolina. I was here ’fore the Word of Mouth start!” Smith said, referring to Word of Mouth Productions, which hosts the Columbia Blues Festival each year. Small resembles a livelier B.B King but played in a gritty, blistering guitar style very different from King’s. The hometown crowd enthusiastically welcomed Smith, who treated the crowd to a thrilling set. The only regrettable moment was when he left the stage after playing just five songs with The Untouchables. The festival’s other acts were also in fine form. Newcomer Alvin Youngblood Hart turned in an electric tour de force that shook Five Points. And veteran British blues rockers Savoy Brown, guided by splendid slide guitar from founder Kim Simmonds, showed the blues still moved them. Onstage, Simmonds said: “I’m an old man, ' • ■ ■ ' . ' ■ .v :;. ;•* yr,’ ■" ' Drink Small performs at the seventh annual Columbia Blues Festival in MLK Jr. Park on Saturday, photo by michelle dosson but this is the best part. I get to feel young again!” Though all the acts gave strong performances, the true strength of the festival lay in three acts: Hubert Sumlin with the Bob Margolin Band, Paul Rishell and Annie Raines, and Carey Bell. It’s hard to write about Hubert Sumlin without using the words “pioneer” and “legend.” Performers rarely actually deserve such titles, but Sumlin surely does. He’s influenced the greats (being named Jimi Hendrix’s favorite guitarist), played with the greats (spending 25 years as Howlin’ Wolfs guitarist) and continues to perform as one of the last links to the Chicago blues. Before Sumlin came on, his backup band, led by Margolin, played a short set. Braving the frigid air, Margolin introduced the opener, the aptly chosen “Nine Below Zero,” as “a song even colder than this.” After Sumlin took the stage, he led the band in a plaintive rendition of “Sittin’ On Top Of The World.” Despite the temperature, which had plummeted by the time he performed, Sumlin’s guitar work was positively scintillating. Watching him perform, one got the feeling the Chicago electric blues were still alive and well, even if many of its founders are long dead. Playing an altogether different, and, these days, more rare, form of the blues was the duo of Paul Rishell on guitar and Annie Raines on harmonica. Both artists were superbly talented and presented an hour long set that was soulful and authentic but much too short. It was country blues at its finest. Rishell’s finger picking on his foreboding National guitar was beautiful in both sight and sound. He was also the finest vocalist of the day, singing with tremendous depth and range. The highlight of the set was a slow, dramatic arrangement of Charlie Patton’s “Some of These Days” that was perfect in every way — truly breathtaking stuff. Raines showed her musical ability as well, playing * harmonica and mandolin in a set that varied from lonesome to spirited. The duo’s performance of classic and original material proved they’re true keepers of the country blues tradition. But the star of the show was Carey Bell, harmonica player extraordinaire. Bell is unique because he learned his style straight from the masters, not from nlH rprnrHQ Rpll tnnk thp stage in the bitter cold and lit the Columbia night on fire. Dressed in a fine new suit, he was a blues statesman. From the other side of Five Points, it might have sounded as if an entire brass band were on stage, but it was really only Bell, equipped with only a harmonica and backed by a sparse three-piece band. His performance left everyone wondering how he gets such a big sound from a small instrument. At one point, Bell, no longer a young man, climbed down from the stage to play harp among the crowd. He immediately disappeared into the crowd, which quickly surrounded him, but still managed to unleash a feverish solo, splitting the night air with a single harmonica. THE CHARTS Top 10 Movies Figures are for the weekend of Oct. 19-21. MOVIE BOX OFFICE 1. K-PAX $17.5 million 2. 13 Ghosts $15.7 million 3. From Hell $6.1 million 4. Ridingin Cars... ~1^0 million 5. Training Day $5.1 million 6. Bandits $5.0 million 7. Serendipity$3.9 million ~~8- TheLastCastie $3.7 million lUiones $2.9 million 10~ Corky Romano $2.9 million Top 10 Albums Figures are for the week of Oct. 22 27. title artist 1. God Bless America Various 2. A Day Without Rain Enya 3. Pain is Love -la Rule 4. Down toEarth Ozzy Osbourne 5. Silver Side Up Nickelback 6. Totally Hits 2001 Various 7. [Hybrid Theory] Linkin Park 8. The BlueprintJay-Z 9. 8701Usher 10. Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys Scaring the poop out of yourself Renting horror movies brings Halloween home BY TUG BAKER THE GAMECOCK With Halloween quickly approaching, you might be looking for a really great scary movie. Here, I’ve compiled some of my favorites, all readily available at any video store. NOSFERATU(1922) No other horror film has held as much influence as F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. For this film, based on Bram Stroker’s classic novel, Dracula, Murnau changed characters’ names to avoid the appearance of plagiarizing. The creepy German Expressionist film takes a different approach to the suave, handsome vampire, making him instead an ugly, rat faced twist on humanity. Recommended if you like: the classics ABBOT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) When it came to mixing monsters and laughs, the comedic team of Abbot and Costello did it right. Universal Pictures had the duo “meet” almost all of the Universal monsters in one film or another. This one stands oht for a few reasons. First of all, it has the most interesting plot of any of the Abbot and Costello films. Second, it features Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman, Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Glenn Strange as Frankenstein’s monster. Finally, it ends with the monster fight to end all monster fights. Recommended if you like: monsters beating the hell out of each other while a fat man stammers, “Hey, Abbot!” PSYCHO (1960) When it comes to suspense, no one beats Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho tells the story of Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins), the man who loved his mother a little too much. Hitchcock’s brilliant directing still manages to make audiences sit on the edges of their seats, and the shower scene remains one of the best horror scenes of all time. Oddly enough, Hitchcock thought it was his funniest movie. Don’t bother with the sequels, except maybe Psycho IV. Recommended if you like: your mother NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) The out-and-out best of the subgenre of horror that is the zombie movie, Night of the Living Dead, written and directed by George Romero, terrified audiences when it was first released and has since developed a cult following. The story pits seven people locked in a barn against an army of zombies who can only be sated by human flesh. The black-and white, low-budget quality of the movie only makes it more chilling. Recommended if you like: mmm... brains... THE EXORCIST (1973) If there’s one movie in this list that’s guaranteed to make anyone scream, it’s The Exorcist. Reportedly based a true story, The Exorcist is a chilling tale of a young girl who’s been possessed by a demon. I can’t even begin to say how scary this movie is, especially the unedited version released last year. Don’t watch it alone! Recommended if you like: being creeped out for weeks HALLOWEEN (1978) When it comes to teen slasher flicks, you can’t go wrong with the original. With Halloween, John Carpenter introduced so many things: the typical slasher story, lots of in-jokes at the movie’s own expense, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis’s bouncing breasts. Yes, from here on, it was a rule that being chased by a maniac with a knife was done better without a bra. Recommended if you like: Jamie Lee Curtis—and her breasts THE SHINING (1980) Film auteur Stanley Kubrick made The Shining, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, into an intense psychodrama that has as much ♦ HORROR, SEE PAGE 6