Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PHOTO BY CHRIS MCKAY I LIVE REVIEWS (ft RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, THE FOO FIGHTERS June 8,2000 Lakewood Amphitheater, Atlanta The humid June air was just starting to cool down as The Foo Fighters crashed into the opening notes ot their hit. ‘Monkey Wrench.’ For an hour, guitarist-singer Dave Grohl screamed and tossed his head around, constantly revving the crowd up farther. He led his group through hit after hit in a fashion more suitable fo arena rock of the *80s than the legendary group he kept time for a lew years ago. Four songs into the set, he was in the audi ence slapping hands and joking with the throng before him. At one point he pulled two “freaks’ from the audience to ‘dance’ during ‘Stacked Actors.’ The shirtless muscle bound guy and equally scantily clad young lady thrashed and danced, eventually devolving into a sug gestive display on the front of the stage. “My Hero’ began with a triple drumming piece as Grohl and bathrobed Chili Pepper Flea joined in with The Fog's proper drummer. The audience was full ol smiles as the three goofed ofl and went tribal for a few min utes. After a dry ice covered ‘Everlong,’ The Foo Fighters ended their Metallica- meets-The Knack set with the screaming, punkish ‘This Is A Call.’ Having exhausted their list ol singles, they took their bows before a still growing den ol iniquity. Before the Chili Peppers arrived, a ‘Go Lakers’ banner was strung up on stage left. Shortly after, Flea began a flurry of noisy, distorted bass notes as his bandmates filed in around him. People were running from concession stands and bathrooms as this solo-ette became the recent single ‘Around The World.* It was evident from the start that this was The Chili Peppers of yore, not the depressed, metal-tinged Dave Navarro version of a few years ago. Following the opener with two smashes (‘Give It Away,* and “Scar Tissue*) only amped up the smell of pot and the voices singing in unison. Soon. the band relaxed c bit. showing improv chops as intros to other songs. One guitar noodle was turned into Dr. Ore's “Nothin' But A G Thang’ and The Clashes ‘London Calling’ served as the opening to the new number “Right On Time.’ The return to the fold of guitarist John Frusciante has certainly been the catalyst to the group’s return to form. He served as musical director all night. He started and ended most of the ‘jams’ and squeezed out soulful, melodic leads that owed as much to Prince as to Hendrix or Clapton. With a musical per sonality beside him as strong as Flea's, itts hard to believe that any guitarist could hold his own. While Flea leaped, danoed and played perfectly, Frusciante stood relatively still, seemingly trans fixed with what came from his fingers. There was a subtle grace to his playing that overshadowed even the flashy car toon images on the screens behind nim. The set list was heavy on the new album, and vtfiile tl»ey did smashes like ‘Under The Bridge* and ‘Soul To Squeeze.’ surprise omissions included “Knock Me Down.* ‘Airplane.’ ‘My Friends,* “Fire,’ ‘Higher Ground* and anything before 1987. It all worked out for the best, though. The unproved material was better than most ot those songs anyway. Singer Anthony Kiedis has apparently been working on his voice in the interim between tours. No longer relying on rapid fire rapping, melodies like the one in “Californication smoothly communi cated its message of decadence and creativity. The whole time drummer Chad Smith pounded out rock solid foundations for his looser bandmaies to sail over The overtly sexual intent of pre vious tours has been muted into a sen suality that seemed less forced than it used to be Many times, the three mobile members of the group were hud dled in front of the drum riser, locked into grooves and waiting for new revela tions. It was refreshing to see such vet erans appear as fresh as a teenage garage group jamming on songs of their idols. They were apparently enjoying each others' company and the rebirth of the group that they started back in California as teens They have survived crippling addictions, and even the death ol their original guitarist. The toll wore on them for a while, but apparently they've gotten back in touch with the spark that set them off in the first place. I went in not expecting much from this show, and left feeling privileged to have witnessed it. Judging by the smiles around me on the way out,' I wasn't alone Chris McKay JAMES BROWN June 10,2000 lokewood Amphitheater, Atlanta Good god. y'all it was The Godfather O! Soul. Mr. Dynamite. Soul Brother #1, The Hardest Workin' Man in Show Business: James Brown. He was backed by three drummers, four horn players, two bassists, three guitarists, a keyboard player, an organ player, four backup singers, three dancers, one person who's job basically was to say ‘James Brown everybody’ and throw capes on the man and: par tridge in a pear tree at Lakewood; and Atlanta will literally never be the same You see, a representative of the mayor's office walked on stage mid show and presented The Godtather with the Phoenix Award—Atlanta’s highest honor—and named June 10 oflicial ’James Brown Day' in Atlania He was followed by another fellow who pre sented Mr Dynamite with “the key to the heart of Georgia ’ Yes. the show was very good Sure he played ‘Livin' In America’ and ‘I Feel Good,’ but so what? He v.as giving them what they wanted, and though I was not thrilled to hear them, lot's of people were. Mr. Brown mostly stuck to his hits, but through his career, he's accumulated quite an arsenal ol them. The show opened with the steaming “Get Up Off Ol That Thing.' and “Cold Sweat’ in rapid succession, followed by “Take It Higher’ and ’Livin’ In America.’ Things slowed down for a moment with an entrancing version of “Try Me,“ and hit high gear again with ‘Get On The Good Foot.* James was on. The 63-year-old man was jumping and shaking like nobody’s business and the crowd loved every bit of it. After a briel break for the awards. James delivered a particularly charged “I Got The Feetin’.* Mr. Brown, who’s always been rather socially minded, then settled down to a short monologue about how men need to take care ot their women, tfiich evolved into a rather involved “Man's Man's Man's World.’ Then another chat about how kids are running a little too wild and how his father whooped him one time, even though he was on crutches as a kid, for coming home late, which led to ‘Papa Don! Take No Mess.’ The audience obviously shared his feelings on the subject, for about 80% of the crowd joined in shouting ‘Papa beat the hell out cf us’ along with Mr. Godfather every time it came up in the song While on the ‘Papa’ theme, Mr. Hardest Workin' -went straight into ’Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag ’ It seemed like the show was hitting a grand fmaie. but James kept dishing out mcie and more. His version ot ‘Georgia On My M.nd* that was slow and mellow, then peppy and strong. After ‘The Big Payback,’ Til Go Crazy,’ and ‘I Feel Good.‘ it was time for social awareness agam. Mr Brown spoke about how folks need to get along and suggested the best thing to do was right then turn to your right and tell the person next to you that you love them, then turn to the person on your left and tell them that you love them No one was gonna aigue v.ilh The Godfather so there were lots of ‘I love you's’ going around Then into “Please Please Please.’ with touches ol “Lost Someone * Firtally. Mr Brown was joined on stage by Bobby bird for “Sex Machine,’ through which he did the backup vocals and keyboard with James hitting his own keyboard as well. The capes came out and got thrown but none of them -’ayed on for long. James was charged and wanted no part of them. He was cavorting around and dancing with his backup singers who were noticeably thrilled, leading me to believe that it was spontaneous. The whole experience was great. Jim Tucci OESffllg) EEnEgunuG , . _) r» „. *\ Sports Injury? Symptoms are a sign that your body needs attention. Call for a FREE consultation. Dr. Paul Wickster Alternative Solutions For Your Health Care Needs Athens Kinesiology. P.C. 706-227-3325 (706) 208-9588 285 W. Washington Street Athens, Georgia 30306 www.painandwonder.com by cap szumski BODY PIERCING Provided by Virtue &. Vice Inc. Athens' Own Randy Smyre &. Bethra Srumski Association Professional Piercers Board Member - JULY 19, 2000