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2 | THL’MDAr, 10, Vt<V 1 Thi k«D « BlACK
afterhours
MUSIC
► 40 WATT CLUB (54»-7«71|
• Thursday: Deacon Brody CD Release Parly
■/ S M 0 and The Pieaaandalea "Songs
trom a C<y ol Mangords" • a totd retease. *u*
ot passion and energy Heanng a he mould
only make a better Plus. Brody's got one het-
lutrl drummer
• Friday: 7 Ft PotUc/Hato Dave Swing rock-
atwiy act 7 Ft. a fatally making its way back
tirough town A crowd pieaser
• Saturday: Macha CD Release Party w/ The
Wide Receive s
• Tuesday: Kevn Katney/Vic Chesnutt/Kitty
Snyder Two nationally known musicians and
an up-and-coming songstress all lor the low.
low price of $5 Tins will undoubtedly be a
great performance
• Wednesday: Arvm Scott "Drumming lor
Success" Benefit, w/ Slackdaddy/Earth
CokectrveMiro Noodles/Adam Payne.
• Thursday: Voodoo Glow Skuds/Buck-O-
Nine/lmk 80 When I got the calendar, it said
Blink 60 Being the gregarious guy I am. I
checked to make sure they drdn t mean Blink
182 Come to find out it's Link 80, a ska band.
So all in all, that means this should be a
thniimg show lor ail ska-punk enthusiasts The
Glow Skulls have one ol the best horn sec
tions around
► DTS DOWN UNDER (543-9276)
•Thursday: Jumbo UghtninYThe Trees
• Friday: Moonshine
• Saturday: King Daddy Zed Anoither crowd
favorite Jason Fuller, the piano-playing King
Daddy himsell, will be getting every Myers
dorm-rat-hippie moving Saturday night.
• Monday: Francisco Vidal Band
• Tuesday: Acoustic Underground
► GEORGIA THEATRE (549-9918)
Wole Stick it tome man by turning out in
force at this weekend s iate night disco par
ties It may well be the last chance you'll get
That's Friday and Saturday. 2-4 a m
• Thursday: Sector 9
• Friday: Fuzzy Sprouts/Will's Drama.
• Saturday: Randall Bramblett Band I know
who the special guests are going to be lor
Bramblett's show, out I promised not to tell.
Let's |ust say they're Athens residents who
lust happen to have some time off from exten
sive tounng And it's not R E M.
• Wednesday. Spil/Grout
► HIGH HAT MUSK CLUB (549-5508)
• Thursday: Todd McBnde
• Friday: Harry Carry.
• Saturday: Bloodkm
• Tuesday: Vaudevtlle/Viclory Bowl
► LUNCH PAPER (549-4322)
• Thursday: Au|u Flow Show/Avalaunchnr
Local punk act Avalauncher is getting good
buzz
• Tuesday: Four Hour Fogger/Exit 86 Gritty
punk, meaning neither band will sound like
one ol those SoCal, this-one's-tor-my-girl-
tnend types
► TASTY WORLD (543-0797)
• Thursday: Johnny Ether/Duda. Electronics
and underground I wonder how the Irat boys
will react.
• Friday: Five-Eighl/Josh Joplin Band Five
Eight The one and only remaining heroes
ol the depression and angst-ridden music that
was so wonderful back in the day. And they’ve
gotten better with time! A definite must-see
• Saturday: Cherry ValanceiJuoler/Dime Bag
-Jonathan Reed
The Red & Black’s guide to the week in entertainment
Bramblett’s
- fountain of
youth is
overflowing
VARIETY
By JONATHAN REED
The Rbd a Black
For all of his 50 years, Randall Bramblett
doesn't seem old. With all he's seen, his per
plexing mix of youthful curiosity and sage
wisdom is astounding.
“Fifty doesn't seem old to me,” Bramblett
says, settling back into his chair. “You feel
like you're 20 or 30."
With a wizened face and the knowledge
that can only come with more than two
decades of touring, Bramblett relates how
he's gotten to where he is today and what
he's noticed along the way.
Bramblett hails from Jesup, a small town
outside of Statesboro. He developed as a
musician there, learning the organ and
piano, and most importantly, how to sing.
“I grew up imitating black singers all
the soul singers," he says. “Mix that with
Bob Dylan, and that’s me."
A deep tradition in R&B music landed
Bramblett with Capricorn Music many years
ago when it had an office in Macon. From
this base, he has moved to many places in
the South, finally ending up in Athens in
1970. He's been here off and on ever since.
“When I first got here, there were two bars
downtown, two places to play music," he
says. “So things have changed. I don’t see
how (students) stay in college anymore."
In this time he has acted as both solo
artist and has worked with the likes of Steve
Winwood (the two even appeared together in
the band Traffic during Woodstock ’94),
Gregg Allman. Levon Helm (In The Band, a
gig he describes as “a lot of fun, very low-
pressure") and the group Sea Level.
He has also appeared on tours with The
Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic.
But the past isn’t his focus, he says. With
MOVIES
FILE The Rep a Black
▲ Randall Bramblett will play with his band on Saturday at The Georgia Theatre.
Bramblett, who lives in Athens, says the show will be “a big energy blast.”
a new solo CD released in August, and a cer
emony where he received the keys to this
city, Bramblett said he's excited about where
everything is going
“I'm just looking forward,” he says, leaning
back in his chair and smiling. "Writing to me
is where it's at."
The influences of his youth have stuck
with him to this day R&B, gospel and rock
have all played a part in developing his self-
described “swampy feel.”
‘‘We’re coming from as rootsy a place as
we can. We re not a jam band, we're a song
writing band," he says.
Despite all this, he still tries to keep in
touch with how music has changed. The rise
of an alternative scene in Athens happened
while he was on the road, but he says it was
an exciting time. Today, he is still thrilled
with the music scene here, though he admits
“it's on the verge of overkill sometimes.”
“There used to be just a few types of
music," he says. “Music's so much more
diverse now.”
THE RANDALL BRAMBLETT BAND
When & where: Performing two sets, 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Georgia Theatre
Tickets: $7; 548-9199
And even though he’s spent many years
touring with jam-rock bands, he has been
amazed at their recent swell in popularity.
“I would never have thought Widespread
or Phish would have gotten so big," he says,
the confusion in his squinted eyes revealing
his age for the first time. "1 mean. 120,000
people coming to see Widespread?”
After a lengthy discussion over roots-
rock's sudden rise to the forefront,
Bramblett explains why he’s been so dumb
founded with music trends in recent years.
"It's exciting, but sometimes you don't get
what's happening. The cutting edge changes
so fast these days," he says with a sigh. He
may incorporate new styles sometimes, but
he says he won't ever try to be trendy.
"I have to go back and find what's good
music for me, and that’s what lasts,” he says.
"You can be influenced so easily, but you've
got to stick to the center of yourself.”
At his age, many musicians have already
moved on, but Bramblett perseveres. When
he takes to the stage this weekend, it will be
just as exciting for him to go out and still be
giving it his all.
“We re always pushing it as far as we can
go," he says. "It's just a big energy blast, a
big, cathartic blow-out."
Many people could only hope to still feel
that way when they are older.
FILE l The Rid a Black
4 Travis
Tritt plays
at the
Classic
Center
tonight.
-► ATHENS FOLK MUSK AND DANCE
SOCIETY (546-7566)
> Fall folk diner This will be the final
-AFMDS-sponsored dance ol the yeai It'll take
iplace front 8 to 11 30 p m Saturday at the
Memorial Halt Ballroom, admission lor
AFMDS members is $4 (students) or $5 (non-
students); non-members get in lor $5 and $6
respectively Faith and Friends will provide
the music.
«Song Swap: The Athens Brewing Company
hosts this monthly opportunity tor local musi
cians to share their music with an audience.
This open-mike night begins at 9 p.m.
"Monday.
► MORTON THEATRE (113-3770)
• “Oliver!": Mavenck Productions and the
{Northeast Georgia Performing Arts Center
help the Morton bring this play to life
.Showtimes are 8 p.m. tonight. Friday and
Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday;
Tickets cost $10 for adults and $8 for chil
dren, students and seniors (people in groups
of10 or more get in lor $10).
► SCHOOL OF MUSK (542-3737)
• Christmas with the UGA Symphony
Orchestra: Edgar Scruggs and Dwight
Satterwhite conduct the UGA Orchestra and
Choruses with special guests Gregory
Broughton and the UGA Children's Chorus.
(Admission is $5 lot students and $9 lor every
one else. The concert wi« be held In the Hugh
Hodgson Concert Hal ol the Performing Arts
Center at 8 tonight.
► Georgia Children's Chorus: Alter tonight's
performance, the Children's Chorus returns j
lor their Holiday Concert at 7:30 p m.
Tuesday Elizabeth Kimble (Erects, and tickets :
•rs $5 lor students. $6 lor non-students
-DougGMett i
Tritt turns Classic Center
^ into ‘Country Club’ tonight
Whenever Travis Tritt comes to town, it can spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
That’s right — Athens has scored its second big-name country act in
the last few months with the popular native Georgian.
“It’s good to have a big name come to Athens," said Jodi Riggins, a
senior from Jessup. “It's good to have a Georgia boy come home.”
Tritt, who grew up in Cobb County and attended Sprayberry High
School in Marietta, is touring behind his most recent album, “No
More Looking Over My Shoulder."
"We went looking for songs for this album," Tritt said in a release.
“We had only one basic criterion. They had to be loud."
But Tritt, who lives in Hiram, has never really fallen away from his
Georgia roots — which appeals to his fans.
“He's down-to-earth.” said Mandy Dorsett, a senior from Norcross.
“He’s stuck to his roots."
Tritt is wrapping up his tour with several Georgia stops
“I backed off touring quite a bit this year because of the baby
, being bom in February,” Tritt said.
Tritt, who is known for such country standards as “Here’s a
Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares” and "Country Club," has a defi
nite fan base here in Athens.
'Tve always liked his music,” said Riggins. “It's great that he’s
coming here.”
— Nathan Solheim
When 8i where: 8 p.m., Classic Center
Tickets: $25 lor all seats; available at Classic Center box office. 300 N.
Thomas St, downtown Athens
Info: 208-0900
Stipe’s glam rock drama
doesn’t quite strike ‘Gold’
By JOSH MASSEY
The Red a Black
"Velvet Goldmine" is a movie with a multi
tude of stories to choose from. The layers are
thick with different characters and plotlines,
perhaps too thick. The real trick is to see if
the movie can choose the right character, the
right plotline.
The local connection here is Michael Stipe,
who acts as one of the nim s executive pro
ducers. His draw to the material is a some
what obvious one: The main character is a
pop star who, at times, daunts his sexuality
without ever fully opening up about it.
That’s about as close as Slade (Jonathan
Rhys-Meyers) comes to Stipe, though. Slade
is a different kind of rocker from a different
time. He rises to fame in the early '70s in the
glam rock movement, made popular in real
life by David Bowie.
The scene was marked by musicians dress
ing up like drag queens, with thick makeup,
heavy doses of glitter and outrageous clothes,
most of which seemed to Involve feathers.
Bisexuality was "in” at the time, and those
tired of the straight-laced Beatles or the hip
pie movement found a home with glam.
Glam is Slade's home for years, until he
gets bored. In what amounts to a massive
publicity stunt, or perhaps a cry for attention
(the movie is never clear), he fakes his own
death onstage. When the hoax is soon
revealed, his career is never the same. The
fans disappear, he turns to heavy drugs and
the concerts grow farther and farther apart
“Velvet Goldmine” jumps back and forth
between timeframes, from Slade's start to
Slade's end, and his blurry relationship with
fellow rocker Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor).
The movie also features Christian Bale as
Arthur Stuart, a 1984 Journalist trying to
uncover what happened to Slade 10 years
after his disappearance.
What the movie doesn't ever realize, much
to the viewers’ distress, is that the most
interesting story isn't Slade. It’s in
McGregor’s electrifying Wild, and Bale’s quiet
reporter. Through his quest to find Slade, we
realize we want to know more about what
he’s become rather than what he was.
The moments McGregor and Bale are on
screen are fantastic. A great movie would
have had much more of them. “Velvet" is only
a diversion, though; more like fool's gold.
VELVET GOLDMINE
Starring: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Ewan McGregor
The lowdown: (R) This drama Is only half-glam.
Playing at: Beechwood
Grade: B-
FU I T.. ■» 4 Biacs
▲ Ewan McGregor, left, and Jonathan
Rhya-Meyers star In “Velvet Goldmine."
SHOWTIMES EFFECTIVE FRIDAY
► ALPS (546-5256)
• Bride of Chucky (R) Sat. Sun at 2:X p.m
• PI (R) Fnday at ItXp.m. Saturday at 5:10
and tt.Xp.m. Sunday at 5:10p m. Other
than a showing at October's Kudzu Film
Festival, this mathematical thriller has never
played Athens before.
• Snake Eyes (R) Daily at 9:45 p.m. (B)
• Whet Dreamt May Come (PG-13) Daily at
7:20p.m. My last batch ol movie listings —
sad. And I still have to mention this crap. (D)
► AMC COLONIAL 18(404-616-4262)
Shows st or alter It p.m, on Fh. and Sat. only
• Babe: Pig In the City (G) I. 3:15. 5:Xp.m.
• A Bug's Lite (G) t. 2:30, 3:15. 5. 5:45, 7:15,
8. 9.30, 10:15, 11:Xp.m. (A-)
• Enemy of the State (R) 1:45. 2.30, 4:45,
5.30, 7:45. 8:X. 10:45, 11:Xp.m. The only
action movie out there, and a pretty good one
at that. Will Smith stars. (B+)
•Home Fries (PG-13) 545 pm., l2:Xa.m.
• I'll Be Home For Chrletmae (PG) 1,3. 5p.m
• I Still Know Whet You Did Leet Summer
(R)3.30, 8pm. (C)
• Jack Frost (PG) 1, 3:15. 5.30, 7:45, 10p.m.,
12:15 a m. Michael Keaton stars in this weird
comedy as a man who dies and comes back
as a snowman. OK. This is aimed mainly at
the kids, especially with the "snowman makes
up for lost time with his son" subplot. This
comes straight tram Warner Bros., the studio
behind "The Avengers' and “The Postman."
• Meet Joe Bleck (PG-13) 1. 430. 8:15. 11:45
p.m. (B-)
• Patch Adams (PG-13) Sneak preview
Saturday at 8 p.m.
• Psycho (R) 12:45, 2:X. 3:15.5. 5:45. 7.30,
8:15. 10, 10:45 p.m.. 12.X a m. The worst
movie ol 1998. (F)
• Ringmaster (R) 10:15 p.m., 12:Xa.m.
• The Rugrats Movie (G) 12:15, 1, 2:X, 3:15,
4:45, 5:30, 7. 9:15 p.m.
• The Siege (R) 8, tO.Xp.m. No 8p.m. show
on Saturday. (B)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (PG) 12:15. 1.30,
2:15, 3. 4:15, 5, 5:45, 7, 7:45, 8.30, 9:45.
10.30, 11:15 p.m., 12:Xa.m.
• Very Bad Thing* (R) 7, 11:45 p.m. II you
have a strong heart and stomach, this wildly
black comedy is the movie to see. Cameron
Diaz and Christian Slater star. (A)
• The WaterBoy (PG-13) 12:45. t X, 3.3:45.
5:15.6, 7.30, 8:15, 9:45, 10.30 p. m„ 12 a.m. (C)
► BEECHWOOD (546-1011)
• A Bug's Lite (G) 2. 2:30, 4, 4.30, 6.30, 7,
8:30, 9p.m. (A-)
• Babe: Pig in the City (G) 2 05.4.35 p.m.
• Celebrity (R) 2:10, 4:35. 7:20, 9:50 p.m.
This may be Woody Allen's latest, but all the
buzz is coming Irom the 20-minute appear
ance by Leonardo DCaprio. The Titanic" star
reportedly steals the film playing a hot-headed
young movie star. Hmmm ... Anyway, Kenneth
Branagh, Winona Ryder and Charlize Theron
also star in Allen's sly take on being famous.
• Home Fries (PG-13) 2.30, 4:55. 7.30, 9:55 p.m.
• I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
(R) 2.25, 4:45. 7:25. 9:45p.m. (C)
• Jack Frost (PG) 2.20, 4:50, 7:10, 9:20p.m.
• Patch Adams (PG-13) Sneak preview
Saturday al 7:35 p.m. Robin Williams stars as
a wacky med student in this comedy-drama.
• The Rugrats Movie (G) 2:15. 4:15, 7:15,
9:15 p.m. The sequel is in the works. Hooray.
• Rush Hour (PG-13) 7.35, 9:55 p.m. No 7:35
show in Saturday. (B+)
• Velvet Goldmine (R) 140, 4:20, 7. 9:40 p.m.
Look to the left. See the review. Read it. (B-)
► COMMERCE DRIVE-IN (335-2466)
•A Bug's Lite(G) 8p.m. (A)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (PG) 8p.m.
• The WaterBoy (PG-13) 8 p.m. (C)
► GEORGIA SQUARE 4 (INSIDE)
(543-1632)
• I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
(R) 1:20, 4:30, 7 9:30p.m. (C)
• Meet Joe Black (PG-13) 1, 4:45. 8.30 p.m.
Having just seen "Psycho," every other movie
(s starting to look great to me. So I might rec
ommend this — nah. never mind. (B-)
• Psycho (R) 1:10, 4:25. 7:05,9.35 p.m. (F)
• Ringmaster (R) 1:15,4.35, 7:10,9:25 p.m.
From the small screen to the big, traveling
under the moral compass of this beloved
country. Jerry Springer has cast himself as the
king ol sleaze. II you look closely, so have I.
► GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (OUTSIDE)
(548-9460)
Shows al or alter midnight on FnJSat only.
• Elizabeth (R) 1, 3:40. 7, 9:Xp.m„ 12:05 a.m.
The National Board ol Review has named this
historical thriller the third best movie o< 1996.
behind "Gods and Monsters' and "Saving
Private Ryan.' Cate Biancnett stars.
• Enemy ol the State (R) I, 4, 7,9:45 p.m. (B+)
• Star Trak: Insurrection (PG) 1:40,2:10, 4,
4 30. 7, 7:X. 9:20, 9:50p.m., mrohigW. Capt.
Picard and the rest ol the 74610 Generation'
crew return for their third film, which is the
ninth tor Trek’ overall. This time, they're up
against F. Murray Abraham as an evil genius
with a helluva plastic surgery problem. The
half-assed visual ettects and cheesy one-lin
ers abound. Just another reminder why we're
looking forward to new ‘Star Wars' movies.
• The WsterBoy (PG-13) 1:15, 3:15. 7:X,
9.30p.m, midnight. (C)
► GEORGIA THEATRE (649-9618)
• Monday: Slam (R) 7, 10 p.m Rapper/po«
Raymond (Saul Williams) is arrested on a
drug charge, but meets an inspirational witting
teacher (Sofya Shon) while behind bars.
• Tuesday: Happiness (R) 7, 10 p.m. Director
Todd Solontz tackles suburb* in his controver
sial follow-up to "Welcome to the Dollhouse'
► TATE THEATRE (54-UNION)
• Friday/Saturday/Sunday: There's Some
thing About Mary (R) 3,5, 7:X, 945 p.m.,
midnight. Take care everybody (&•)
-Josh Massey