Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2008)
*f °8 ______________________ Entertainm ent_________________________ is Urban bands storm Portland with headlining concerts ■ T amra S chelot & C arly H alverson Staff Reporters Portland is a great city for music and culture. Here are just a few of the really great concerts coming in November and December, and most tickets are already on sale—so act fast. Headlining band, Metro Station, is showcasing a few new alternative pop groups to the stage on Nov. 21. The group includes Miley Cyrus's older brother, Trace, a guitarist and co-front man of the group. The band is known for its alternative pop songs such as "Seventeen Forever" and "Shake it," which has topped pop charts nationwide. The group is also featuring Shwayze, a new rap artist who pairs with Cisco Alder to create new, modern beats, to Portland. Cisco Alder has previously worked with artist Mickey Avalon. Shwayze is new in the music world but his hit songs "Buzzin" and "Corona and Lime" prove he’s here to stay. Opening the concert is Tyga, a new rap artist who was signed last year. Tyga has already opened for bands such as Fall Out Boy and Gym Class Heroes. "Coconut Juice" and "Press 7" are two songs that you can look forward to hearing. The last group on the tour is Cash Cash with a new genre of music, Electropop. Tickets are on sale for $15 at Ticketswest.com and will be held at the Roseland Theatre. Prices rise as the date nears. The from-the- sticks gone country star thanks to American Idol, Carrie Underwood, is coming to the Rose Garden on Nov. 17. Underwood is famous for several hit songs such as "So Small," "All American Girl" and "Last Name." Her huge country voice has traveled the world, and you can purchase tickets on StubHub.com. Prices range from $35-542. A fantastic concert is promised when All Time Low, Mayday Parade, The Maine and Every Avenue all play in the same venue. These are four of the best bands out there right now and they are coming Nov. 6 Mindless violence enhanced in new game releases D illon G eorge Staff Reporter Who knew that video game hits like "Gears of War," "World of Warcraft" and "Call of Duty" could get any better? New releases promise to provide more thrills and more ways to whittle away s of your life that you never get back. The Xbox 360 was released in Nov. 2006 and was immediately a huge hit. Problematically, the system was prone to overheating and many recalls were imposed. Now, in late 2008, games have evolved into multi complex and high-detailed experiences. "Gears of War 2" is a highly anticipated game for the Xbox 360. It is set to come out Nov. 7 at $59.99. The game will offer new characters, more weapons, nastier enemies, bigger vehicles and grander map locations that offer more action, fast-paced battles and more thrills. With epic battles, retuned graphics, picturesque scenes, and easier online gameplay, "Gears of War 2" will be an awesome sequel to the extreme original. "Call of Duty 5: World at War" is expected to be an awing fifth addition to the shooter series that offers great game play, fast online play, a fantastic single player and high definition graphics. The release date is Nov. 11 with a price tag of $59.99. Vehicles have been added to the multiplayer combat, featuring player rankings, upgradable weapons, squad- based games and even more customizable classes and perks. Since the game takes place in a different time period and location, weapons will be completely different. "World of Warcraft" is a computer game that holds the Guinness World Record as the most popular "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game" at this time. With 10.9 million active monthly subscribers, the creator, Blizzard rakes in $135 million each month. That means two full months of income is enough to keep running World of Warcraft, paying all the staff, and keep up on repairs for four years. The first expansion for the game was titled "The Burning Crusade". It came out on Jan. 16, 2007 and now the second is arriving, titled "Wrath of the Lich King", offering new lands, such as Northrend, a new class and new professions. It will now allow players to reach level 80 on the release date of Nov. 13 and has a bargain price of $39.99. "Fallout 3" is another sequel that many people are looking forward to. This game seems to have a strong similarity to the 2008 video game of the year winning, "Bioshock." In the game, after a global war, your character breaks from his prison to explore what has happened to his once beloved country. Fallout 3 came out on Oct. 28 for the Xbox 360 for $59.99. to the Roseland Theatre. The bands will rock the house with hit songs like "Dear Maria Count Me In," "When I Get Home You're So Dead," "The Way We Talk" and "Where Were You." Buy tickets at Ticketswest.com. Cost is $16 for general admission. Sara Bareilles' concert date has been moved from Oct. 14 to Dec. 14. The concert will be held at Crystal Ballroom. Bareilles is more than a triple threat. She's a pianist, writes her own lyrics, sings and plays the guitar. Her number one hit, "Love Song" made the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 Chart. Tickets are being sold for $29 in advance and $34 at the door. Go out and have a great time dancing and crowd surfing your way to the front of the stage during the dismal days of winter. It's a fun way to hang out with your friends listening to all the artists you love. For more information check out Portland.citysearch. com and headlining bands official websites. Duff wins first place at Oregon Improv Festival u J ackie S teeh ________ . Staff Reporter Thirty-three actors made the long trip to Bend to compete in the Oregon Improv Festival placing higher than expected. Ailish Duff, freshman, won first place. Caitlyn Olson, senior, won second place; Nina Heiter, freshman, won third and Hannah Bradford, junior, won fourth. Ariel Beier and Morgan Winnick, freshmen, and Spencer McCoy, senior, also performed with groups in the finals. "I started my day at 4:30 a.m., and got on a bus with all my friends and headed off to Bend," Duff, freshman, said. "I didn't expect to place at all. It was a total surprise to me. I was so happy to get the first place ribbon." The Improv Festival is hosted by a different high school every year, and this year it was hosted by Bend High School. Competitors were placed in groups with students from other schools. "There were many high schools competing and we all got split up into groups of eight people. I didn't know anyone," Laura Stanten, sophomore, said. Every year a new skit topic is introduced at the Festival. This year's topic was board games. "My board game was 'Mouse Trap'," Duff said. All groups have 30 minutes to create a scene based on an the topic given to them. Groups then perform scenes for judges with six other groups. "It's really fun to see all those scenes. Each group performs twice and sees two different sets of other scenes. The top eight scenes score-wise are then asked to perform for the entire assembly and the winning scenes are chosen from those," Olson said. Some students participated in the festival just to have fun and some are there to represent their school. "I really enjoyed the process. I did not enjoy waking up to leave at 5:30 in the morning to make it to A ilish Duff, freshm an, Laura Stanten, sophomore, and Caitlyn Olson, senior, practice improv skills. They were among the 33 participants at the Oregon Improv Festival held on Oct. 4. Photo by Hannah Zaayer Bend on time; the scenery out the window was gorgeous with the lighting from the rising sun. We drove into the sun all day. It was rising when we were going east, and setting when we went west. So pretty!" Olson said. Sarah ujnd
