Sequined, shakin’ Red Elvises rock Eugene
The Red Elvises rocked the WOW Hall last Thursday with their 'Siberian Surf Rock.’
T.H.I.N.K Trivia
9 tPwwts 9
Irish Pub
!c 295 Hwy. 99 North ^
^ Starts Thursdays 8:00 pm g
• Win Prizes
• Win Irish Bucks
*1 off any item 4ft* j
at O’Donnell’s ;
1 coupon per person
-1
009393
TOP TEN REASONS
TO GO TO
THE BLUE HEN CAFE
10. Big portions
9. You hunger for the goodness of the hen.
8. Your significant other wants somewhere
nice but you don’t want to spend a lot.
7. The basketball team partied there. Can I
get a whoop whoop?
6. Huge biscuits, and I mean huge.
5. Blue cups. Has the world gone mad?
4. Free appetizers at Happy Hour.
3. The bartenders are so nice it’s scary.
2. Because you’re good enough, smart
enough, and doggone it, you’re hungry.
1. We’ll give you
10% Off
with this ad.
1769 Franklin Blvd. Ncxl to Track Town Pi/./.a.
683-0780
■ With plenty of butt-shaking, disco-dancing fervor, the
four-member band knows how to rock in nostalgic style
By Mason West
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Red Elvises, “your favorite
band,” rocked the WOW Hall last
Thursday night with a combina
tion of great tunes, witty banter,
and costumes that would have
put a disco ball to shame. To kick
off this stop of their “Shake Your
Pelvis 2000” tour, bass player/vo
calist Oleg Bernov came out and
took pictures of the audience.
Right off, everyone knew this
wasn’t going to be your average
concert.
The Red Elvises were formed
in Los Angeles in 1996, when
three Russians from Siberia met a
drummer from Texas and began
to create what they call “Siberian
Surf Rock.”
Avi Sills, drummer and vocal
ist, grew up in Eugene and attend
ed the University for his first year
of college. The hometown boy
gave his family and fans a great
show as he sang the final encore,
“Play That Funky Music.” The
crowd went nuts.
But Avi didn’t steal the spot
light - all four of the band mem
bers are hams. Igor Yuzov, guitar
player and vocalist, provided
most of the dancing for the
evening. His melodrama in the
emotional songs swayed the
crowd along with laughs while
Zhenya Kolykhanov, lead gui
tar/vocals, kept the guitar solos in
good stock with lots of hip gyra
tions and sassy looks.
Bernov was the easiest one to
see with his cherry-red hair and
giant Balalayka, the traditional
name for his triangle-shaped,
three-string bass. He also provid
ed most of the comic relief. Just
before the band began playing, he
told everyone to raise their arms
and make the “hardcore” hand
sign. Then he told us to take away
the pinky. Left with an index fin
ger pointed to the sky, Bernov be
gan to do the “Staying Alive”
dance.
“The index finger,” Bernov pro
claimed. “The most important
part of your body.”
This proved true as the audi
ence repeated the motion twice
later in the concert to “Everybody
Disco” (like boys in San Francis
co), and “Closet Disco Dancer.”
The latter song was the first en
core, and when the band started
playing Igor came running on
stage in a full silver-sequin suit.
The crowd cheered for them and
moved their index fingers in and
out, trying to weave some imagi
nary basket.
“This is a show,” said Sills.
“You get your money’s worth at
our show.”
In a short interview with the
band, Sills spoke about where the
band is headed.
“This band is going all the
way,” he said.
And it sure looks like it. They
have appeared in four movies, in
cluding “Six String Samurai,”
performed on the TV show Mel
rose Place, released six CDs in
four years and have been in a Kit
Kat commercial.
The audience showcased a
range of ages, demonstrating the
Red Elvises’ broad appeal. Even
local campus celebrity Frog
showed up, making it a real party.
Giving everything to please the
crowd, the Elvises swung their
guitars in unison, got the audi
ence clapping along, shook their
rears for all to see, and even
pulled some enthusiastic fans up
onstage to dance.
A concert by the Red Elvises is
not one to be missed, should the
opportunity present itself again.
Sills said that the band hopes be
back in Eugene in a few months.
Friends not always good roomies
Dear Harlan,
They say friends don’t always
make the best roommates. About 6
months ago, a friend of mine broke
up with his girlfriend and needed
a place to live. My boyfriend and I
had known him about 2 years and
liked him a lot, so we decided to let
him move in with us.
It became clear after a few
months that our friend had prob
lems. He is 32 years old, but be
haves like his own inner child,
badly in need of a parenting fig
ure to curb his chronic messiness,
irresponsibility with money, poor
time management, emotional in
sensitivity and deep insecurity.
We’ve tried talking to him to try
to inspire him to get his act to
gether, with little success.
Now, he’s failing to pay bills on
time, bouncing rent checks and
becoming generally unreliable as
a roommate. I want to be a good
friend to my roommate, but being
so close to his neurosis and his
bad lifestyle habits is causing me
distress. It feels like he is taking
advantage of my friendship.
What can I do to make this situ
ation better for everyone in
volved?
- Frustrated but Concerned
Dear Frustrated,
Make sure he takes the trash
out with him on his way out the
door. Sometimes being a true
friend means being honest with
the guy. I say two more weeks
and that’s enough.
It’s bad enough you have to
share his dirty clothes and poor
hygiene, but you shouldn’t be re
sponsible for his emotional prob
lems. He’s not paying rent or pay
ing his bills and not doing the
bare minimum to have any right
to share a living space with you.
Things aren’t working out. so ei
ther you and your boyfriend goes
or he goes. Considering he’s the
one not paying rent, he should
probably be the one to go first.
Dear Harlan,
My friend and I both like the
same guy, but this is no ordinary
crush. IVe both feel like he’s the
guy that we’ve liked most out of
all the guys
that we’ve
liked. Be
sides,
we’ve liked
the same
guys before
and that
was actual
ly pretty
funny. But
this time,
it’s com
pletely dif
ferent.
We both
know that the situation has a lot
of potential to become very ugly.
We realize that our friendship is
more important, but we REALLY
like this guy. What should we do?
- Ugly situation
Dear Ugly,
If you can’t do an every-other
day kind of rotation then do a no
day rotation.
If letting him choose the girl is
n’t an option, then opt for no one
to see him. Your friendship is way
too valuable to waste on some guy.
You or your friend will only date
him for a few months. You or her
will just break-up and then you’ll
be left with no one to wipe away
the other one’s tears. You and your
friend need to talk it out and come
to some happy compromise before
things get ugly.
Honestly, it’s hard for me not to
question a friendship where jeal
ousy could so easily rip something
so powerful apart. You should be
happy for her and she should be
happy for you. This whole situa
tion might say more about your
friendship then it does about
which of you gets the guy.
Dear Harlan:
I am a 20-year-old student.
Lately, I've become close to a guy I
met at school. He always wants
me to get together with him and
study which is a great idea be
cause I really like him and I get to
spend time with him.
Does this mean that he likes
me? If so, should I ask him out?
Thanks for your help!
- Confused
Ask _
Harlan
Dear Confused:
Either he's having a horribly
hard time grasping the material or
he's having a horribly hard time
trying not to grasp you every time
you sit next to him to study.
My guess is he likes studying
your smile, studying your eyes
and studying your flowery
smelling hair and rose perfume
every time you turn your head
and unintentionally offer him a
whiff. There's no reason to be
confused. Chances are, he likes
you, so stop wasting time.
It's exam season, and that
means it's time to make your
pass. Now, go study.
Dear Harlan:
A few weeks ago I went to a
party and drank way too much. I
ended up sleeping with a guy I’ve
only known for three weeks. I re
member telling him I had a
boyfriend, but I don’t remember
anything after that. I don’t even
know if we used a condom.
My boyfriend asked me if I
cheated on him, but I lied and
said “No.” I feel terrible because
of the whole situation. I also
think I’m pregnant, because my
period is two weeks late and it is
never irregular. If I am, then I will
get an abortion.
My question is should I tell my
boyfriend about this or should I
just forget about it?
— Full of Regret
Dear Full of Regret:
Yes, tell your boyfriend. Now,
it’s my turn to ask you my ques
tions.
How could you get so drunk
you have unsafe sex with a
stranger? Do you understand
how emotional having an abor
tion can be? Why can’t you ask
this guy if he used a condom?
When are you getting help for
your drinking problem?
Please write back with an
swers...
Harlan is not a licensed psychologist,
therapist or physician, but he is a li
censed driver. Write Help Me, Harlan!
through theWeb at www.helpmehar
lan.com. All letters submitted become
property of the column.