1995_03 The Daily Collegian March 1995

              2—The Daily Collegian     Friday, March 10,1995
All Around the Town
ByJoeRosatoJr
There's sbmething
about the blues ;
Nothing but the blues
In trying to describe blues band Rod Piazza and the Mighty
Fliers, I keep having this vision from that movie, The Cotton Club.
You know, where everyone is wearing big suits with big pants
embraced by white suspenders and big press hats.
Back then, it seems, a night out in a club was an event, an
inferno of dancing and carousing, fueled by a band that knew how
to cook.
In those times of long ago, blues was something confined to
% juke joints and small smoky bars. It was feared by the main stream
— not necessarily a subculture, but rather an off-to-the-side cul¬
ture.
• Rod Piazza and the Mighty Fliers play this Friday and Saturday
at Club Fred and if you have any affinity for blues, upbeat, boppin',
bringing-down-the-house music, then you would do yourself a
service by going this weekend.
Saturday night is already sold out, and tickets for Friday are
just about gone too, so it makes the options a little slim.
Rod Piazza is one of the kings of blues harp; with his wife
Honey playing smokin' bar room, piano and a solid band behind
them, they not only get the joint, they bum it down.
As is tradition with the Fliers' show, the evening concludes
with Piazza playing solo distorted harmonica while wading across
the bar. I've seen him do it a dozen times and it never gets old. When
he finishes the solo and kicks the band back in, you get this rush as
if you'd just seen a last-second game winning touchdown. The
crowd goes nuts and I get a little misty at that part, I have to admit.
Tickets are, $10 in advance and $12 at the door.
Mo'blues
On the local blues front, The Mofo Party Band, led by brothers
John and Bill Clifton, plays at The Fulton Friday night. They're one
of the more fashion conscious bands in the local herd. No slouch on
the blues harp himself, John Clifton always performs in a smoking
jacket from his vast collection of cool vintage clothing. The Mofos
rip through a repertoire that includes Sonny Boy Williamson,
Muddy Waters and Lightnin' Hopkins. It's all good clean fun... well
not really — it's down and dirty. Don't forget the smoking jackets.
Another cool band name sighting. Saturday at The Fulton is
Waffle(last week's cool band name) and (my new favorite) Ditch
Bank Oakies. The flier says, "Special guests as well." Now what
guest9*ould you expect with a name like that. Ma and Pa perhaps.
Or maybe cousin Junior.
Blues and brews
Every Friday and Saturday night is blues night at Butter fie Id's
Brewery in the Tower District. Friday night is contemporary blues
-^band The Groove Mercenaries with guitarist Phil Wymer. Rpbert
Cray, Bonnie Raitt and Muddy Waters all make it into the Merce¬
naries' sets.
Down-home blues, Fresno style, shows up Saturday nights at
Butterfield 's with Chris Millar and his Blues WestOrchestra. There's
always a good special guest from Fresno's anthology of blues a la
the West Side. Harmonica Slim, Hosea Leavy and Kenny Prymus
usually show up and show the youngsters how to do it old school.
Wa^F it down with a home-brewed Butterfield's beer and you've
got a night out on Hie town. Make sure not to drink and drive. Or,
' if you have been drinking, drive home really fast before something
bad happens to you.
See ya oof.
Walking dead in the water
Review Guru
By Shelly Silva
How can it be, I shoot at
men I can't see. I make love to
my rifle and pray to God I
don't stifle. Tne jungle has
become my abattoir, I elimi--
nate the enemy like a Czar. I
used to be of browning inspi¬
ration, but now I pray to the
god of annihilation. Beautiful
young Monroe was my poetic
muse, but now death and de-
structi6n is the melody I use.
As I shoot Charlie and he gasps
for his last breath, I promise I
shall but love him better after
death. ' «.
The Vietnam experience
has taken its toll on many
people over the last few de¬
cades.
Tales of death, devasta¬
tion, loss, tragedy and some¬
times hope have emerged in
the form of poems, songs,
books, lectures and movies.
The Vietnam genre film found
a home in movie theaters in
the 80's, hitting audiences like
an exploded, Clamor of war
images.
The Vietnam film has trav¬
eled through the thick jungles
of Hollywood's glitter and fla¬
grant vanity to get to the DMZ
(Deep Movie Zone). Veteran
films such as, "Platoon" have
been recognized by the high¬
est-ranked generals of movie
forces, earning the highest
medal given to films, the Os¬
car.
However, Savoy Pictures
most recent release, "The
Walking Dead", falls short in
its tour of duty on the silver
screen.
The film chronicles the .
lives of five Marines in 1972
Vietnam.
The Vietnam War was
only a backdrop in the film,
not the focus, thus ignoring
the opportunity to show audi¬
ences the black experience in
Vietnam like the film prom¬
ised it would.
Instead, the film tells the
story of the black experience
of the 70's in bits and pieces
through the characters' memo¬
ries of home, rather than the
experiences of the black sol-v
dier in a horrific war.
However, "The Walking
Dead" stars an exquisite cast
of talent including Allen Payne
("Jason's Lyric"), Eddie Grif¬
fin ("Meteor Man"), Joe
Morton ("Speed"), Vonte
Sweet ("Menace II Society")
and newcomer Roger Floyd.
The acting caliber of these
young men is.an exantple of
what the future has in store for
filnu^Jhe future looks out¬
standing just as long as these
men remain a part of the in¬
dustry.
Here's the breakdown.
The film opens in 1972 South
Vietnam. Sergeant Barldey
(Morton) and his marine pla¬
toon set out on a mission to
evacuate all remaining survi¬
vors from, an abandoned
P.O.W. camb.
Once dropped on the
landing zone, Barkley and his
troop are met with enemy fire.
Five men remain alive, and
their mission is truly impos¬
sible.
The rest of the film takes
place in between fire fights,
where flashbacks of each sol¬
dier are thrown hi. f
Audiences discover the.
lives of each soldier back' in
the world, while at the same
time meeting Hoover (Griffin)
who is detached but has sur¬
vived two tours of duty,
Pippens (Floyd) who losses his
absolute mind only-i%discover
an unruly demise, Evans
(Payne) who is the strong
clear-headed hero whose only
meaning in life is his wife and
, child, and Brooks (Sweet) who
is the 19-year-old cherry who
joined up to find his right of
passage and to secure his fu¬
ture.
The actors are the only re¬
deeming quality of the film/
The story has potential, but
. steps on a lack-of-coherency
mine and blows apart by the
end o| the film. "The Walking
Dead" is a wait until ifs on
video flick.
Dilbert® by Scott Adams
—
YOUR PERFORMANCE THIS
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YOU WORKED ON TASKS
THAT ARE NT IMPORTANT.
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ITS EXCELLENT. I GET
A BONUS FOR KEEPING
SALARIES LOU. ,
HAVE \OU SEEN ANY
LITERATURE ON
WORKPLACE
VIOLENCE?
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