And such a long hiatus, a return!

But I'm back. It's been a hectic last two weeks putting together the Reg Issue of the Badger Herald, but it's out, and it's accompanying second edition, full of Badger's victory over Washington State, will be out on Tuesday. We go back to work on that same day, putting out our first regular issue on Wednesday.

However, some things to talk about before then, seeing I've been practically invisible since the Herald started...

-MU Bash is tonight, and it's about an hour before they start. I'll probably post a little round up of their performance, along with what the feeling was of MU Bash in general. I'm looking at the line-up now of activities now, but it seems quite sparse. Perhaps that will change once the Freshmen pack the hallways, but it does seem like there is a lot less to do here than in previous years...

-On a separate note, we had Trombone Shorty, a New Orleans based funk/jazz artist at the terrace last
night, and it was far better than expected. WUD sort of booked it on a whim, and there was talk of trying to get Band of Horses here instead, as they were available, but I doubt they would have energized the crowd more than Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews did. Although there were a few times I gave my usual musical snob snort -- such as when he played Lenny Kravitz tunes, "Runnin" and his cover of the Guess Who's "American Woman" -- I must admit, the crowd was on par with our Hip-Hop menagerie earlier in the summer. In the end, the crowd was feeling funky and they got down. In a show of how well he knew the crowd, he even inserted a little "Jump Around" to satisfy the sea of red that came over to enjoy a brisk summer night.

He was supposed to play two sets, one hour each. Instead, he played for about 2 and a half hours straight. "I don't think we've ever played a crowd this big, or with this much energy. It just makes me wanna keep going!" And they did. I actually heard the masses in front of the stage yell "encore" at the top of their lungs, the second they started to step off the stage. Now, THAT is impressive.

-Just saw ASM at a table where they gave me a little light-hearted jabbing over the Ed Board opinion on segregated fees. It looks like this will be an interesting year for campus politics, but I'm optimistic. Hopefully we'll be able to work together instead of against each other. After all, we're both, as Art Brut would say, "just talking to the kids," right? Maybe I should stop using kids though. I've been told I use that term a lot. That arrogant Smathers!

- So, another point of contention is this weekend's two competing festivals - SoCo festival with the Flaming Lips (21 and up, only) and WSUM's inaugural Snake on the Lake Fest with the 1900's and the Pony's. I'm torn, but having seen the Lips at Lollapalooza and taking part in their orgasmic visual spectacle, I think I'll catch WSUM's festival, especially since I probably owe a radio station that's given me the opportunity to do a show with all British music. Which leads me to....

-New Radio Show! Although we couldn't continue Muckrakers because of scheduling conflicts, I will have a new show this semester. With my friend musical encyclopedia, John Vanek, we'll be spinning through a different genre of music every week, Thursday's at 3pm at WSUM 91.7 fm. We're starting out with a salute to old Western music, then going through a spin of the origins of Rock N' Roll (circa 1953) the week after that. From there...British Invasion, 60's Psychedelia and forward. If you have any genre suggestions, send me an email at jsmathers@wisc.edu and I'll get on it.

Other than that, we have a busy week ahead of us at the Herald, but would enjoy it if the community voice could contribute with letters to the editor, guest editorials, etc. If you've got a desire to sound off on a local issue, speak on behalf of a community org, or just have a beef with us, send it along. We'll print it.

Send pieces, inquiries, etc to either jsmathers@badgerherald.com or agranias@badgerherald.com and we'll get on the case.

And I promise, I'll try and update much more often.

Thursday Night Review: Awesome Car Funmaker with Cealed Kasket

In a stunning display of the diversity of audiences the Union Terrace can draw, Cork and Bottle String Band played their brand of Midwest bluegrass while the number of paper crown wearing, enthusiastic metal fans increased. "That's one hell of a mixture, isn't it?" one member said to me. "Bluegrass, then metal."

Except these fans weren't all metal fans. Some were just fans of comedic musical theatre. Not everyone there knew what Cealed Kasket was all about.

Around the set break, members of both bands arrived in a few cars with their backseats packed full of the standard materials for set-up: Guitar, Bass, Drums, fog machines, plastic swords, extra burger king crowns and an extra helping of wigs and makeup. They came looking for me. In a casual, unassuming and friendly manner, they gave me a few hand shakes and took off in search of Shwarma, although they came back with a disappointing substitute of Jimmy John's.

Certainly, band members with such a happy go-lucky nature couldn't be that volatile or insane on stage, could they? The man who shook my hand with a good natured grin couldn't turn into a blood-drinking, devil-worshipping, heavy metal monster in less than two hours, could he?

Sure he could. If he's a good actor. And theatrics was certainly the name of the game.

Awesome Car Funmaker was up first , although they took enough time getting there. The band showed a 7-minute recast of Scooby-Doo with ACF (quite similar to this video) in the role of those "meddling kids" and Cealed Kasket as the oft-uncovered "ghost." It was humorous in as much as it was cheesy and poorly produced (and the band knows it), but it did cause some groans when the bass of the movie's music shook the terrace every now and then.

Groans turned to cheering when finally ACF took the stage.



For those who have Awesome Car Funmaker enough times, the novelty seemed only to delay the main attraction. However, the vast majority went right to the front to partake in the pop-metal leanings of this band of Madison regulars. On studio recording, they sound like any other band of pop-rock purveyors with a sense of humor, such as OK Go. Their live sound is far more electric and comes off with more nods to over-the-top hard rock than a studio recording would suggest.
Their onstage personality comes close to that of the Hives - the band constantly trumpets their own name as if they were from the great nation of Awesome Car Funmaker, rather than just a band. Guitarist and Bassist leap between the stage with the agility and grace of ballet dancers during the start to their set. Needless to say, they have more energy to wear out a hyperactive child in minutes.

In this lovely picture, lead singer Ryan Corcoran explains to the audience, "In metal, this means "I love you." During over moments of crowd participation, ACF went into the audience with every mobile instrument possible during solos.

Even Brendan McCarty got into the act, as he makes his way through adoring fans while playing his miniature keyboard.

After an extra-suspenseful version of "Dirty" (made even more exciting by Bassist Justin Taylor getting his duct tape-covered nipples pinched several times and Corcoran seemingly humping the amp to coax enough feedback out of it) McCarty took front stage as ACF launched into a spirited and over-the-top cover of "Enter Sandman." The band ended their set by collapsing to the ground in a pile.
An opener with that much energy needs an appropriate act to fit the bill, and who more inappropriate than Cealed Kasket?



There is only so much that can be explained in mortal words to describe this behemoth from "Bristol,England", so I invite you to explore for yourself at their myspace, which should get you caught up on who's mortal, who's a wizard and why you should "Drink and Drive."

They started their set by assailing the audience, as they usually do, and launched into "Break the Rules."

That they did, by being the best comedy act the Terrace has seen since they last came here, a year ago. With songs like "Sex Stained Lady," "Death Train" (with the wonderful chorus "the wheels on the train go, round and round, all the live long day)and "Sarsicus" - the tribute to their blistering wizard/guitarist of the same stage name - even a couple about the age of 45 were standing back laughing. Although the wife looked somewhat appalled, the husband went back into the fray, grey three-piece suit and all.

As this picture can attest, I've never seen so much crowd-surfing at the Terrace. This kid nearly hit his head on the stage lights. He certainly tried hanging from them enough times.

The high-point of the show came during "Backstage Slutting," where every female in a 40-foot radius made their way up on to the stage. This may have been the biggest onstage grind Madison has seen since Girl Talk came to town. However, whereas that one was inspired by beats hot enough to bring out the lustful side of a nun, this movement was inspired by pure drunken revelry. The beginning started with the men shouting "Penis" and the women shouting "vagina." It then turned into some really effective crowd participation. Here is some short, blurry, but entertaining video:



They then ended the song by shouting, "What are you doing? Get these ugly sluts off the fucking stage!"

The abuse is all part of the show, of course. Gold team won, whatever that means, after a point accumulation that included this stipulation: "How many members of the Gold team...are fucking members of the brown team?" A large hurrah went up from much of the crowd. Not that many responded when the brown team was commanded to throw panties on the stage. (although I did see a bra hanging from the lighting.)

My favorite part of the night had to be the song, "Chivalry and Honor" which started out in that seemingly normal refrain, but then sped into a decadent and silly chant of "Sex sex sex sex sex sex!" It then spun into an interlude that included brief metal covers of "Get Low" and "I Believe I Can Fly" with the substitution of the typical metal snarl: "I believe I can fly, I believe I can FUCK the sky!" An epic metal comedy if I've ever heard one.

The set ended after multiple false endings that got similar laughs, a "galloping" rendition of horse, that seemed to be accompanied by coconut shells of death and a final assault on the audience: "Fuck you! Buy Our Shit! Fuck You! Go to Hell!" With that, the band termed a "low-budget GWAR" left the stage, shouting curses at their fans and fans responding likewise.

Although WUD is often criticized for bringing back the same acts time and time again, you can't really argue with this move. AFC and Cealed Kasket are a sure bet for a beer-drinking crowd that needs some serious incentive to get on it's feet. Therefore, while we may have changes in our Union Terrace from year to year, save a seat and a few hundred plastic swords for ACF and Cealed Kasket, as this musical card has been knighted - as a new Madison tradition.

Dad would be proud.

The audience of around 500 people obviously didn't know what to expect. They awkwardly shifted in the theatre seats to the infectious beat pumping from the African Conga drums and Funk-filled bass riffs. The brass section flourished with jazz embellishments and solos, stretching the opening song into a 15-minute blur, with Showboy inserting his lyrics: attacks on Nigerian soldiers political use. No one really knew if they should sit or stand.

After a few minutes, four spectators in front of me jumped out of their chair and started dancing. Everyone gasped and gave looks at first, as if this outburst of youthful exuberance was a faux pas for this usually reserved Union Theatre crowd. They didn't sit down. Others jumped up. Loosened up and felt the beat. Eventually, the throbbing funk fusion rhythm proved too hard to resist. From the allure of the female dancers, to the full-force punch of the horns section to the two human metronomes that flanked the stage, it was designed for a continuous groove. The crowd started down the ramps and crowding the front of the stage.

Limbs were flailing, the crowd was swaying and Egypt 80 spun a web of sound bigger than the theatre that held it.

All this, without the main attraction.

It was understandable that Seun Kuti would take his time getting to the stage. After nearly being confined to his native Nigeria due to passport issues and political unrest caused by an oil strike, Seun arrived in Madison, by way of Montreal, by way of Paris. Seun got no sleep during the 3-day journey to Madison. Therefore, it was necessary to save up every bit of energy for the Afrobeat heir's first-ever US concert.

Sleep deprived or not, Seun was - to say the least - explosive.

Sauntering onto the stage with his tenor sax and fitting 70's style attire, Seun shouted a "Yah Yah!" to his audience, something that would take some practice before being returned. From there, Kuti performed one of his father's songs with as much power and showmanship as Fela. As soon as Seun puts down his Sax, he shakes and twists about the stage with a dancing style reminiscent of a young Mick Jagger. He knows how to work the crowd and isn't afraid to strut.

What's more is the passion with which he performs. Every syllable of his lyrics are pounded into the senses as he shakes, twists and bends backwards with his mic gripped tightly. His internal struggle is visible as he runs about the stage with such urgency, but always moving to the beat. Clearly, he doesn't just sing the plight of Africa, he lives it. He wants you to, as well.

"After the Kososvo War, they gave them 600 dollars for each person in aid," Seun mused to the audience. "In Africa, in Darfur, we can't even get 10 dollars a person."

He then raises a middle finger. "That is for the G8 leaders."

It wouldn't be Afrobeat without the blunt infusion of a distinct political message. With songs such as "Think Africa", "Many Things", and "Na Oil," the thunderous African groove is fueled as much by the message as the 20 person band.

That message was one of awareness and need for reform. Starvation, Malaria and AIDS were all topics for awareness during song intros. During one introduction, Seun decried a bridge constructed in Nigeria as a sign of progress. "The bridge is only a connection of servants to their masters."

Yet, Seun understands why Africa isn't able to stop the vicious cycle. "Africans don't have room in their lives to think about all these problems. They only think about how to survive." As he insisted with his song, perhaps his music will force others to "Think Africa."

This blitz of high energy big-band African funk and impassioned political pleas awed the crowd. It fueled the dancing frenzy for nearly two straight hours. Audience participation was in such abundance throughout that Seun invited four Madison women onstage to compare dance skills with Seun's sister, Moturayo. Despite their best attempts to match her skill, it must be said bluntly: She knows how to shake it. Even Shakira should take notes.

As for Seun, his brand of Afrobeat activism was a landmark event for Madison. There were only 500 people to see Seun's American debut. Tomorrow, Chicago shares the pleasure of his company with 15,000 people at Millennium Park. Looking at his schedule, it is obvious - this performance was a rare musical coup for Madison.

He'll be coming out with an album in the next week or so and his myspace offers a few singles, but don't rely on recordings. Youtube might provide a glimpse at his amazing stage performance, but only the real thing will do. If you're in Chicago tomorrow - GO SEE THIS MAN. You owe it yourself to see a 24-year old legend in the making.