FEATURES Foo Fighters and Chili Peppers Rock Eddie’s World By Eddie Capozzi and Thor Keck Capital Times Staff Writers Eddie’s World! Party Time! Excellent! As my friend Thor and I drove up to State College to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Wednesday night with two press passes, all I could think of was Wayne and Garth driving to Milwaukee to see Alice Cooper. The show at Bryce Jordan Center started promptly with a band named Muse opening for the two main acts. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers By Nicole Burkholder Capital Times Staff Writer I never thought that I would be completely disappointed in a John Cusack movie. High Fidelity proved that I could. When I first saw the trailer for the supposedly hip comedy, I was sucked in immediately. I couldn’t wait until opening day, March 31. The jokes were fresh and witty and the actors seemed cool. The trailer was the best part. Everything that lured me into the movie in the first place was there, it’s just that nothing else was. High Fidelity is in no way a disaster. It’s cute, but that’s about it. There are some great scenes involving Todd Louiso and Jack Black as the quirky music snobs employed by John Cusack. The banter that goes on inside Championship Vinyl is superb and obviously written by a class- A music elitist. Jokes about indie-gods Belle & Sebastian’s overrated success and excessive top-5 lists carry the entire movie. Unfortunately, the movie is Muse is a power-trio with a great singer. The crowd was thin at first but by the time they played their last song the place was full. Using our press passes we roamed backstage where Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters was hangin’ out listening to Urban Dance Squad. Not wanting to bother the guys 15 minutes before the show, greetings were exchanged and we decided to leave them alone to concentrate. Not 30 seconds later Anthony Kiedis shows up two hours late being escorted down the hall briskly smiling. The production was tight and the show went off without a hitch. The Foo Fighters played much of their first album which Dave Grohl wrote pre-Nirvana and released post-Nirvana. The Foo Fighters played with exuberance and Dave worked the crowd with ease. There were per fect reproductions of “I’ll Stick Around” and “Alone + Easy Target” asMyell more recent album “The Color and the Shape.” High Fidelity Gets Low Grade not about indie-bands and vinyl. The love story is ultimately the framework of the movie, a framework that feels like it is built out of sticks rather than stones. The story meanders around aimlessly with so much inside information between the charac ters that it could drive any audi ence nuts. Countless comments are made between actors that are supposed to clue both the charac ters and audience into the plot. Well, the characters get it but the audience just hopes they’ll find out what it all means by the end of the movie. You don’t. Some of the strangest things hap pen with absolutely no explana tion. The Fighters probably could’ve played for hours but with a headliner like the Chili’s they were pressed for time. At the end of the show Dave started playing AC/DC but stopped just when the crowd started to get into it. Dave stated that he only had time for one more song so it should be “one of ours.” When The Peppers came out Chad Smith and Flea started a heavy drum and bass groove, Kiedis howled into the mic for 30 seconds as John Frusciante made his Jazz Master guitar snarl, and then Flea slapped the beat to “Around the World.” The Peppers delivered on the very first verse when Anthony decrees, “Bom in the north and sworn to entertain ya, ‘Cause I’m down for the state of Pennsylvania.” “Scar Tissue” and “Califomication” came and went and it was soon evident to all in attendance that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were masters of their domain. Song after song the Peppers played with style and freedom. For instance, Rob (Cusack) decides to sign two juvenile punks to a record deal. Rob has no record label, nor has he pro fessed any interest in ever doing such a thing during the movie. To make matters worse, the initial signing of the deal is played up to be rather important. It isn’t, because the record must have been made during some other movie, or so it seems. The music is the saving grace of High Fidelity. If you are a music junkie then the movie is worth withstanding. Featuring the Beta Band, Belle & Sebastian and Marvin Gaye, the soundtrack at least provides an interesting aside to the action of the film. There are definitely gems that you might have never heard before or at least not in a long time. Although the acting isn’t bad and some scenes are interesting, at least to listen to, High Fidelity is not what I was so anxious to The book the movie is based on takes place in London, not in Chicago as the movie does, so The songs played off studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik were treats. “Suck my Kiss,” “I Could Have Lied,” and “Give it Away” were perfect. But the chance to mosh to the song “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” was not lost. As I delivered and accepted punishment from the tame pit at Bryce Jordan Center my thoughts traveled back nine years as I remembered moshing to my then-favorite song. The Chili Peppers in performance April 5 at the Bryce Jordan Center. ihaybe it’s some weird cultural Hopefully Cusack will take filing that makes High Fidelity note that this is no Say incredibly boring and tedious. Anything! The show was over after one encore in which Anthony said good bye and stepped off while Flea, John and Chad whaled for over 15 minutes on a jam that could not be stopped. Along with the great music, Flea and Anthony thanked every one repeatedly like this was their last tour and filled the venue with good feeling as they bantered back and forth ending with “I love yous.” The Chili’s really are Red Hot.
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