May 1, 1995 — LION’SEYE — —n cr tainm i. Delco 95: Battle of the Bands 4-Elvis-4 Proves To Be King By Nicholas Felici This year’s Battle of the Bands was Delco’s version of Woodstock "94, only instead of the troublesome mud, the maximum crowd of 117 people faced sub-arctic temperatures and howling wind on the unseasonably bitter day of April 5. However, this only made for an unforgettable war. Forced to go on as scheduled and unable to be moved indoors, five bands endured the grueling conditions and fought to the end. When the dust cleared and the last scream of angst, hatred, fear, and love died out in one final wavering chord, the war had produced a clear victor, a band called 4-Elvis4 Vinyl unleashed the first gunfire at approximately 4:25 p.m. Ripping through both original and cover songs, Vinyl played a thirty-seven minute set and clearly marked their place as the standard for which the following bands had to play up to. Their heavy modern rock lyrics and stage presence satisfied the quickly-assembling crowd, most of who had expected this to be a bland blend of alternative music. The Generics quickly put that thought to rest, though that was all that was resting. No one in the growing crowd population of about 75 was anywhere near sleep. Instead, the hardcore punk thrash band overwhelmed the audience, creating sort of a mosh pit in front of the fifteen- foot long stage. A powerful hit of crude, hurtful lyrics backed by unsteady riffs and hard-pounding bass was unfortunately mostly drowned out by thrashing drums that demanded to be louder than anything else. The Generics did not give an award-winning performance. They lacked technical skill and seemed awkward and unbalanced, but they certainly achieved what they had apparently set out to do: cause a little chaos at Delco. Jackson Pollock took the stage next, and with their harmonic sound and flowing rhythms, they transformed the event into an unplugged gathering of sorts. Though the challenging weather forced them to revert to electrical instruments, they had hoped to give an accoustic performance. The temperature and weather conditions by this time critical, and instruments became their enemies, but the band played on. With a soothing blend of tenor vocals, Jackson Pollock played some of their originals, as well as a rough version of Nirvana's “Oh me.” JP hurried off the stage, half frozen, half broken-hearted, but by the semi-standing ovation they received as they headed to the heaters indoors, they were well appreciated. Next was The Source, a modern rock band out of Drexel University. They began with the unexpected theme song to the new wave comedy, The Kids in the Hall. Along with genuine songs of their own, The Source performed an altered version of a very familiar Chris Isaac love song, “Wicked Game.” The result was incredible. The slow, haunting ballad was twisted halfway through, and what emerged was a crashing rage not unlike that of Live and similar in tone to Bush. The lead vocalist’s voice was solid and straightforward, and carried the lyrics and angst through even the loudest of guitar chords and smashing symbols. With a dwindling crowd of only pure fanatics, and with temperatures nearing the freezing point, 4-Elvis-4 mounted the stage and breathed fire into the audience. Encumbered with a deluxe keyboard and bundled with layers of winter clothing, 4-Elvis-4 embraced the aura of the new REM and the everlasting feel-for-me cries Adam Duritz supplies to Counting Crows. All the performances were their own originals, and no one in the core crowd of 25 was disappointed by the lack of cover songs. The band even had sales merchandise to front after their performance, including hats, t- shirts, and cds. The votes were counted, the rating system was completed, and the winner was 4-Elvis- 4, followed by The Source in a close second place. Eli jams with his punk/thrash group, The Generics, enduring the bitter weather at the Battle of the Bands. . Photo by: NICK FELICI Bad Boys Isn't All That Bad By David Schiff In the recently-released movie,Bad Boys , comedians Martin Lawrence and Will Smith bring life to the boring format of the cop-buddy movie. Their young style and chemistry overcome the movie's recycled ideas. Bad Boys is a movie that copies the style of earlier hits Lethal Weapon and the TV show Miami Vice. Bad Boys is about the wild, single cop (Smith) whose life is contrasted with the square, married cop (Lawrence). This story line is what made Lethal Weapon a hit. The difference with this movie is that circumstances force the two characters to switch identities. Lawrence pretends to be the wild bachelor, while Smith is home with his partner’s wife and kids. The movie is your basic cop story. The reason this one works is because of the actors. Smith and Lawrence work very well together. Their rapid-fire dialogue builds into numerous hysterical scenes. The movie is filled with comedy and a lot of explosion. Bad Boys is surprisingly very funny. The story line works well with Lawrence and Smith. On a scale of one to ten, I rate it an eight. Hollywood . . schedule in Hollywood since James Earl Jones. Mel Brooks is still making movies. Is anyone still going to see them? The creator of unequaled comic masterpieces, such as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers , will take Leslie Neilson under his wing for Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Neilson may be able to breathe life back into the former master, but many of us still have shivers from Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The big man Sylvester Stallone just keeps getting bigger from the looks of it. He has recently signed a twenty million dollar contract with Savoy Pictures for a yet to be determined film in which he'll star and direct. Coming soon is Assassins , with co-star Tommy Lee Jones, an American remake of the John Woo shoot-em-up film The Killer. Tom Cruise continues his winning streak with another definite = (continued from page 6) blockbuster, this one directed by Brian DePalma. Mission Impossible will soon reach the big screen, promising exploding messages and international intrigue. One of the best ideas I've heard in a while is that John Cleese is reuniting the entire cast of A Fish Called Wanda for its sequel Death Fish, Oliver Stone continues down political avenue with another ambitious project, Nixon. British actor Anthony Hopkins takes over the role of America’s most notorious Chief Executive with a film that will no doubt anger a lot of people and make even a few more think. : Dreamworks, the new studio mega-project that includes the biggest power players in Hollywood, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffery Katzenberg, has added a new name to its roster of power. Bill Gates, head of Microsoft and the youngest self-made billionaire in the world, has chipped in a measly five hundred million dollars to take over the multimedia aspects of the new studio. They hope to control a good chunk of the film, television, music, and multimedia world by the turn of the century. The first actual film to come out of the new collaboration will be the live action version of Casper the Friendly Ghost, though the more exciting projects are still on the way. Harrison Ford is currently in negotiations to don the rumpled fedora once again for not one, but two new Indiana Jones films to be shot back to back. Also on the Dreamworks movie slate is the novel already completed by Michael Chrichton, Return to Jurassic Park. Finally, who could mention movie gossip without bringing up it’s hottest subject of the moment, Kevin Costner’s summer release, Waterworld. Undoubtedly the most expensive film ever made, at a budget of two hundred million, it will need to make six hundred million worldwide just to Music Revolution’s Propaganda By Alexandre Ostroff For the first issue of Propaganda in 1995, U2 decided to treat the subscribers to their magazine by including a free CD init. ThisCD isa collection of songs from the Achtung Baby and Zooropa albums, remixed by prominent DJ's of the dance and hip- hop world. The major contributor to the CD is club DJ guru Paul Oakenfold, who stamped, along with colleague Steve Osborne, his distinctive "perfecto mix" sound on three tracks. The result is very club-ish and danceable cuts of such songs like "Mysterious Ways" and "Lemon" (notice the anagram with Melon). Other highlights include the dark hip-hop mix of "Numb" by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill and the luminous Perfecto Mix of "Even Better Than The Real Thing." This last mix really gives you a feeling of what the European club scene is (I had the opportunity to experience it many times while living in Belgium) and the culture behind it (the "unfettered hedonism" it preaches). Other songs subjected to this remix therapy are "Salome" (a b-side track of one of their singles) and "Stay (Faraway, so close!)" of Zooropa. "Numb," "Lemon," and "Mysterious Ways" are also found in trancy-er, darker mixes, cut by renown European DJ's such as David Morales and Rob D. This is a very interesting collection of songs since they express at their fullest the radical change the U2's sound has taken since 1991 and U2's willingness to experiment more with their material. Obviously, the days of hanging out with B.B. King and Bob Dylan (cf "Rattle Hum" era) are far behind. Oakenfold and Producer Flood (Nine-Inch Nails, P.J. Harvey) are the main people in the U2 picture now. Like time, U2 is moving on to new musical horizons and experiences. By the way, this CD is not available through Propaganda anymore, and its market value is about $150 (ouch! contact me). Let the music Revolution roll. "Tt is your world; you can change it."-- Bono. break even. Studio executives who have viewed the two and a half hour rough cut sing its praises, saying “It’s all we had foped it would be and more” A Mad Max on the water, as it has been described, it has more people scared in Hollywood since the failure of Heaven's Gate in 1980. Who knows? Perhaps it will be the greatest thing we've ever seen on the silver screen as we're being told. But keep in mind, if you were a studio executive in charge of this behemoth, would you even whisper in your sleep that it wasn't the greatest cinematic experience of all time? The summer almost is here and so is the hype. Try to weed through some of it and decide for yourself what's really worth it. It’s not like you don’thavea lot of high money choices: Fa
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