The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 03, 2003, Page 5, Image 5
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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, February 3, 2003 5
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CONTACT US HFi MTY
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I I I i I W I I / % be young once. But you can
E-mailusatgamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com —■ ■ ■—^ " —* ® " always be immature.”
>av PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK
Second-place finisher Tigerbot Hesh performs its 15-minute set during the Bring Your Own Band competition.
Roni Zagoria
beats out the
competition for
gig at 3 Rivers
BY ASHLEY VAUGHAN
THE GAMECOCK
Seven acts and 15 minutes
each to play for seven judges.
Carolina Productions’ Bring
Your Own Band brought these sev
en local acts to the Russell House
Ballroom on Thursday night, and
the judges evaluated the perform
.Ve 'rs’ originality and stage presence,
as well as the crowd’s reaction.
“We had about 40 bands submit
music back in November, and my
staff selected these seven in a meet
ing. We judged them on originality
and overall sound,” said Josh
Terry, chairman of Carolina
Production’s Concert Commission.
The tolumbia-based Conner
Brothers kicked off the event with
some good-old Southern-style rock.
Next, backed by a keyboardist
and a bongo player, the rhythmic
hip-hop duo IX Two provided a
change of pace with their power
ful, message-packed music.
Brett Treacy, a first-year USC
student, played next. He had the
, - audience’s support, but Treacy’s
iiddie Vedder-esque sound seemed
out of place.
Columbia rock trio Tigerbot
Hesh was the next act to take the
stage. Despite a few minor difficul
ties, the band delivered a solid per
formance and took second place.
The crowd really took to the band’s
songs about girls and breakups. In
fact, they received an ovation.
Hip-hop artist Dan Johns fol
lowed, backed by DJ J Ruff. His
flowing rhymes, commanding stage
presence, and slick freestyle ability
earned him third place.
Greenville’s the Lackies gave a
solid performance. The band’s
have time to do all this,” she said.
With her confessional lyrics,
bluesy voice and distinctive
sound, Zagoria is a rising star.
Zagoria, an anthropology student,
was not even going to enter the
contest until her friend Megan
Treacy, a WUSC DJ, offered to
submit her CD for her.
Zagoria didn’t start performing
until this past summer, and she
says she suffers from stage fright.
During Thursday’s performance,
however, she didn’t seem nervous
♦ B.Y.O.B., SEE PAGE 5
OUUUiCill
roots
2SS. Who Wbn What
especially FIRST PLACE - A gig at 3 Rivers Music
in “Straw- Festival, 10 hours of free studio time at
berry Pie,” Modem Music Studios, a $100 gift
which con- certificate to Pecknel Music and a
tained a $400 box of equipment went to Roni
tinge of Zagoria.
country SECOND PLACE - 10 hours of free
twang. studio time at Gothic Recording and a
The last $400 box of equipment went to
to per- Tigerbot Hesh. For more information on
form, pi- the band, visitwww.tigerbothesh.com.
anistRoni THIRD PLACE - 10 hours of free
Zagoria, studio time at GAM Recording Studio
distin- and Production Co. went to Dan Johns,
guished His CD, “The Book of Daniel,” is
herself available in stores statewide,
from the
competi
tion as the first place winner. She
will have the opportunity to reach
a bigger audience at the 3 Rivers
Music Festival this spring.
“I can’t even believe that that’s
part of the prize,” Zagoria said. “I
can’t even fathom that.”
Zagoria also won 10 hours of stu
dio time at Modem Music Studios.
“I’m going to be getting in the
studio and pumping out an album
soon. That’s why I’m taking a
whole semester off — so that I’ll
Ronl
Zagorla
won the
Bring Your
Own Band
contest,
held In the
Russell
House
Ballroom
on
Thursday
night. Forty
bands
submitted
their
music, and
Carolina
Productions
chose
seven to
compete.
PHOTO BY
MORGAN
FORO/THE
GAMECOCK
SHOW REVIEW
Love Apple’s live show as good as album
LOVE APPLE
Lettuce Lounge
*★★★ out of iifririrh
4o)Y ELEANOR SIBAL
THE (JAMECOCK
Love Apple’s performance
Saturday night at the Lettuce
Lounge was a fast-paced, high-en
ergy display of emotion, talent,
and focus that concertgoers
shouldn’t have missed. So it
would be a good idea not to miss
them in April, when they play
their last show in Columbia this
semester.
Around 10:30, Love Apple
opened their show to an ample
audience that grew gradually
throughout the night. The fervor
and enthusiasm for the band’s
music was infectious and im
pressive to experience. Love
Apple truly loves to perform.
In the intimate, cozy sur
roundings of the Lettuce Lounge,
f *e band played as if thousands
♦/ere watching. From the sweet
songs to the upbeat tunes, the
group displayed an exciting com
mand of its music.
Jason Sposa, lead singer and
guitarist, unleashed his unwa
vering voice with real delight —
especially during wails. It was
especially fine to see his fre
quently closed eyes during the
sweeter songs. It never detract
ed from audience connection,
but instead was more effective
for its emotional element
Guitarist George Cooper and for
mer Beatholes
member Garrett
Suggs — now
drumming for
Love Apple —
also provided
good back
ground vocals.
Love Apple
has a reputation
for playing well
live. The evi
dence was cer
tainly clear dur
ing Saturday’s
performance.
The music and
execution of the
lyrics were
faithful to the
songs on the
band’s latest al
bum. And the
npw drnmmpr
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Love Apple — from left, Jebb Graff, George Cooper, Jason Sposa and Garrett
Suggs — played a high-energy show at the Lettuce Lounge on Saturday night.
Suggs, meshed completely within
the group. Guitars, bass and drums
all had polished sounds with no
noticeable alteration from the
band’s recorded work. In fact, it
would be safe to say Love Apple’s
songs are as good live as they are
on the band’s albums.
The individual personalities
of the band were entertaining,
too. Sposa is an energetic and en
joyable performer; Cooper and
Suggs were readily immersed in
their instruments; and Jebb
Graff, bassist, was laid-back.
The opening acts were the
Starchildren and Feable Weiner.
The Starchildren is incidentally
a one-man band of Love Apple
drummer Suggs. With a constant
drumbeat in the background, he
sang simple lyrics and played
keyboards and a guitar. The solo
effort was engaging and indica
tive of his talent.
Feable Weiner, from
Mufreesboro, Tenn., was just as
enjoyable as The Starchildren,
but had a very different sound.
Feable Weiner complemented
Love Apple well with a punk,
geek-rock sound. Clad in match
ing button-up shirts, complete
with “FW’’ on the side, the band
rocked the little Lettuce Lounge
with its upbeat and deafening
songs. Feable Weiner is current
ly on its Chux ’n’ Tux Tour 2003
— named in recognition of the
band’s preferred outfit. Chuck
Taylors and tuxedo shirts.
Love Apple will not be playing
in Columbia anytime soon, but
on Feb. 24, Sposa will be doing
acoustic work with his side pro
ject, the Buddy System, at the
New Brookland Tavern. He will
be performing old and new songs,
some altered, and covers.
The show is part of the
Carolina Homegrown Series,
which on that night will also fea
ture Hot Lava Monster and Dan
Johns.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
REVIEWS
Lackies offerfresh
take on geek rock
“ITCH"
The Lackies
★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY MEG MOORE
THE GAMECOCK *
“Itch,” the latest release
from Greenville’s the Lackies,
merges musical tradition with
innovation, offering a sound
scape of punchy bass and au
ral experimentation.
The album’s first few tracks
are decidedly garage rock, but
“Itch” uses an assortment of
influences: rhythm and blues,
jazz, and classic rock.
Although the Lackies delve
into all these genres, they cap
ture the various styles with a
uniformly sunny vibe that
would perfectly underscore a
July day at the beach.
Throughout the album, the
vocals remain sonically de
tached and evoke a dreamy, un
emotional quality that causes
the music to remain refresh
ingly noninvasive. Although
the songs express themes of
heartbreak and change, the al
bum remains generally bright
sounding; it is easy on the ears
as well as the soul.
The songs on “Itch” not only
reference several different
styles — from the summery
pop of “Strawberry Pie” to the
barroom jazz of “You’re Not
Alone” — but they rattle with
gritty effects and snippets of
spoken word. Such experi
mentation affords The Lackies
a fresh sound; the songs exude
a subdued sort of cool that aug
ments the rock solidarity of the
music.
Certain tracks on “Itch”
would seem stylistically out of
place if not for the easy ambi
ence threaded through the en
tire CD. “Spit it Out,” for in
stance, is decidedly darker
than muqb of the album, yet it
maintains the same garage
rock cploring that shades the
rest of the songs.
Overall, The Lackies’ latest
album is certainly worth a lis
ten. “Itch” infuses the classic
sounds of eras past with a
healthy dose of innovative ef
fects, and the album offers a
fresh take on geek-rock malaise.
While it does not venture
into completely uncharted mu
sical territory, “Itch” main
tains an inventive enough edge
to sound simultaneously hip
and traditionally grounded.
Comments on this story?
E-mail gamecockmixeditor@
hotmail.com
Updike drowns
readers in detail
“SEEK MY FACE"
John Updike
★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY BRIAN RAY
THE GAMECOCK
John Updike has pored
through two giant volumes of
modern art and produced a
novel, thick and rich. Updike
studied art history at Oxford,
so it’s no surprise he would
dedicate his 20th novel to
Jackson Pollock’s splattered
canvases, Jasper Johns’
stacked flags, and Andy
Warhol’s celebrity portraits.
The story concerns a jour
nalist’s tape-recorded inter
view with the aging Hope
Chafetz, artist and wife of
renowned artists Zack McCoy
and, in later years, Guy
Holloway.
Their daylong conversation
barely touches on Hope’s art
work, but probes her relation
ships with artist after famous
artist — particularly her two
temperamental, genius late
husbands. McCoy’s character
is modeled after the American
artist Jackson Pollock, while
Holloway’s character seems a
composite of Andy Warhol and
Jasper Johns. Hope’s trials and
tribulations closely resemble
those of Pollock’s wife Lee
Krasner — also a well-known
abstract painter.
Kathryn’s conversation
with Hope begins with a short
discussion of the surrealist
painters. After portraying Dali
as nothing more than a circus
act, Hope’s chunks of dialogue
plunge into the depths of her
first marriage with McCoy.
Hope explains her early girl
hood crush on McCoy and its
transformation into a mar
riage infested with alcoholism
and abuse.
After denigrating McCoy’s
artwork and then telling
Kathryn about his pseudo-sui
cidal car crash, Hope narrates
the tale of her provocative mar
riage to Holloway — who is
partially based on Warhol,
known for his art, pornography
and wild drug-and-sex parties.
The two women talk a lot
about life, art, and how a wom
an subjugates herself to one fa
mous painter and then another,
sweeping her own artistic aspi
rations under the rug. Despite
the lack of a plot, Updike man
ages to cover a wealth of
themes, including, but not lim
ited to, self-discovery, memory
and artistic integrity.
Ultimately, Chafetz refutes
the artist’s pursuit of immor
tality in favor of enjoying the
simple pleasures. Her third
husband is an art collector who
enjoys living.
Updike’s reputation as
America’s most distinguished
writer hasn’t faltered since
“Rabbit, Run” opened the na
tion’s eyes in 1960. Since that
literary rocket launch, Updike
has dazzled critics and readers
alike with more than 50 books.
His ripe style alienates the
commoners, however.
Updike’s writing is rewarding
if you have the patience to
wade through two-page sen
tences, but it’s not something
to read in a crowded coffee
house.
Updike s prose is vaguely
reminiscent of Pollock’s paint
splattering—messy but full of
texture. The weakness in this
is that readers get so caught up
in deciphering they might miss
what’s going on.
The intense language runs
the risk of smothering the
characters, and it drowns the
reader in an endless parade of
details. There’s no plot and
thus no twists. The novel takes
place in a single day, yet it
bends space and time as to en
compass half a century.
To pfit it another way: If you
want simple entertainment,
but not enlightenment, look up
Jackson Pollock on the inter
net and save $20 and 20 hours.
The depth of knowledge pre
sented in this novel will capti
vate and satisfy those who en
joy high fiction or art.
Sentences are waiting on every
page to take your breath away.
Updike has accomplished a
great feat in exploring art
through literature. He weds
these two forms of expression
in a way that entertains and in
forms the reader. But you’ll
need a clean, empty, well-lit
reading place if you don’t want
to get lost and frustrated.
Comments on this story?
E-mail gamecockmixeditor@
hotmail.com