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Hot tickets.

Friday, September 30, 2005

Christian music icons Jars of Clay are performing at Calvin this semester, and predictably, their October 8 show sold out at warp speed. But fret not: the band has agreed to add another performance. This additional concert will also be on the 8th, but it will be at 4pm. Tickets are available now for the same prices as the 8pm show ($10 with a Calvin ID and $20 general public).

Speaking of hot tickets, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco will perform on November 10. Tickets go on sale first thing Monday, October 3. The show is in the chapel, so seats number in the hundreds instead of the thousands. Make sure to get yours--and while you warm up your clicking finger, listen to Bob Edwards interviewing Tweedy.

File under “should-a could-a would-a.”

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Photo from concertshots.com

One of our favorite popular culture critics (and soon-to-be-published novelist) Jeffrey Overstreet raves about Arcade Fire’s live show:

This is like seeing U2 during the October or War tour, folks. DO NOT MISS THEM. This is like seeing REM during the Life’s Rich Pageant tour, or Radiohead after The Bends. This is a band that’s just catching fire (no pun intended), and they have the potential to be one of the all-time greats. ... [We] had that distinct feverish feeling that we were experiencing one of the great breakthrough tours in rock history. I half expected to see David Bowie, or Bono, or even Kurt Cobain’s ghost peering around the corner.

Meanwhile, we in the Student Activities kick ourselves repeatedly for failing to book the band when we had the chance. Keep your fingers crossed for a spring tour…

Ghetto ballet lessons.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Ghetto ballet lessons
by Kate Bowman Johnston

When we showed the documentary Rize here at Calvin College last weekend, we handed out a film review that began with this verse from the book of Jeremiah:

Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

Although this passage isn’t referenced in the film itself, it strikes me as the thesis of not only the documentary, but of the movement it chronicles. Directed by David LaChapelle (previously lauded for his fashion photography and music videos), Rize tells the story of a street dance phenomenon in south central Los Angeles, where young black people flail their arms, jerk their torsos, and thrust their hips in attempt to break free from the violence and injustice that seems written into their everyday lives. This exuberant, dynamic variation on hip hop dancing is called krumping, and it is Jeremiah 31:13 in the flesh. 

Read the rest of this article at *catapult magazine.

A student review of the film, co-written by one of our former cultural discerners, is available at Calvin’s Chimes newspaper online.

Ashworth and Slocum.

Monday, September 26, 2005

After several cancelled flights and missed connections, Sam Ashworth and Matt Slocum showed up just in time to perform at Calvin’s Fish House coffee shop last week. You can hear the post-show conversation with Ashworth here. A review of the show can be found at Calvin’s Chimes newspaper.

Unfamiliar with these musicians? You may not recognize their names right off the bat, but Ashworth and Slocum both possess considerable musical pedigrees.

A third-generation singer-songwriter who inherited artistic genes from dad Charlie Peacock, Ashworth got his introduction to the music industry in high school, when his song ”I Won’t Stay Long” was recorded by Sixpence None the Richer. Almost ten years later, he has released his first solo record, Gonna Get It Wrong Before I Get It Right.

And speaking of Sixpence: Matt Slocum spearheaded the group, acting as its principal songwriter, as well as its guitarist and cellist, until the band’s demise last year. In the late 1990s, Sixpence epitomized the ”crossover success” of Christian bands into the mainstream, landing a hit song on the radio and various soundtracks. (Sadly, “Kiss Me” was so all-consuming that the depth and breadth of the group’s musicianship was largely overlooked.)

Now, Ashworth and Slocum have joined forces to tour Gonna Get It Wrong‘s dreamy indie-rock melodies and intelligent, reflective lyrics. The two have previously worked together on another project, Nashville supergroup Astronaut Pushers, which releases an EP this year.

Sufjan speaks.

Monday, September 12, 2005

For years, we have been hosting “conversations with the artist” whenever musicians perform at Calvin. In these informal dialogues, college students and members of the public gather in classrooms to ask these artists about their craft, their faith (or lack thereof), their creative process, their lyrics, and anything else that has audiences curious (with the exception of Teen Beat-esque inquiries about boxers or briefs). This has been an experience beloved by and unique to Calvin students and Grand Rapids residents--until now.

We’ve been searching for an easy way to record these conversations and pop them on the web, and we found what we were looking for in a nifty contraption called the iTalk. Just plug it into the top of your iPod, and voila: instant high-quality digital voice recorder. The iTalk has impressive range, perfect for picking up audience members’s questions, and transfers the data to a hard-drive so quickly that a conversation can be online minutes after it ends.

We decided to take the iTalk for a test drive with Sufjan Stevens, one of SAO’s favorite musicians. Listen as Sufjan waxes eloquent about bird-wasps, why he claps after his own songs ("Everyone else is doing it… I’m impressionable"), his newfound mainstream success, and what he likes to listen to when he’s cleaning his house.