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La Roux Interview
La Roux
Momentos
»new album will debut in March.
As great as the Louisiana's Le
Roux concert was last Monday,
I will always remember the
show by the two momentos I
received. My body received
one. a T-shirt just like the
band’s stage backdrop, which I
plan to display proudly for some
time to come. My cranium
received the other momento in
an accident I won’t discuss any
further. Barring premature
baldness. I won't have to
display that mqmento for some
time to come.
All in all it was a great show.
The band opened with a fiery
version of “Take a Ride on a
Riverboat". From then on the
band never.let up. Even “New
Orleans Ladies’’ showed the
kind of energy that permeated
this concert. Listening to that
album will never be the same. I
am still amazed that anyone
could sound that good liye
compared to their album’s
performance while absolutely
cooking on stage. The band's
playing was as tight as can be.
The sound was very intense like
you would expect from a good
live performance. It's that kind
of_ intensity that people go
looking for at concerts Judging
by the people either on their
feet or dancing up in the front
rows, the band managed to light
the audience's fire to such an
extreme that 1 wasn't sure the
audience would ever let them
leave the stage that night.
I talked with Jeff Pollard
again after the show and the
first thing he said was “give me
the small places anytime". I
asked him why and he said
' because these people don’t go
to see many good concerts too
often. Thus, the audiences
generally get pristty excited. “ If
you were there Monday night,
you know what it is that he’s
talking about.
Another thing that impressed
me was how the band’s vocal
harmonies came across. Every
vocal performance was excel
lent, but the vocal harmonies in
“Bridge of Silence" no doubt
senta chill up many a person’s
spine\myself included.
In the end, what surprised me
most was that the fifteen song
set included five songs from the
new album. One of the
highlights of the show was a
say, the audience
was spellbound.
■new song. “Bon
Temps Revlet", proved to be
one of the show's major
highlights. “Bon Temps Revlet"
is kind of a cajun slogan
? synonomous for having a good
{ time. Without a doubt, both
band and audience were having
a good time. Having heard the
band on album, talking with
Jeff, and just being around the
band in general before the
show, I knew the audience was
in for a good time, but little did I
know that a "Bon Temps
Revlet" awaited us all.
Most everyone left the show
that night truly impressed, but
after all that I had experienced
that day, I doubt anybody was
more impressed than me.
Pollard Thinks
Seger's Nice
Randi Eyes Shows
by Randi Hamlin
With all the new shows
fluttering the tube, “Randi’s
Eye" caught a few of them on
the rebouhd:
(1) Hello, Larry (NBC) a new
comedy starring McLean Ste
venson as a divorced radio-talk
show host trying to support two
teenage daughters. Sound fa
miliar? It should, the show is
produced by the producers of
One Day at a Time. But Larry
jpst doesn’t measure up. There
is limited comedy and poor
acting.
To put it bluntly, HeOo*Larry
could be saying good-bye to
television very soon. Randi’s
Rating: 14.0 with a 23% sh*re.
a total disaster.
(2) Turnabout (NBC) is an
exact replica of CBS’ now
cancelled We've Only Got Each
Other and Norman Lear's
unsuccessful AU That Glitters.
Turnabout is one of the worst
shows of the season.
In the opener, the Alston's
underwent a radical change, the
wife (Sharon Glass) changed
bodies with her husband (John
Schuck). They do everything
wrong and with poor taste. The
show, as crazy as it is. deals
with things - like a pregnant
father, an over-erootidnal hus
band; and a wife as strong as an
ox. It’s enough to make anyone
sick. R.R.: 14.0 with a 23%
share, terrible.
(3) Supertrain (NBC) a weekly
transcontinental train trip run
by atomic power is as good as it
sounds. With its all too
expensive setting and outstand
ing stars. Supertrain is one of
the best shows that NBC could
offer. Unlike the junk and
stupidity of Love Boat, Super
train gives the viewer a
suspenseful and exciting trip
from New York to Chicago, or
anywhere in the country, in less
than an hour. The train is large
enough to house its own
swimming pool with disco
tights, movie theatre, a disco
and much, much, more. Super
train has class and will appeal to
the above average audience.
With all these good qualities,
this show might be one of Ituf
few new hits of the season.
R.R.: 20.6, with a 33%
share-definitely showing a sign
of life.
Goulet, ett your heart out!"
by Rick Niva
Prior to the Louisiana La
Roux concert, “Cluster" rock
columnist Rick Niva spoke with
La Roux's Jeff Pollard.
Niva: Probably the first
question many of us want to
know is, when can we expect a
new album?
Pollard: Hopefully in March.
Niva: How muqh of the new
material was written *'bn the
road?
Pollard: Quite a bit.
Niva: Have you tested the
new material on the road? j
Pollard. Generally not. First
of all, people at the concerts
expect to hear the cut rent stuff.
Secondly, the songs we choose
to put on an album are generally
nine to ten good songs that work
together well.
Niva: How has concert
response been?
Pollard: The response is^
always good in places where
they play the album. In places
where they don't play the
album, the response is as good
as can be expected considering
that you’re ^'-tty well unknown
Niva: Who have you toured
with during the last year or so?
Plllard: We’ve toured with
people like Bob Seger, Santana,
Heart, Kansas, Journey, Mar
shall Tucker, Charley Daniels.
The Dirt Band. Bob Welch.
Kenny Loggins and a few
others.
Niva: Who did you enjoy
working with the most?
Pollard: Without a doubt that
would have to be Bob Seger. He
is just an incredibly nice guy
and his road crew is by far the
nicest we’ve worked with.
Niva: This is always a hard
question to answer, but who
would you list as some of your
major influences?
Pollard: I really liked "The
Band". And I find Duane
Allman and Jeff Beck incredible
guitarists.
Niva: I really admire your
music a lot. but 1 can’t help but
be most impressed by your
vocal harmonies and arrange
ments. Do you work hard on this
area?
Pollard: Yeah, we do work a
lot«in this area. The process we
use is a vefy natural process.
When 1 write the music, I have a
basic vocal arrangement in my
mind. I then present the song tq
the band. Everyone contributes
and a lot of times the song will
take a new direction.
Since we do sing together
naturally, we like to use a lot of
harmony. That’s why we spend
so much time in this area. We
are vocally oriented, and like I
say, we really have a lot of fun
with the vocals.
Niva: I'm sure a question
some people would like to know
is. who painted your stage
backdrop?
La Roux lights audience's fire.
Pollard: That was done by a
friend of ours back in Louisiana
named Benny Graff. What he
did was submit to us three or
four drawings after we told him
what we wanted. What /we
ended up with was a composite
product of the three drawings
we liked.
Niva: It seems that a lot of
musical artists today are almost
forced to conform/musically in
order to be a success. Do you
think the band can avoid such a
trap?
Pollard: Our main goal
musically is to play what comes
natural. We want to make a
name for ourselves by strictly
playing good quality music
We re happy with what are
doing. It’s like living in a
fantasy. Really. We enjoy
ourselves that much.
Niva: Any final comments?
Pollard: We’re looking for
ward to the release of the new
album. I think it will surprise a
lot of.people, but I think they’ll
end up liking it. We re happy
with it.
new song called "Ain’t Nothin'
But a Gria Gris". The song
The band
m for close
each band
king two or three solo
concert.
of
audience
before they
the band broke
Orleans Ladies".
J