The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 26, 2002, Page 5, Image 5
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, August 26,2002 . 5
CONTACT US THEY SAID IT
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? - crum*. . .,
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com SENEC. Difficulties strengthen
° > the mmd, as labor does the body.
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STREET
ALTERNATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL
SHOWCASES MUSIC, ART AND A
MYRIAD OF STAGE PERFORMANCES
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
TKR HAMMOCK
Ten bands and a multi
tude of artists braved the
100-plus degree heat
Saturday to participate in
the Street Bash in the Dog
Days of Summer, an al
ternative arts festival
showcasing a variety of
music and art forms.
Around 8 p.m., howev
er, rain ended the festival,
which was scheduled to
run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
in front of the Columbia
Music Festival
Association building on
Pulaski Street.
The festival association
organized the Street Bash,
which featured local
bands on the main stage,
with other musical acts
playing on the second,
“center” stage.
Performing on the
main stage were Tamed
by Chaos, Damitol,
Superbike, Erector Set,
Magic Johnson Ride,
Johnny Welfare,
Necrocide and Mandible.
Enable Kain and Hot Lava
Monster did not get to
play because of the rain.
Bands on the main
stage were slated to per
form every hour from
noon until 10 p.m.
Eric Group and
John Albrecht,
chief organizers
of the sched
uled bands,
managed to book most of
the bands almost immedi
ately by posting on south
carolinabands.com.
“In two days, I had so
many bands I was turning
them away,” Group said.
All the bands agreed to
play for free, said
Albrecht, who helped run
sound at the event and
plays bass in Damitol.
“The cool part about it
is that I was able to put a
lot of my Mends’ bands on
the bill,” Albrecht said. “I
figured the first bands I
should ask to play for j
free should be my 1
utes before the hour
throughout the day. This
stage featured the gospel
comedy act of Sister Rev.
Vernetta Edmonds, who
was followed by 12-year
old drumming prodigy
Jacobi Gunter, who left
the crowd wondering
how such a small person
could create such a huge
boom.
Thomas Kelsey, also 12,
entertained the crowd as
he danced to Michael
Jackson’s “Billie Jean”
and “Smooth
Victoria White, Hick’ry
Hawkins and Sidemeat
and rapper T.C. Real com
pleted the center-stage
lineup. Jeff Liberty Band’s
performance was canceled
after the rain started.
At the event, a variety
of art forms were show
cased, including chalk
drawing, face painting,
grafitti art and “car-bash
ing auto art.”
CMFA Executive
Director John Whitehead
said he wanted to reach
out to different audiences
to gain support for the as
sociation’s other events
during the upcoming
year.
The bands ai
the “alternative
art forms help
ing out the
more tra
ditional,
such
as ballet, opera, classical
music, ethnic dance,” he
said.
At 11 a.m., dog owners
lined up their canines, and
the crowd gathered
around the center stage for
the Doggie Beauty Show.
Several prizes were
awarded to winners, in
cluding haircuts for the
dogs and their masters
and a doggie backpack
holding two water bottles,
one for the dog and one
for the owner.
One lucky dog even
won an appearance in the
upcoming Columbia
Ballet Company produc
tion of “The Nutcracker.”
A tattoo contest for the
edgiest and most impres
sive body art took place at
7:30 p.m. Prizes were fur
nished by Ink City
Tattoos, Bodymasters and
Gothic Dungeon.
Until rain cut the
festival short, the
night was set
to con- jar
elude Jjp
with an art “happening” —
an improvised perfor
mance form popular in the
’60’s—by Columbia artist
Blue Sky. He was planning
to use a lift to raise a
Dumpster and swing it
above the crowd.
Group estimated at
least 700 people attended
the festival. At least 1,200
were expected.
Street Bash was orga
nized in three weeks.
Group said that, though
everything fell into place
fairly easily, he wished he
could have had more time
to plan the festival.
“I wish we’d had about
three months to a year,”
Group said.
Street Bash might see
the dog days of summer
again this time next
year. Group said the fes
tival nearly broke even.
“I think we’re going to
try and do it again,”
Group said. “If we had
been able to stay open
later, we would have
made a lot of money.”
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finishing touches to his graffiti art
on a warehouse wall at the Street
Bash in the Dog Days of
Summer on Saturday
afternoon. Left:
Chris Smith
k. _ _ _ .
A ‘Gran’ old time
PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK
Singer Chris Ford pauses during Gran Torino’s performance
Thursday night on Davis Field, in front of Thomas Cooper
Library. The show was part of USC’s Welcome Week.
‘Road Rules’ revisits campus
BY BROOK BRISTOW
THE GAMECOCK
A capacity crowd of 450 peo
ple welcomed back Road Rules
XI cast members Shane and
Sarah
Thursday
night at the
Russell House
Ballroom.
Some audi
ence mem
bers had wait
ed for hours
outside the
doors to get
close to the
stage. As the
doors opened
at 7:46 p.m.,
there was a
mad dash for
the front row.
Shane Rachel
Keisler, a
third-year marketing student,
said she was there because
“Shane and Sarah are kind of fa
mous people.... I wanted to see
what they were actually like.”
Second-year political science
student Patrick Norton said he
came to the show because “it’s a
great program. I am really glad
to see them back here at USC in
teracting with students again.”
Shane and Sarah were mak
ing their first return to
Columbia since last spring,
when “Road Rules XI: Campus
Crawl” came to Columbia.
Before Thursday night’s show
began, the “Road Rules” episode
filmed at USC was aired.
The cast’s mission for the
episode was to parallel the
“freshman 15,” and, as a group,
put on 15 pounds by going to
Bates House and asking stu
dents for food.
Before hitting the stage in
front of a mass of screaming
fans, Shane said he “was very
excited and very nervous at the
same time.”
Sarah peeked at the crowd
from backstage.
“Wow. I’m really getting ex
cited,” she said. “Look at all
these people. It’s like, I wonder
who we’re going to see, and then
I think about it, and, oh yeah,
it’s us. That is so strange.”
This appearance marked
both Shane’s and Sarah’s first
lecture show. They told the au
dience how they were selected
to be on “Road Rules,” then
opened the floor for questions.
Later, they did a meet-and
greet outside on the Russell
House second-floor lobby.
Event chairman Scott Sowell
said, “I think them talking
about their experiences here,
about them stepping out of their
comfort zone, is a great message
for freshmen during Welcome
Week.”
Carolina Productions spon
sored the event, as well as some
of the other Welcome Week
events.
“The Welcome Week atten
dance has been great. All the
events have gone perfectly. As
CP, we’re excited to provide
freshmen great events like
this,” CP President David
Schroeder said.
CP also put on the double
header of magician Mike Super
and the perennially popular
hypnotist Michael Anthony
Tuesday night, as well as
Thursday night’s Gran Torino
concert on Davis Field.
Other upcoming Carolina
Productions events are a 9/11
forum on Sept. 3, called
“Looking Back and Moving
Forward.” The forum will be a
discussion of Sept. 11 and how
it has affected minorities.
Also on the bill are
Homecoming Week events,
which will be Sept. 30 through
Oct. 5, the day of the
Homecoming game against
Mississippi State.
_
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I CD REVIEW
On so-so
album,
Kids are
just OK
I
HURRY UP AND WAIT
Riddlin’ Kids
★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
TI1K (iAMKCOGK
Blink-TX? Fenix-182? Blah,
they all seem to sound the same.
Pop-punk, perhaps the most an
noying phenomenon to hit the
. airwaves (next to rap-metal), is
still going strong in the main
stream. Constantly seeing New
Found Glory’s mugs on MTV2,
however, isn’t enough; we hav.e
to have more clones thrown at us.
And now there are the Riddlin’
Kids. It should be noted that they
aren’t terrible. The songs on then
debut album, “Hurry Up and
Wait,” are decent, and the band
gives a solid musical performance.
The problem is, after listening
to the album three times, it is
hard to distinguish one song
from another. And if you played
the album and told someone it
was Midtown or Fenix-TX, they
probably would believe you.
The album artwork consists of
cartoon drawings ot the band,
most of them surrounded by car
icatures of well-endowed (to put it
mildly) schoolgirls and nurses.
The liner notes look like a com
ic-strip version of Blink-182’s
“Enema of the State.”
On the cover, some poor sap is
getting kicked you-know-where
by one of the schoolgirls. Brace
yourself — it doesn’t get much
smarter from the Riddlin’ Kids.
Then there are the lyrics.
Generally, vocalist Clint Baker
strings together trite phrases
about love and breakups and lu
dicrous images of psycho girl
friends. “Never thought I’d ever
see you smile/after your head
spun around/and you spit all that
green stuff out on me,” Baker
sings in “Here We Go Again.”
On “I Feel Fine,” he sings,
“Right now I don’t know what to
say/because you’re mean and I
never liked you anyway.” That
must really sting if you’re one of
his ex-girlfriends.
Perhaps Baker is trying to elic
it a laugh, but his tongue is just
too far out of his cheek. Riddlin’
Kids don’t match the toilet hu
mor of Blink-182 or Guttermouth,
but they do incorporate several
slurs for rude, inconsiderate
women — and men, too.
Producer Paul Ebersold,
chiefly known for his work with 3
Doors Down, was chosen to pro
duce the album. Punk rock seems
to lose some of its intensity when
overproduced, and especially
when it is overproduced by some
one who churns out radio-safe
modern rock bands.
With the last track, it looks like
the listener is in for a treat: a cov
er of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the
World as We Know It.” It could
have been beautiful; the original
had an upbeat, punky feel to it,
and the Kids could have delivered
an updated version on steroids.
Instead, the half-hearted vocal
delivery spoils it. Baker plods
along lazily, and takes way more
Dreams during tne rapid-lire
verses than Michael Stipe could
shake a stick at.
Still, the Riddlin’ Kids haven’t
released a bad album; it’s simply
average. Maybe we can hope for
better things from these guys in
the future. After all, on “Follow
Through,” Baker tells us, “I know
that you’ve heard it all
before/but this time I’ve got
something to prove.”
Well, there is always next
time.
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