`Speed Racer’ Rides Again
Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer. The cartoon hero’s heading for the finish line again, only this time around, Chicago’s Alpha Team is driving him past the checkered flag.
Year: 1992
Celestial – In Concert, Arc Angels Earn Their Wings
Call them a supergroup, and the Arc Angels will shrug off the compliment. “Maybe we’re an almost supergroup,” says vocalist-guitarist Charlie Sexton. “We’re not there yet.”
A Webb of Talent: Wilder Weaves
Webb Wilder, 6 feet 3 inches tall, has a wardrobe so unusual that even director Peter Bogdanovich was impressed. But more on that later.
`Cannibal’ Show Revels In Warped Wackiness
A man has sex with a hamburger. A drug addict accidentally snorts a line of cremated body. A woman makes love to office equipment. A man gets nuked in a microwave. Welcome to “Cannibal Cheerleaders on Crack,” where blood flies and vomit flows – theater’s own little freak show. Regardless of taste, Chicagoans are eating “Cannibals” up. The grossly wacky socio-political comedy celebrates its second anniversary Sunday at the Torso Theatre. (It debuted Nov. 14, 1990.) The plot is less important than the farcical mayhem.
Social Misfits No More
He’s got a name that sounds like Elliott Ness’ punk cousin and a look that’s half Elvis, half mechanic. Mike Ness is Social Distortion’s singer, songwriter and mouthpiece. The music industry’s indifference almost made the medium-core punk band disappear. But 13 years after its inception, the California group is finally enjoying success, thanks to radio’s acceptance of its latest album, “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell.”
By Any Other Name: John Wesley Harding Would Be As Talented
He took his stage name from a Bob Dylan album almost as old as he is and nicks his album titles from Frank Capra movies. So where’s John Wesley Harding’s originality? In his music. An acerbically witty songwriter who sings folk-style rock songs, Harding is touring with a group of musicians who he refuses to Christian with a band name. Catch him and them when they perform tomorrow at the Metro.
No More Starving Artist // McDermott Gets Past the `Horror’ Of Living Poor
As Michael McDermott sips a cold mug of beer at Harrington’s Pub, a wide smiles spreads across his face. McDermott used to play acoustic guitar here not too long ago, and he feels a tad weird today lounging like the customer he is.
“The Last of the Mohicans”
The Last of the Mohicans is as much a love story as it is a tale of how the West was won — by some people, that is, the poor Mohicans not being among them. Set in 1757, during the American colonial wars between the English and French settlers of North America, the movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, a frontiersman who agrees to escort Clara (Madeleine Stowe) and her sister to the fort where their British-officer father awaits them.
Mix-A-Lot Baffled: Why Are Butts a Big Deal?
Butts are big. When the No. 1-selling pop single in America features a rapper rhapsodizing about rumps, the rest of the world sits up and takes notice. Many people take offense. That’s the case with Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” But even he doesn’t understand the controversy.
ROCK: Issue stakes claim to top
A huge stars-and-stripes banner emblazoned with the Arabic numeral “1” and “Material Issue” served as a not-so-subtle backdrop for the Chicago trio when it kicked off a national tour over the weekend with concerts at the Oak Theatre.
James (Rolling Stone review)
The British rock group James understands that simplicity can be an elegantly powerful tool in concert. On its first tour of the United States, the seven-man band played an exquisitely stripped-down show in Chicago, proving that while the hype machine may be turned on full gear, the group is more than capable of living up to any hyperbole thrust upon it.
Unplugged and unburdened
“When my first record bombed, I chose not to look at anything,” says Tori Amos. “I thought I was making a statement having 12-feet-high hair. I didn’t look beyond the outside and had a hard time looking in.”
Axl Rose a fugitive after show canceled
Rowdy heavy metal rocker Axl Rose cancelled a concert at the Rosemont Horizon and skipped town to escape the long arms of persecuting prosecutors, a representative for the singer says. Leaving thousands of fans waiting outside the Rosemont Horizon, Rose’s band, Guns N’ Roses, canceled a Friday night show half an hour before doors were to open so that Rose could avoid being served with misdemeanor arrest warrants for his alleged role in a Missouri riot last year.
Notorious Guns N’ Roses never claimed to be angels
In the four years it took to go from being an anonymous L.A. club band to America’s reigning hard rock kings, members of Guns N’ Roses have created more controversy and publicity by being themselves than most musicians could conjure with an army of PR flacks thinking things up.
In concert, Bloom is in blossom
There is such strength and purity to Luka Bloom’s music that a band could only diminish the conviction of his songs. Standing alone on a barren stage at the Park West Friday night with just his electro-acoustic guitar for accompaniment, Bloom gave a sly but powerful performance that ended all too soon.
Irishman does a mean folk-rap
“Yeah, I guess my next step is making a disgusting sexist video for MTV,” Luka Bloom said, laughing. “But my treatment would have to be very different. For an Irish rap song, we’d have to get green babes. No, I go for the pretty soft videos, which I hope aren’t too schmaltzy. But as long as it doesn’t get mistaken for one of Michael Bolton’s, I’m fine.”
Witty `Elvis’ touches the soul, baby
It’s Christmas Eve and Trudy Davis is alone. Not a big surprise, considering she’s a xenophobic bulimic who views food as “unmasticated vomit,” duct tapes her microwave shut and stocks her fridge only with Evian water. Trudy is a woman who needs a little fun in her life, and when she puts Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” on her stereo, the King’s apparition answers her self-pitying call.
Matthew Sweet’s songs skillfully blend hot and sour
There is a heartache in Matthew Sweet’s voice that pegs him as a romantic who knows both the euphoria of being in love and the pain of breaking up. On his first Chicago gig as a headliner, Sweet performed a tantalizing midnight show Saturday at the Cabaret Metro where he and his tight backup band channeled his wisely ambiguous lyrics with playful abandon, letting the audience know that though he may have been beaten up emotionally, he’s not a whiner.
James
It is a rare band that can make the kind of musical impact the British band James did Friday night at the Cabaret Metro. Starting off a little shaky, the seven-man group eased its way into a spectacular 90-minute concert that made it clear why the buzz is so strong about this unpretentious band. The buzz has been a long time in the making, at least over here.
Are you ready to mock? – Wonder Stuff vocalist slams the big stars
Miles Hunt ticks off a lot of people. He thinks the majority of record buyers are lazy, that Elvis is little more than a joke and that the media play right into the hands of bands that have next to nothing to offer artistically. There are a lot of people who think Hunt is full of it, including Hunt himself, but the British vocalist for the Wonder Stuff doesn’t care. He’s just got to be him.