Entertainment Editor:
Jeremy Lang
jlang@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Daily Emerald
There’s a new sheriff in town
Siegfried and Roy return for their sophomore
effort as Promo Photo of the Week. Page 8
MTV, TRL,
and 20 fun
filled years
Welcome, fair readers, to the
all-video installment of The
Be-In, inspired by MTV’s
big 20th birthday and the
fact that a couple of juicy tidbits from last
week got hacked at the knees by the gods
of copy editing because I gushed for too
long about the magic of Spike Jonze.
So first, Cake. MTV has been playing
semi-regularly the video for “Short
Skirt/Long Jacket,” the first single from
their hot-off-the-presses “Comfort Eagle”
album. The clip is the latest brain child
from raving egoma
niac and Cake front
man John McCrea,
who also plopped
down in the direc
tor’s chair for the
video. It plays like a
man-on-the-street
report where, as the
song plays, people
listen to the single
on headphones and
give their opinions.
And — get out!
You’re kidding me!
— everybody likes
it! Old, young,
Jeremy
Lang
The Be-In
black, white — it
doesn’t matter. McCrea has unified the
world under one flag that flaps in the
wind to promote “a girl with good divi
dends” who “is changing her name
from Kitty to Karen. ”
OK, so there are a couple people who
slam the song. One is the stereotypical
elderly person who just doesn’t get that
rock ’n’ roll music. The other is a wise
adult who basically criticizes how pop
music all sounds the same. But Mr.
Lang hardly can consider those dis
sents based on the song itself, or
enough to keep from considering the
video from being personal, artistic mas
turbation by McCrea.
As for MTV itself, four of the chan
nel’s bigwigs, including VJ Carson Daly
and newsman Kurt Loder, sat down
with Charlie Rose on Sunday. During
the interview, Judy McCarthy, who has
been involved behind the camera since
the channel started, said the “I” in “I
want my MTV” has always been the
most important thing to the video chan
nel. And, of course, it wasn’t long be
fore Daly’s Total Request Live came
into the conversation, and Carson be
gan his spiel about it being controlled
by the viewers. Previously, Daly as
even called the show — where requests
determine the top 10 for the day — a
mini-democracy.
McCarthy and Daly’s comments ex
posed much of the hypocrisy on which
MTV has built its empire.
For starters, “I” in “Mr. Lang wants
his MTV” must feature the now-de
funct “120 Minutes” show. From mid
night to 2 a.m. each Sunday, the show
had videos, interviews and live per
formances from a variety of acts that
would fall into the broad “indie” cate
gory. Videos ranging from The Jon
Spencer Blues Explosion to Tricky ran
next to videos from national acts like
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead
and The Bloodhound Gang. Frequent
ly, videos on the show became the next
big thing during the day.
Now, the show is on MTV’s sister all
music channel, M2, and the old Sun
Turn to Lang,page 6
Courtesy photo
Local Tool enthusiasts will get the chance to see lead singer Maynard
Janies Keenan up close and personal, thanks to the band’s decision to
add a show at the Hult Center to their tour circuit.
■Tool surprises fans with the last
minute addition of a Hult Center
appearance to their small-venue tour
of the West Coast
By J.J. Burkart
for the Emerald
The Hult Center departs from its usual
fare of high culture and fine arts by open
ing its doors to Tool on Sunday night.
Fans began lining up around the Hult
Center last Friday, anticipating a sold
out show. About 2,500 lucky people
scored tickets to see one of rock music’s
most sought-after bands.
But many Tool enthusiasts missed the
Hult Center boat as the show sold out in
68 minutes.
The Los Angeles-based heavy-metal
quartet kicked off a mini-tour in Denver
on Aug. 3. Tool was scheduled to make
only one stop in Oregon, at the Arlene
Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, but
the band surprised fans with a last-minute
addition of a Eugene stop to the roster.
“This was a bizarre version of a nor
mal process,” said Carol Brubaker, the
marketing and public relations manag
er for the Hult Center.
“The whole tour was put together
very quickly. The promoters saw a good
market in Eugene,” she said.
The Hult Center joins nine other small
West Coast stages Tool chose for this
tour. Many fans said they are excited to
experience the band’s heavy sounds in a
smaller venue.
“This rocks. I tried to get tickets for the
Portland show, but it sold out too fast,”
said freshman physics major and Tool
fan Andreas Tsiboukis, who did score
tickets to the Eugene show.
Tool’s popularity enables them to sell
out large arenas, something they will at
tempt to do on this fall’s U.S. arena tour.
Their rumbling bass riffs, ferocious guitar
licks and angst-filled vocals transform any
venue into a cauldron of primal energy as
the crowd swirls with the music.
“Even though I didn’t get tickets, I think
it’s cool that they’re playing small shows,”
junior humanities major Ben Hubert said.
“It’s just a different feeling in a smaller
Turn to Tool, page 6
Bright Lights, Nb Money
■After braving Vegas on a
budget, one Emerald staffer
shares her tips for success
By Carol Rink
Oregon Daily Emerald
LAS VEGAS — It’s the land of
Elvis, bright lights, awestruck
tourists and money flowing
everywhere you look. This was
my perception of the "Glitter
City" before my three-day adven
tllTO laSt
9 9 a a
a a
Reporter’s
NOTEBOOK
weekend. I
wanted to
and
see
experi
ence
everything
from a glamorous Vegas show to
fat, sweaty guys in silk shirts and
lots of gold jewelry begging the
dealers for another round.
But as a college student, I
quickly learned that my Vegas
excursion would be different. I
had to travel on a budget and
spend as little as possible, espe
cially with rent due the week I
returned.
My mission was simple: To
make Vegas a "$5.99 All-You
Can-Eat" buffet kind of town, not
a ritzy champagne celebration,
and let the entertainment come
at a cheap price. I’ve compiled
some tips on how to succeed if
you want to try Vegas “on the
cheap” as well.
Tip one:
Before you arrive in the land
where anything goes, reserve a
room at a hotel on the strip, or
not too far off it. This will come
in handy after a long night of
cocktails and havoc, and it will
save you from a wild ride in a
taxi.
The first flaw in my friend’s
and my weekend getaway plan
was ignoring the simple step of
making a hotel reservation. By
the time Friday night rolled
around, desperately wanting a
bed to sleep on, we found our
selves stumbling along from ho
tel to hotel looking for a vacant
room at 2 a.m.
My salvation came in the form
of the Bourbon Street Hotel &
Casino. It didn't look too shabby
from the outside, but things
turned south real quick once I
got the $50-a-night room. With
more mirrors in the room than a
porn star would know what to
do with, I figured the bar and
casino downstairs would make
things better. The real Bourbon
Street is a great place to get
drunk, but in Vegas no one
seemed to care how many $1
drafts I knocked back, or that I
was stuck playing Austin Pow
ers quarter slots.
Tip two:
Morning hunger pains drove
my travel companion and me
downstairs to the steak-and-egg
special. Unless you like to eat
breakfast with people who are
so hung over they can't brave
the sunlight to get food else
where, opt for a real buffet in a
nice hotel. Although you can
find a bargain buffet on every
Turn to Vegas, page 6
• Carol Rink Emerald
Bright lights and glamorous hotels and casinos offer visitors a wide selection of uniquely
themed places to see in Las Vegas even if they’re broke.