concert reviews
Bloodrock
Jethro Tull
BLOODROCK, DEC. 3 finally played it near the end
Hazleton, Penna. According to "Rolling
by John Roslevich Stone" (June 10, 1971),
Bloodrock arrived in "promotion men started
Hazleton on Dec. 3, 1971, pushing The Buoys' Timothy'
amid an atmosphere of mixed during the first two months of
feelings among the concert 1970, but the record was
goers. Many students said that obscured by the then number
they had never heard of the one 'Venus.'
group. Those students who had "At the time the
heard of them did not speak pedestrian instrumental line
too highly of Bloodrock's obscured the lyrics. After
music. As a matter of fact'few, several months programmers
if any, students actually liked and listeners alike discovered
Bloodrock. that the song was about
Recently Bloodrock came cannibalism: three friends are
off of a national tour with trapped in a mine, two
Grand Funk Railroad and emerging upon rescue sans
Pacific Gas and Electric where Timothy. Everyone who
they played most, if not all, of understands the words gets a
the choice spots in the charge out of -the grossness, so
country, including the now the record has been a hit
defunct Filmore East. wherever and whenever
According to advance press played."
releases, Bloodrock apparently After a short intermission
felt that because of that tour, spiced by a few idiotic
their music was categorized comments by WAZL's Neal
with Grand Funk. However, Rodino, the emcee, Bloodrock
they make it explicit that they emerged from the darkness in
believe in their own style of all their sadistic, mysterious
music and performance. glory. For the next 90 minutes
The Hazleton concert was the audience was treated to
fair - not the worst but some pretty freaky music. The
certainly not the best. It's hard audience seemed to like it
to pinpoint exactly what put (except Dean McCallus who
the damper on. It could have left early) and brought them
been the relatively small gym back again for an encore.
(although St. Joe's is At one point the drummer
Hazleton's largest), the crowd exhausted himself with a
(which consisted of many, prolonged but very impressive
many high school teeny solo. The lead singer grossed
boppers of Top-40 breeding), out several girls standing near
or the narcs (never thought the stage by making obscene
there were any in Hazleton, phallic gestures with his
huh? Well, now we know who microphone and stand.
most of them are!!!). By the If Highacres expects to
way, the local yokels busted produce any more good rock
two Wilkes-Barre kids who concerts, they could use a few
were good friends of the tips about security. Of course
Buoys, the backup group of we're not about to tell them
teh night. Guess in that because we're always in the
business it's not always who market for a good rip-off too,
you know that counts. just like everyone else. It seems
The Buoys did a great job that everybody and his uncle
with their set, which included a was roaming around the
very reasonable facsimile of backstage areas. If this were
Crosby,. Stills, Nash, and any kind of a top-name concert
Young's "Judy Blue Eyes." attracting all sorts of freaks,
They ran through it once the drum sets left unguarded at
during rehearsal before the stage left would have been
show and it sounded better the gone before the show even
second time around. started. The same with the
Throughtout their act' guitars at stage right.
some Top-40 jerks kept It was a start, Highacres,
screaming for "Timothy," the but you've got a long way to
group's single on Scepter. They go. Amen.
concert
invades
JETHRO TULL, NOV. 15
Boston, Mass.
by Judith Anne Fairchild
Boston was seized once
again by the British as Jethro
Tull descended on the city on
Nov. 15, 1971, but their
reception was far different
from that received by their
forebearers almost 200 years
ago.
The warm-up group,
Curved Air, sounded much like
an early Fifth Dimension, but
without the vocal quality. The
lead singer did at times manage
to produce a sound and
appearance akin to that of the
late, great Janis Joplin, and the
lead guitar had a solid sound,
but the group in general lacked
professionalism.
The near-capacity crowd
at the Boston Garden waited
patiently through a rather
lenghty intermission, which
was marred only by several
minor hassles with the police
over standing in the aisles. Tull
was arriving in glory a Boston
underground paper (Boston
After Dark) ranked them as the
number four group; Aqualung
was the 3rd rated album; and
lan Anderson was the top
instrumentalist. We Jethro Tull
freaks of olden times find
ourselves with mixed emotions
over their new popularity - two
years ago, even last year, when
we would mention Tull, people
would query, "Who's he? " But
now, Tull is here, full grown
and ready to take their place in
popular music. We have to
share them, as was proved by
the standing ovation as the
stage leaped to life.
And leap it did! From
total darkness emerged a
whirling, diving lan Anderson,
and one by one, the group
sprung into the lights. With a
long lead-in, they opened the
program with My God from
Aqualung. From then on, the
events are no longer
distinguishable - the entire
concert melts 'into one vivid
dream sequence. The striking
image of lan Anderson leaping,
coiling, dancing, writhing,
conducting the piano, guitars,
and audience, did strange
things to one's head. He was
everywhere at once! Martin
Barre, on lead guitar, was much
into the visual act with
Anderson, as was John Evans,
the newest member, on
concert calendar
Jan. 18-19 - KWESKIN, The Main Point, Bryn Mawr
Jan. 19 - BUDDY MILES, WAR, Spectrum, Phila., 8 p.m.
$ 4,5, 6.
Jan. 20 -23 - CHRIS SMITHER, The Main Point.
Jan. 23 - JERRY GARCIA, HOWARD WALES,
Villanova Field House, Phila., 8 p.m.
Jan. 25 - CACTUS, Senate Theatre, Harrisburg
Feb. 4 - JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR, Hershey Sports
Arena, 8:30 p.m. $4.50, 5.50, 6.50.
Feb. 7 - STEVE MILLER BAND, Juniata College , 8:15 p.m
$ 5.00 advance.
Feb. 11 - DON McLEAN, Academy of Music, Phila.,
8:30 p.m., $ 3,4, 5,6,
4.IIIIMMIMIIMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1111111 l 11111111111111111111111111111.111MIIMMIMMIIMMIWt:
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"fair,"
Boston
ESS-BEE
SPORTSWEAR
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New Arrivals on
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Donnkenny
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keyboard. His solo on
Locomotive's Breath was
especially memorable - the
frenzy on stage built to a
climax as he leaped from the
organ and somehow (I don't
know how!) maneuvered
himself across the stage to the
piano. Then the sound and
lights, save for the red and blue
spots on him, were killed as he
started his freaky concerto.
Clive Bunker on drums was
finally given his long deserved
solo spot; as he played for
about an hour (although I'm
told it was really only five
minutes), the light dimmed and
the group faded away, only to
spring back much as in the
beginning. Jeffrey
Hammond-Hammond, who
replaced Glenn Cornick on
bass, was also fantastic,
although a bit more reserved
than the others.
The music itself was
superb - but then, what else
would one expect from Tull?
Especially good were
Cross-Eyed Mary, My God,
Aqualung, Hymn 43, and
Wind-Up from Aqualung (they
did the entire album!); To Cry
You a Song (which, Anderson
quipped, "has been recorded
by such American favorites as
Andy Williams and Lassie.")
from Benefit; A New Day
Yesterday and Bouree from
Stand Up; and Beggar's Farm
from This Was. After playing
for years, the group bade
farewell (the usually hostile
Anderson had been extremely,
gentle to the Boston audience,
who he challenged early in the
concert to behave "as members
of the peace generation.") and
retired, much to the dismay of
the hynotic crowd. There was
much shouting and applause,
and soon everyone got his head
together and the entire
audience acted as one: the
lights were all killed. and each
person lit a match - a really
far-out sight!! Tull came back
and outdid themselves to
Wind-Up, which featured the
versatile Anderson at his best
as composer, flautist, guitarist,
and vocalist.
And then, as quickly as
they had come, Jethro Tull was
gone, an unforgettable split
second respite from reality for
those present. No more will
people ask, "Who's he? " They
know.
Colorful
Crushed Velvet
Jeans $7
Pucker Blouses
Long Sleeve $ 4
Short Sleeve $ 3
Sweaters $ 5
Rutledge in action
Bucks Playhouse
releases schedule
Lee R. Yopp,
Producer/Artistic director of
teh Bucks County Theatre
Company which operates all
year at Bucks County
Playhouse in New Hope, Pa.,
has announced , the calendar for
winter-spring '72.
Currently in its fifth year
at the Playhouse, the Theatre
Company will continue to
offer classic and contemporary
plays for children, student and
adult audiences.
Following the final
performance of "The
Fantasticks" on Jan. 8, ,1972,
Theatre-In-Educationn. - will
resume daily weekday matinees
at 10:30 AM. Featured for
students will be "Romeo and
Juliet" and "West Side Story."
This double bill is being
remounted to fill the large
number of ticket requests
unaccomodated in the past fall
season. Also offered for
"Romeo and Juliet" very
impressive at New Hope
by John Roslevich
The Bucks County
Playhouse at New Hope,
formerly a summer stock
theatre only, is now operating
year-round, and justifiably so.
All phases of their summer
productions were of a high
calibre, and it is a delight to be
able to experience Bucks at
any time throughout the year.
We caught an evening
performance of Shakespeare's
"Romeo and Juliet" during its
three-week run at the
Playhouse in December. This
classic tragedy was in repertory
with "West Side Story," a
contemporary musical based
on "Romeo and Juliet." This
was the first time in theatre
history that both plays were
presented on the same bill.
The two plays shared the
smae director, Paul Barry,
founder of the New Jersey
State Shakespeare Festival. Mr.
Barry also staged the very
realistic fight scenes in the
production.
In addition, several of the
major roles were double-cast.
"Romeo and Juliet" was
done on an open stage which
gave the theatre an eerie,
mysterious aura even before
the play began. This was
acheived through the use of
very effective lighting and by
the presence at stage left of a
seemingly-dead body of a man.
It would be difficult to
single out any one performer as
outstanding. Carol Williard as
Juliet and Clyde Barton as
Romeo were believable and
empathic. Also notable were
William Simington as
Montague, John Carpenter as
Capulet, and Arthur Sellers as
Mercutio. Minerva Davenport
students, are "Cyrano de
Bergerac" and "You're A Good
Man, Charlie Brown." Tours of
"The Fantasticks" and "Our
Town" are also available.
Adult theatre-goers may
see "West Side Story" evenings
the last three weekends of
January and the first weekend
in February. The comedy,
"Once Upon A Mattress" is
scheduled for seven weekends
beginning the second week of
February through the 3rd week
of March. "Cyrano de
Bergerac" will run for four
weekends and "You're A Good
Man, Charlie Brown" is
scheduled for all the weekends
in May. Evening performances
are at 8:30 PM.
For additional
information, please call or
write the Playhouse, Box 223,
New Hope, Pa. - telephone
(215) 862 - 2041.
was lovable in her role as
Juliet's nurse.
Dennis M. Fitzpatrick
seemed awkwardly cast as
Paris, the young count
expected by the Capulets to
marry Juliet. He did a good job
regardless.
The unit set was designed
by Hal Tine and costumes by
Toni James. Everything
blended beautifully to make
for an impressive production.
101 S. Broad Mt. Ave., Frackville
For Dinner and/or Ticket Reservations Phone 874-9954
HIGHACRES COLLEGIA
Jim Rutledge, lead vocalist of Bloodrock, is seen during the
group's December concert in Hazleton sponsored by Penn
State Highacres.
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4Ped* 42 W. Broad Street
Hazleton, Penna.
TUESDAY / FEB. 8
"HAPPY HOLIDAYS"
(A Musical Romp Through The Holiday Seasons)
Performances Tues.-Wed.-Thurs. 8:30 P.M. At
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