The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 15, 2002, Page 5, Image 5
5 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, November 15, 2002
CONTACT US THEY SAID IT
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Story ideas? Questions? Comments? ^invented to make children happy by
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com ” giving them something to ignore.”
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is bringing
music to life
BY ERIN CLINE
THE GAMECOCK
Whoever said music is the lan
guage of the soul wasn’t kidding.
Just ask third-year public rela
tions student Allison Skipper,
choreographer of USC’s show
choir, Carolina Alive.
On the group’s past trip to Cuba
for a music festival, Skipper saw
how music broke language and po
litical barriers in the country.
“Even if we are performing for
different people in different coun
tries, music can always be a com
mon thread,” Skipper said.
Carolina Alive will perform its
fall consert Sunday at the USC
School of Music building. The
group is composed of about 40 stu
dents who perform a variety of
songs: Pop, gospel, jazz, show
tunes and even Beatles music can
be heard at its concerts.
Carolina Alive, however, sepa
rates itself from other choirs on
campus because it incorporates
singing and dancing, Skipper said.
“You can always go see a dance
company or a concert choir. We
are unique because We give you
both,” she said.
Carolina Alive President and
fifth-year music student Kia
Faison finds the stage irresistible.
“The best part of being in the
choir is when we are on stage and
the audience is clapping and is ex
cited,” Faison said. “Afterwards,
it’s so nice when someone comes
up and says that they enjoyed it.
The people’s responses are the
hest thine.”
Skipper said traveling is an
other valuable part of being in
volved with the group. The trip to
Cuba two summers ago for an in
ternational music festival was
many members’ favorite trip.
Faison said it included the most
exciting performances of her life.
“When it was time for the finale
of the festival, people were wait
ing on us to perform. We felt like
superstars there," she said.
Third-year music student
Jason Flores, the group’s treasur
er, also said Cuba was the best trip
of his life.
“The people were so accepting
despite the trade embargo be
tween Cuba and America. When
it came to music, it all came to
gether,” he said.
._tm....li __
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
USC’s show choir, under the direction of A.G. “Chip” Williams, will perform its fall concert
Sunday at 4 p.m. at the School of Music. The group is composed of about 40 students who will
perform show tunes and pop, gospel and jazz songs.
The group has also performed on
a cruise line and plans to travel to
New York this spring and possibly
perform on “The Late Show with
David Letteiman.”
Carolina Alive not only pro
vides students
with an outlet
for singing and
dancing, but it
also provides a
home away
from home for
the members.
Flores said it
helped him
JLA IV/llCtO uu
a freshman, created a family en
vironment and gave him a sense
of belonging.
Faison has similar sentiments;
she said Carolina Alive helped her
break out of her shell.
“Being in Carolina Alive has
given me a lot of opportunities, but
the group is also just a big fami
ly,” she said. “It’s a great way to
get to know people,” she said.
First-year international busi
ness student Stephanie Alger said
the group helped her make the
transition to college.
“I am from New York, so I don’t
have any family here, but these
guys are my family,” Alger said.
“We work really hard, but it is fun
most of the time.”
Carolina Alive recently got a
new director, A.G. “Chip”
Williams, a fac
ulty member at
USC and the
Choral Depart
ment’s accompa
nist.
“I am so
proud of this
group. I think
they have the po
i-nniinl kn aha
of the best in the country,” he said.
Williams said Carolina Alive is
an important force at USC.
“They represent USC in the
city, the state and the nation,” he
said. “They represent the univer
sity well, musically and profes
sionally. They are the ambas
sadors for the school, and they at
tract people to USC. They really
give USC a good name.”
Some students see Williams as
a father figure.
“Our director is amazing. He’s
like a dad to us,” Alger said.
Williams said: “I want to take
“You can always go see
a dance company or
concert choir. We are
unique because we give
you both.”
ALLISON SKIPPER
CAROLINA ALIVE CHOREOGRAPHER
care of them all because they are
all important to me. I appreciate
their hard work and would do any
thing to help them out, in the
group or personally.”
While members admit it has
been a major transition year with
the new director, Faison said the
group remains solid and true to its
mission.
With try-outs at the beginning
of next month, Skipper encourages
those interested in singing, danc
ing and performing to audition.
“We want the most talent the
university has to offer. I know a
lot of people would be great in the
group and just don’t know about
it,” Skipper said.
Carolina Alive’s fall show will
be at 4 p.m. in the School of Music
recital hall. The show is free.
Williams said he thinks the
group will prove its abilities with
the show.
“We want to show the School of
Music how talented this group is,
and I think this concert will prove
it,” he said.
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DVD REVIEW
‘Star Wars’DVD set is action-packedfun
“STAR WARS EPISODE II:
ATTACK OF THE CLONES"
Starring Ewan McGregor,
Natalie Portman and Hayden
Christensen
out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY SHAWN ROURK
THE GAMECOCK
The “Star Wars Episode II:
Attack of the Clones” DVD from
Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the most
action packed DVDs this
Christmas season, and makes oth
er DVDs look like bantha fodder
on the shelf.
The two-disc release features
the original 142-minute feature on
one disc and another disc with
more than six hours of bonus
footage on the making about the
movie.
The complete feature is being
hyped as digitally mastered for
improved picture and sound qual
ity, but it makes no major differ
ence in the visuals. Maybe it will
show better on high-definition
televisions; however, the clarity
lean be attributed to Jhe DVD for
matting.
On the other hand, THX did an
excellent job mastering the
sound for the movie. Anyone
with even a small stereo that has
surround-sound capabilities can
hear the difference during the
fight scenes and explosions.
Crank up the bass loud enough,
and viewers will swear they are
in the theater.
A good portion of the special
features focus on the special ef
fects and digital animation that
went into the making of the film.
One of the documentaries follows
the Lucasfilm team and the
Industrial Light and Magic digi
tal-animation team as they cre
ate fully digital aliens that can
walk, talk and interact with the
other characters on the screen. It
also follows the process of creat
ing all the digital backgrounds
and settings for the movie and
concludes with the final chal
lenge of Yoda and Dooku’s saber
JLlglll.
The second disc also features
the eight deleted scenes complete
with director, producer and edi
tor comments to introduce each
scene. Frankly, when you finish
the almost 30-minute trek
through the scenes, you want to
pat George Lucas on the back and
say, “Thanks, George, for not
putting those unnecessary scenes
in the movie and making it any
longer to have to sit through
without going to the bathroom.”
Fortunately, there is a pause but
ton on a DVD-player remote.
Other extras feature Lucas and
other members of Lucasfilm as
they give their spins on the action
sequences and love story through
out the second installment of the
preqiiel trilogy. Each featurette is
about 30 to 40 minutes and goes
into great detail about the making
of the movie. The only problem
with the longer docu
mentaries is that, in
some parts, they use
the same clips from
cast and director
interviews,
which can
make some of
them redun
dant.
The
second
disc fea
tures the
“Across the \ X
Stars” music
video, which 4
shows cuts from **4
John Williams’ *
performance in
the studio and ^B
clips from the
movie. It also fea- JM
tures theatrical w
trailers, teasers 1|MB^B
and television fl
spots.
Finally, for those who H
enjoy the lighter side of
the Star Wars universe, H
Lucas has put in a mock H
documentary on R2-D2
that is quite funny.
Although the 10
minute clip is only a
preview from
www.starwars.com
for the full-length fea
ture, it still makes
for some good laughs
<xz> 11 anuwa a
film career in a sort
of “E! True
Hollywood Story.”
For tijose who are
looking for bundles
of fun and extra information about
the world of Star Wars this
Christmas season, this DVD will
surely quench their thirst.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
One of the major features in the two-disc
set is a documentary about how Lucasfilm
made a completely digital Yoda.
WUSC to hold
’80s Weekend
BY WILLIAM MILLS
THE (JAMECOCK
Once again, WUSC-FM is
putting the university in a time
warp and sending us back to the
’80s.
Friday, WUSC will kick-off its
annual ’80s Weekend fund-raiser
with two shows. First, Friday af
ternoon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
the Working Title, Owen
Beverly and David Adedokun
will put ofi a show on Greene
_ Street in front of the Russell
House. Later that night, the ’80s
Weekend will step into full gear
at New Brookland Tavern with
perfor
mances by
Confederate
Fagg and
Sammy and
the South
Holes.
The sta
tion will play
iuc gicaicoi
hits of the ’80s from noon Friday
to midnight Sunday. The station.
will withdraw its non-top-40 mu
sic policy for the weekend. For a
minimum $5 donation, callers
can request their favorite ’80s
songs and even make a dedica
tion. The listener who donates
the most money during each
show will win a prize donated by
numerous sponsors throughout
Columbia, like a new bike from
Outspokin’, concert tickets,
movie passes, pizzas, body pierc
ing, and CD prize packs.
The donations that are made
in exchange for your favorite
’80s songs go straight into keep
ing WUSC alive and kicking.
“Fund-raisers are the main
way we stay afloat, so this is im
portant to us,” said second-year
music student Alana Robles, the
public affairs director for
WUSC.
WUSC has gone to the trouble
of importing two quickly rising
Charleston acts, Owen Beverly
and the Working Title. Owen
Beverly is a singer/songwriter
who sounds a little like Jeff
Buckley, according to Robles.
The Working Title is another
Charleston rock outfit that is
quickly gaining favor locally,
mainly because its sound ap
peals to a large audience.
“It’s basically a combination
of five different people’s musical
tastes. When you put that in a
blender, it comes out to be our
brand of rock ’n’ roll,” said
Adam Pavao, guitarist for the
Working Title.
These Charleston rockers
have recently entered the studio
to record songs for a new release
that is rumored to be out by
March 2003. The new recordings
are being
looked at by
some major
record labels
that would pre
fer to remain
nameless,
Pavao said.
New
n_l.l_l
• ui v/umcuiu
Tavern will play host to a night
of ’80s gay metal with
Confederate Fagg and Sammy
and the Southholes.
“We are kind of like an ’80s
hair metal band without the
hair,” said Jay Matheson, lead
singer for Confederate Fagg.
The concert will be full of cos
tumes, contests, cover songs and
chaos. In the midst of the ’80s
metal cover songs, the band and
DJs from WUSC will give out
prizes for various contests. Also,
Confederate Fagg will be shoot
a video produced by Carolina
students during the show. The
real trick will be trying to stay
clean for the video. The
Confederate boys are planning
some messy antics and fun, de
structive metal.
"They will probably have to
close the place down for a cou
ple of days, it’ll be so messy
when we finish,” Mathison
said.
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“Fund-raisers are the
main way to stay afloat,
so this is important to
us.”
ALANA ROBLES
WUSC PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR
Jam-rock dynamos
to play Senate Park
BY DENNIS MING NICHOLS
THE QAMECOCK
Americana powerhouse Cast'
Iron Filter will bring its vigor
ous performance to Senate Park
tonight at 8.
Its music is eclectic; the band
borrows from grass-roots folk
and bluegrass, Southern rock,
and jam rock and wraps it all in a
package of pop sensibility and ex
pert skill. It sounds something
like String Cheese Incident meets
Counting Crows meets Allman
Brothers, but brings an unex
plainable uniqueness to the stage.
Cast Iron’s mandolin player,
Mike Orlando, describes the
band’s stage show as “just plain
fun,” and anyone who has heard
its latest album, “Live from the
Highway,” would agree.
“Highway” is a live performance
recorded in August in Georgia.
It consists of 10 live songs, as
well as one new studio track,
“T nuioirillo TTY ”
“ ‘Live from the Highway’ cap
tures our live sound, which is
both unique and high in ener
gy,” Orlando said. The ensemble
consists of Orlando, Tim
Helfrich on drums and percus
sion, Dustin Edge singing and
playing acoustic guitar, and
Mason Bisset on bass guitar.
Each member brings a differ
ent element to the group’s sound.
Orlando takes cues from Warren
Haynes and Eric Clapton and ap
plies them to the mandolin.
Helfrich’s drum patterns and
fills are subtle but perfect. Bisset
often introduces a jazz or funk
flavor to songs. And Edge’s vo
cals are clear, charming and un
deniably Southern.
Cast Iron produces lyrics com
mon to folk music. “Rick Dunbar”
traces the story of a small-town
drag race, and “27 Dollars and a
Wedding Ring” is abcut a couple
escaping to Mexico. The new al
bum also includes an instrumen
tal piece that features each mem
ber’s technical abilities. All four
are graduates of Davidson College
and have made a name for them
selves on the North Carolina col
lege circuit. They are touring the
Southeast to promote the new al
bum.
“What you will realize about
Cast Iron Filter is that not only
are we four guys that shared a
common interest in music, but
we are also just damn good
friends,” Orlando said.
The band has not signed with
any record label, and that is the
way it wants to stay for now. It
has turned down many offers
from recording labels and decid
ed to harvest a grassroots follow
ing instead. Cast Iron Filter’s past
two albums were self-funded and
produced by Mark Williams (of
Hootie and the Blowfish and
Southern Culture on the Skids).
Furthering its attempt to as
semble a grassroots following.
Cast Iron Filter is campaigning
on its Web site to perform at the
2003 Bonnaroo Music Festival, a
massive three-day summer con
cert in Manchester, Tenn., that
features Americana and jam
bands. This summer, featured
artists included Bela Fleck, Les
Claypool, Acoustic Syndicate
and Widespread Panic.
Cast Iron Filter is literally a
band on the run. It is diligently
perfecting its sound, promoting
its music and touring the small
club scene. These 20-somethings
create a high-power performance
and a clean, refreshing sound that
pumps you up but doesn’t leave
you drained, and the technical
skill evident in Bisset’s bass and
Orlando’s mandolin is impres
sive. Cast Iron Filter will open for
Acoustic Syndicate.
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