________ 7_
A&E
Hearing loss, hotties accompany ’N Sync show
WedNEsdAy, M arc I i 6, 2002
TN e CL ac I camas P rìnt
ELENA BORYSKA
Sports Editor
way, Ginuwine, no matter how
famous you are, repeatedly
humping the stage isn’t cool.
The concert experience of Despite this complaint, I must
the year, possibly even the
admit that some of his dance
decade, came to Portland on
moves were pretty cool. Okay,
Sun., March 3. On the open
so only one of them
ing night of the second leg of was. He had his danc
‘N Sync’s “Celebrity” tour,
ers and backup sing
thousands of pre-teen girls
ers make a sort-of hu
dragged their parents to the
man car, which he
Rose Garden for a night filled
rode on while bounc
with singing, dancing and a
ing along to the beat.
whole lot of screaming.
Other than that, I was
To open the show for at
pretty disappointed
least the beginning part of this
in his whole perfor
tour, ‘N Sync brought in none
mance.
other than the r&b/hip-hop
After Ginuwine fi
sensation,
nally
Ginuwine. While
g o t
he did a great
off
job of doing
the
I found myself
what
show
stage,
adding to the
openers are sup
the
posed to do,
real
insane level of
which is get the
show
noise filling the
crowd ready for
b e -
the headlining
Rose Garden."
gan.
act, I’m not sure
T o
if Ginuwine was
start things
the best choice
off, the guys
for ‘N Sync to
from ‘N Sync
choose as a touring mate.
sang the feel-good “Do Your
I mean, who was he trying
Thing.” I don’t think I will
to turn on, the thousands of ever be able recover from the
twelve-year-olds, or their 40-
hearing damage caused by the
year-old mothers? And by the
sound that filled the building
when Justin Timberlake’s face
was first flashed up on the big
screen. I do admit though, that
when I first saw the guys
slowly rise from the middle of
the stage, I found myself add
play of pyrotechnics, lights and
amazing dance moves.
One of the highlights of the
two-hour show was when the
‘N Sync guys came out in some
nifty retro suits and did a
ing to the insane level of noise
filling the Rose Garden. Once
that song was over, they
launched into their ever-popu
lar hits “Bye, Bye, Bye” and
“It’s Gonna Be Me.” After that,
the rest of the songs flowed
smoothly into an awesome dis
Beatles/Motown medley. A
special catwalk was lowered and
allowed the guys to walk about
20 feet above the perimeter of the
fans with really close lower-level
seats, all the while singing such
classics as “Hey, Jude,” “Twist
and Shout” and “My Girl.” ‘N
Sync also remixed some of their
older songs just for the tour, one
of the most impressive being a
blues version of “Tearing up My
Heart,” which was definitely a
crowd favorite.
The energy never stopped for
even a moment, but ‘N Sync did
slow things down a couple
times. During the slow ballad,
“God Must Have Spent a Little
More Time on You,” I only saw
one girl who was crying. But that
might have had something to do
with the fact that I couldn’t take
my eyes off the smoking-hot
Lance Bass long enough to look
around at the crowd.
After a short encore, which in
cluded the singles, “Gone” and
current radio hit, “Girlfriend,”
the guys said good-bye with the
energizing “Pop,” which brought
du wn the house and further in
creased my hearing damage.
All in all, this was the great
est, most amazing concert that I
have ever had the pleasure of
going to. My ears are still ring
ing and my throat is still a little
raw, but this show has con
vinced me that nobody knows
how to shake their booty like the
guys of ‘N Sync do.
To reach Elena Boryska e-mail
MightyMouse030@hotmail.com or
drop by B-104.
A musical debut that calls for patience
ELENA BORYSKA
Sports Editor
Have you ever heard a band
who kind of sounded like an
other band, who sounded like
another one, and so on? Well,
that is what The Calling’s de
but CD, “Camino Palmero” is
like. With their “almost-rock”
music, thought-provoking lyr
ics and the intense lead vo
cals of Alex Band, The Calling
comes across sounding a
whole lot like Lifehouse,
which in turn sounds like
Creed, which also sounds a
little like Pearl Jam. It makes
an interesting mix, and one
that actually turned out pretty
well.
The single “Wherever You
Will Go” was what first con
vinced me to plunk down the
cash to buy this CD, but most
of the remaining songs as
sured me that my money had
been well spent. In the open
ing “Unstoppable,” Band’s
rich voice sings about having
one night with that special
someone, when together they
would be, of course, unstop
pable. The mildly sensual lyr
ics include a part about drink
ing wine, which is pretty
funny since Band is 20 years
old and looks all of 12.
A must hear on “Camino
Palmero” is the revenge-ori
ented “Adrienne.” The whole
feel of this song is very
smooth and is a lot like a boy-
band-kiss-off song minus the
boy band, and comes out
sounding pretty cool. Another
song on this CD that can’t be
skipped is the ultra-funky
“Just That Good.” Imagine
this: a mix of Lifehouse and
Matchbox Twenty thrown to
gether for your listening plea-
"All of the songs
had a tendency to
sound amazingly
similar.
sure. That’s how good “Just
that good” is.
They also know how to ad
dress some serious issues. In
“We’re Forgiven,” the band
sings about people who ig
nore the helpless but still think
that they are good people and
will be forgiven. They paint a
sad portrait of some people
who feel that their time on
earth has been nothing but a
curse, and encourage listeners
to help the not-so-fortunate
because it could be them need
ing help someday.
There is also the apprecia
tive. “Thank You,” with the
message that each day is a
blessing, and “Stigmatized,”
where judging homosexuality
is condemned. These slow
songs are less fun than the
rest of the CD, but bring up im
portant issues to think about.
I must admit that when I first
listened to-this CD, I wasn’t so
sure that I liked it. All of the
songs had a tendency to
sound amazingly similar. But
after listening to it a couple
times through, I was able to
differentiate between the
songs, and it began to grow on
me.
Now, if you are one of those
people out there who doesn’t
enjoy the whole "this band
sounds like that band" thing, I
wouldn’t recommend “Camino
Palmero.” And if you expect
the rest of the CD to sound like
“Wherever You Will Go,”
don’t be surprised when it
doesn’t. The bottom line here:
if you are really itching for a
good CD and are willing to take
a big chance on these guys,
The Calling may be for you.
To reach Elena Boryska e-mail
MightyMouse030@hotmail.com or
drop by B-104.
The Calling
Camino Palmero
Track list:
.. "Unstoppable"
2. "Nothing's Changed"
3. "Wherever You Will Go"
4. "Could It Be Any Harder"
5. "Final Answer"
6. "Adrienne"
7. "We're Fotgiven"
8.. "Things Don't Always Turn Out
That Way"
9. "Just That Good"
10. "Thank You"
11. "Stigmatized"