Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1998)
5 U ie CI ac I< amas P rint CircleSlide venue delivers seven-band slam JOEL P. SHEMPERT Feature Editor Portland’s CircleSlide Productions, formerly Push Pro ductions, has been laboring nonstop for the last five years or so to provide an outlet for fans of Christian alternative and indie rock. Last Friday night, April 24, marked, as the next step in CircleSlide’s ongoing effort to obtain their own permanent facility, their final show at Mt. Scott Church of God. They certainly went out with a bang—the seven bands played collectively from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. One accusation that certainly cannot be leveled at the CircleSlide venue is that they lack variety. The cross-sec tion of musical styles represented by Friday’s bands was abundantly diverse. Organizers Mikee Bridges and Todd Fadel have always promoted local artists of all types to share their music. Their shows, and especially the three- years-running August TOM Festival, have a smorgasbord quality about them, and April 24 was no exception. The first band up was Seattle’s Sulk, a band that lived up to its name with strange and moody rock driven by haunt ing keyboards. Not everyone’s bag, to be sure, but they were fairly enjoyabtoand delivered their music well. Next came the band many were waiting for, and whom this reviewer was eager to hear for the first time. Trueb took the stage and laid down a delicious funk vibe that moved the feet almost involuntarily. Trueb’s recipe for success is a smashing one, including two parts funk, one part jazz, one part blues, a generous sprinkling of good ol’ rock n’ roll, and a dash of mariachi, plus an astounding child prodigy guitarist who seems to have been bom to the instrument. It’s easy to see why this group is going far, fast. After the Trueb funksters stepped down (too soon) it was time for the kings of feedback—first Todd Fadel’s own emo group Sappo, then local indie rock legend Pep Squad. Both were in good form. Sappo was sporting a new guitarist, Tim “rock on” Eurich, formerly of Piqqadown. Tim blended right in to the en semble, and seemed to have an even better outlet to show case his talent. He was at his best laying down a blisteringly fast strum underneath Todd’s ornamentation. Sappo in gen eral played an enjoyable if short set—in a seven-band con cert, it’s impossible to give each band ample time. While such Sappo staples as “Siren” and “Next New Fix” were absent, other favorites like “Taxidermy” and “Aladdin” were played well, and there was new material to feast on as well. The band, as might be expected, rocked hard then closed with their praise tune, “Because of You.” Sappo frontman Todd Fadel cuts loose with his trademark wail. Pep Squad, whose members admit to starting as a joke band, has become a whole lot more, even if they have a lot farther to go. They are known for high energy, bizarre lyr ics, and strange guitar sounds, but are most famous for audi ence participation. There was hardly a song in their set when fans were not called upon to play guitar and/or sing. Pep Squad gamers so many fans mainly because they are their audience’s biggest fan. As exciting as this show was, there was poor planning evident in the ordering of the seven groups. Velour 100’s more subdued, keyboardy, melodically driven female-fronted sound and Pedro the Lion’s simple, honest, acoustic style would have better served at the start of the show, where the audience would be neither too tired to really enjoy them nor let down by the drop in energy. Both groups would have received a fairer shake in that situation, but nonetheless proved enjoyable, especially Pedro the Lion’s .artistic, off-the-beaten-path sound. Of course, the lateness of the hour could do little to deter the evening’s (morning’s?) feature attraction: the last—and they really mean it this time—appearance ever of Star Wars tribute band Twin Sister. Consisting of members (as is customary to mention) of Sappo as well as Tragedy Ann and the now defunct Sometime Sunday, this ensemble lays down a pounding funk rock groove Choreographer will share wisdom of Renaissance JARED BEZZANT Dance and Society Choreogra pher Judith Kennedy will host a lecture and slide show on Renaissance dance in the McLoughlin Hall Theatre on April 29 at noon. Co-A&E-Editor Choreographer Judith Kennedy will be making her annual appearance at Clackamas this Thursday to share some knowledge and ideas on early European dances. Kennedy, who just retired, choreographed for the Or egon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland. She was also responsible for the Green Show, which is a presenta tion of music, dance and poetry be fore the Shakespearean Festival, in the town’s square. Kennedy has a BA and MA in dance from Mills College. She has also studied Baroque in Europe. Her dances range from Elizabethan to modem period. “These dances are very compli cated,” said friend and Clackamas in structor Jane Rickenbaugh. Rickenbaugh explained the impor tance of these dances in their proper history of early and late Renaissance. Men danced with swords and women wore from 20-30 pounds of clothing. All of this and they performed elabo rate jumps and bows. Each hand movement was extremely important. “A gentleman was not a gentleman if he couldn’t dance well,” said Rickenbaugh. Rickenbaugh went on to say that the arts would make or break your career in those days. It was important to be able to play an instrument and dance. “In the courts you had to know how to dance,” she said. The Renaissance period of dance is an influence of many cultural Eu ropean dances and was important in such places as England and France in drama, music and other programs. Kennedy will be teaching the drama department some of these Elizabethan sequences to prepare them for their upcoming performance of Twelfth Night. Rickenbaugh says she comes every year to help the performers of the drama department’s Shakespearean play. “She has a very long history with the Shakespeare company,” said Rickenbaugh. Kennedy will also lecture and show slides in the McLoughlin Theater at noon on April 29. The presentation is called “Dance and Society in the Early and Late Renaissance.” JOEL P. SHEMPERT / Clackamas Print which is enjoyable enough even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, and is delightful if you are. “Unlike Pep Squad, we started as a joke band and just continued on as a joke band,” explained Todd Fadel to the crowd. Twin Sister is eminently able to laugh at itself, and this livens up their sets considerably. Their set, in which they played pretty rtiuch their entire reper toire, was hard, heavy, and fun. They were emphatic that this time, the third or so, they really are breaking up. “I know we’ve lied be fore,” said Todd, and explained that they will be work ing on a project entitled “Vader” that will bring Star Wars to big band. In the meantime, Twin Sister deliv ered their material in rare form, dealing with subjects ranging from anti-droid racism, Lando’s self-delusion, Han and Leia’s love life, and of course, Ben Kenobi’s deception of Luke Sky walker. If all this doesn’t sound too worshipful, rest assured that while the CircleSliders know abundantly how to have fun, their main focus is on their Christian faith. It just goes to show that with such an eclectic array of local groups, there’s no telling what might turn up. CircleSlide is appreciated greatly as promoters of the Christian underground in the Northwest, and their next show will certainly be a success wherever it may be held. May Events May 20-Instrumental Jazz Festival at 7:30, May 21- Opening of the drama departments Twelfth Night in the McLoughlin Hall Theatre at 8 p.m. May 26- One Act Plays begin in the McLoughlin Hall Theatre at 12:30 p.m. May 28- Sculptor Judy Pfaff will lecture on May 28 at 7 p.m, in the Lakeside Kucation Hall m ELC Chartwells Invites you to lunch. Or dinner or breakfast. Open 7 a.m.-8 p.m. for all your needs. The place to eat on campus! Wednesday, April 29, 1998
