Stanford Daily, October 2, 1984

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Bay Area a powerful music magnet


John Phillips

San Francisco, in addition to breeding diverse and successful acts — such as The Tubes, The Grateful Dead, Huey Lewis & the News, The Uptones, The Mutants, Translator, The DK's and Romeo Void — is a very powerful music magnet. Every rock act that rises to the top of the movements in other musical meccas flocks regularly to The City. Fret no more, natives of Montana, Iowa, West Virginia and my own Florida; live music does not consist entirely of bad local bands playing bad covers of bad famous bands in bad bars. Don't worry ye paranoid musical impresarios from Los Angeles or New York or Chicago or Minneapolis or Austin; the diversity and range of talent available in your own hometowns isn't unavailable in the Bay Area.

Case in point. In early September, I had the opportunity to see Echo and the Bunnymen, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. In only a handful of locations is such a medley of popular music virtuosity as close as the box office in the span of a week.

Despite the timidity of their name, Echo and the Bunnymen play the most powerful music that I have ever heard. Their style is rooted in sixties psychedelia and representative of the best of the '80s "cold wave." Along with Julian Cope and the late Ian Curtiss, Echo's quirky Ian McCulloch is acknowledged as a dominant force in this brooding and introspective musical world. Granted, his ego is a relatively unbearable combination of poeticism and pomposity. Moreover, the inaccessibility of their records, due partly to the absence of an easy to sing melody in much of their work, also serves to drive away the listeners. But what a show.

Despite a cold, McCulloch directed the band through a wide selection of their work. His tendency to glorify the Bunnymen surfaced at only one point, but glaringly so. As an introduction to "Angels and Devils," from the b-side of the 12-inch version of the college radio hit "Silver," McCulloch reminded the crowd that the song was composed after the band's spring performance at the Warfield Theater and that "it took us five minutes to write what it takes other bands years to do."

The Berkeley Community Theater show featured strobes, the thundering bass of Les Pattinson, drummer Pete de Freitas' chair breaking in the middle of a song, Will Sergeant's incessant strum attack of his own guitar, wonderfully eerie blacklighting and fog, and covers of songs by The Monkees ("I'm a Believer"), the Stones, and Bowie (a very interesting chorus of "Let's Dance," in which McCulloch proposed the concept of dancing "Under the blankets... the seeerious blankets") The show's only flaw may have been a notoriously blatant dependence on taped string arrangements during performances of songs from the most recent, over-criticized Ocean Rain album.

Ah... Nick Lowe. The Pope of Pop. The Sultan of Stiff. The Big Boulder of Rockpile. Now this guy is fun. Backed by Paul Carrack, Martin Belmont, and Bobby Irwin — collectively, the Cowboy Outfit — Lowe had the overflow mob at the first-class Wolfgang's nightclub juking merrily.

As a headliner in a small club Lowe plays a much more relaxed, personable and extended set than he does as an opening act in a larger arena. Fans who are used to his rockabilly flavorings and throwaway lines got a great dose, including "Marie Provost," "Switchboard Susan," "Cruel to be Kind," and the Rockpile standard "I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll." The band was hot and simmered with the experience of Carrack (Squeeze, Ace) and Belmont (The Rumour, Brinsley Schwarz). Lowe's voice was as crisp as his accompaniment, and the audience rejoiced every time that he finished a song with a broad, mischievous smile and a trademark salute or thumbs-up sign. His ability to personify the positive traits of a rock and roller — carefree attitude, unrestrained personality, a healthy dose of rebellion — without exhibiting its excesses or the damnable aspects of the profession makes him a very endearing figure. Here's a middle-aged man singing silly songs and playing silly guitar licks and loving it so much that everybody can't help but love him loving it.

The night after, Lowe succumbed somewhat to the drawbacks of opening act syndrome. He only played a handful of songs, his bass was giving off distorted pops and required replacement — it seemed as though he was in a hurry to get to the next club act. Lowe opened the Bill Graham presentation of Elvis Costello at the Greek Theater, the best outdoor music venue west of Denver's Red Rocks.

Many people did not enjoy Elvis's show. I did. Perhaps it was because this was my first Elvis show. Perhaps it was because he played my two favorite songs and did not forsake material from Trust and Imperial Bedroom. Perhaps I found his unusual arrangements of "Watching the Detectives" and "The Only Flame in Town" more inspiring than boorish. Perhaps it was his rapid-fire encore performance of "Getting Mighty Crowded" and set-ending "Pump it Up" that left me with happy feet and a smile on my face. Whatever the reasons (and all of the above are contributing factors), I think that I came to grips with the Elvis enigma and was therefore not disappointed.

You see, since we of the new-wave generation began crooning "Alison" years ago, and wondering just what "Less than Zero" is all about, Costello has changed his tunes. Everyone has their favorite Elvis incarnation/incantation, but too many people are jealous about their respective favorites. I came away with the feeling that Costello's performance was most valuable because of the synergy resultant from his provocative blending of tempos and styles. The show's detractors criticized the parts ("I couldn't dance to 'Clubland'," or "The arrangement sounded so much better with the TKO Horns") instead of enjoying the variety of the whole. No artist can take as many turns as Elvis has in the last seven years without owing to a number of musical forms. No one can pay respects to that spectrum of forms with a four piece combo of fine musicians better than Costello did at the Greek. And whether or not Elvis is wallowing in creative backwaters, clueless as to what sort of music to play, it had nothing to do with the quality of his performance. Although I didn't see as much of the Costello personality as I would have liked — his only exchange with the audience was a somewhat contradictory putdown of MTV, the cable station which has had several of his videos on heavy rotation — I loved what I heard.

These three shows involved three different groups playing three completely different brands of music at three completely different locations, all within an hour's distance from The Farm. Hence, these words of wisdom: There's a lot out there, plenty for everybody. Don't limit yourself to the stack of vinyl which you carted here, and take advantage of the Bay Area's musical treasures.


Tags: Greek TheatreBerkeleyGrateful DeadHuey LewisNick LowePaul CarrackMartin BelmontBobby IrwinNick Lowe & His Cowboy OutfitCruel To Be KindRockpileI Knew The Bride When She Used to Rock and RollSqueezeThe RumourBrinsley SchwarzTrustImperial BedroomWatching The DetectivesThe Only Flame In TownGetting Mighty CrowdedPump It UpAlisonLess Than ZeroClublandThe TKO Horns

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The Stanford Daily, October 2, 1984


John Phillips reviews Elvis Costello, Friday, Sept. 14, Greek Theatre, Berkeley; Echo & The Bunnymen, Sept. 9, Berkeley Community Theatre; and Nick Lowe, Sept. 13, Wolfgang's, San Francisco.

Images

1984-10-02 Stanford Daily page 13 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

Photo by John Phillips.
1984-10-02 Stanford Daily photo 01 jp.jpg


Page scan.
1984-10-02 Stanford Daily page 13.jpg

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