| Summary: | The Concord'ian January 19, 2007 9 Crossfade braves cold to rock Fargo • Despite screaming girls, band delivers and ends Dec. 15 concert with a bang By ANDREW CAMPBELL A&E writer On the rare occasion a band decides to hook a concert in Fargo, I try to make it a point to get out and see it. When that band is someone like Crossfade, I try even harder. So when I heard that Crossfade was actually going to make a stop in Fargo, I blocked that date off on my calendar — with a red pen. That date just happened to be December 15, the last day of finals. But what better way to celebrate the end of a long semester than by letting loose to some mindless, deafening, live rock music? That was more than enough to convince me. So in case you missed it, here's how it went down: After the usual, obnox-iously- long, rock concert sound check, drummer James Bran-ham kicked off the driving 5/4 rhythm that begins "Washing The World Away", a raucously-anthemic track from their new CD, Falling Away. Then they moved right along into some of their previous hits like "So Far Away" and "Colors" with little introduction. They even plunged into some of their deeper cuts like "Death Trend Setta" and.one of my personal favorites, "Starless." They did a good job mixing in songs from Falling Away in with the old favorites. Besides the opener, they did "Someday," "Drown You Out," "Anchor," "Already Gone," and the new single "Invincible" all off the new album. If you're looking for a good, middle-of the road rock album to add to your collection, I recommend you check it out. They wrapped up their set with "Cold," the first single off their first album. All in all, a pretty good mix of songs that pretty much brought the house down. And now, for the edito- The band Croeeiade rocked Fargo-Moorhead with their Dec, 15 at Playmakers rial: Props to the boys frotn Crossfade who braved the trek to Fargo in the middle of December to put on a great show. I go to concerts like this all the time, and rarely do I get the impression that the band gets as much out of the performance as the audience does. From where I was, at the very front of the crowd (cool) crushed between the barricade and pack of screaming high school girls (uncool) I got to see everything taking place on stage. Singer/guitarist Ed Sloan has a pure, unbridled rock star voice, and used it to all of his ability. He interacted a lot with the crowd, poking fun at how ridiculously freezing it was in Fargo and the irony in the fact that Crossfade's most famous song is called "Cold." He sbjowed off hjs dancing skills during some of the guitar solos, which were being covered by shredder Les Hall, a recent addition to the band. Les was stationed on stage right, not more than 10 feet away from me. I could tell he was having a great time on his first tour with the band. The highlight of the eve-ning came after Crossfade had walked off after playing "Cold" and the crowd started to go nuts. They had no encore, since they couldn't follow up with something better than their best song, so all four band members came back out on stage, Sloan with a guitar in his hand, for a curtain call. After they said their last goodbyes and were about to head off, he raised the guitar high above his head, and with a big smile on his face, sent it crashing down onto the stage. It sounds cliche, but the act of destroying a guitar on stage is pretty rare. I guess that was their way of showing their appreciation to a good crowd. All around, Crossfade is a class-act when it comes to live performances. They stay away from gimmicks and stick to what they do best — play really loud music. If you didn't make it to this concert, you definitely missed out. 'Dreamgirls' hits a theatrical high note By SARAH WASSBERG Lifestyles writer Based on the Broadway musical of the same name, "Dreamgirls" is a film that is well worth the praise. Parallel-ing, but not necessarily based on the life oi Diana Ross and the Supremes, "Dreamgirls" follows the lives and musical careers of Effie White (played by Jennifer Hudson), Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) who make up the group the Dreamettes. Set in the early 1960s, the film begins with the three girls, accompanied by Effie's songwriter brother, C.C. (Keith Robinson) waiting to perform in a Detroit amateur talent con-test. When they blow the crowd away, but lose the contest, they meet Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), a car salesman and ambitious manager, who makes them the backup singers for small-time star Jimmy "Thun-der" Early (Eddie Murphy). The film follows them as they tour with Early, but soon Taylor begins to manage them as a separate group and decides that in order to get off the R6LB charts and onto the pop charts, the Dreamettes will have to become the Dreams, complete with a new look and a new sound. And Effie, the voluptuous diva with a huge voice, is forced into the back-ground in favor of the thin-ner and lighter-skinned, but not necessarily more talented Deena. They soon climb to the top, but when Effie vents her frustration through her ego, she is eventually forced out ot the group, replaced by Michelle Morris (Sharon Leal). Under the direction of Taylor, the Dreams are molded into a pop sensation and Taylor always manages to keep them one step ahead of the musical curve. The film follows romantic relationships and friendships, and the careers that connect them, through the ups and downs of the music industry. It also illustrates the history of RckB, Motown and pop and the shady underbelly of the mu-sic business. In my opinion, Jennifer Hudson is definitely the star of this show. You can't help but like Effie, even when her ego gets in the way, and her voice will simply blow you away with its power, range and depth. You also feel tor her plight. Hud-son, a former American Idol contestant, has certainly made a splash debut. Jamie Foxx puts in a subtle, but excellent performance as the ambitious and sly Taylor who puts success before just about everything else. Eddie Murphy is a wonderful surprise as the gregarious Jimmy "Thun-der" Early, with high energy and a great voice. Beyonce's character Deena starts off as a naive girl who is content to sing backup, but when forced into the limelight by Taylor, turns into a star, complete with the huge Diana Ross hair towards The Dreams: Effie White, Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson the end. The whole cast does an excellent job and though some of the musical numbers seem a bit out of place amongst all the spoken drama going on, the film overall manages to put on a good show. The "cameo" appearances by characters that mirror musical artists like B.B. King and the Jackson Five are a fun addition. "Dreamgirls" has also become a cultural phe-nomenon. Although it barely scrapes the top five films in the box office in its fifth week, the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack is the number one album on the Billboard charts. It offers something for everyone (from sparkly costumes from the 1960s and 1970s, to drama) and is an uplifting film, despite the odds. Looking forward in 2007 • The future of music at Concordia, the F-M area and the nation looks bright By CHRIS MILLER A&E Writer Well, 2007 has begun, and with it, a clean slate in the world of music. To start this 2007 issue of the Concord-ian with a novel idea, lets look back: Justin Timberlake finally brought sexy back after the Backstreet Boys only brought hair gel, and the musical union that was too powerful and talent-stocked to last finally collapsed: Britney "Baby Juggler" Spears and Kevin "Bronze Medal Hus-band" Federline. TV on the Radio, Bob Dylan and Red Hot Chili Peppers put out classic records while Outkast laid it out in Idlewild, Xtina became Christina, and Johnny Knoxville was hit in the crotch with a new piece of fruit. Hell, even Jay-Z got back into it. Jigga what? So then, what's to look forward to in the New Year? Tons. That is the answer. Tons. Locally, this Friday on campus CEC and KORD Radio's annual Battle of the Bands contest takes place. The bands all have Concordia stu-dents, natch. The four bands battling are Leroy Electric, A Grey Spirit, Meerkat Minori-ties, and Hall's Guide Service, with Fargo-Moorhead group Holiday to close out the show. Deciding the outcome of the Battle will be DJs from various FM stations, including the Box and Y94. I promise you, missing this would be a mis-take. There's musical talent on Concordia that has nothing to do with Hvidsten Hall. Nationally, there are a lot of fantastic recordings coming out. I have to mention out of personal bias the new Explo-sions in the Sky record, All of a Sudden I Miss Every-one. I may or may not have heard a leaked version, and it is incredible. Also to come: Fall Out Boy and Bloc Party release new albums in Febru-ary, along with the Shins. In March, you can look forward to Good Charlotte's new LP (if you're into that sort of GC thing), Arcade Fire's latest of-fering, and hopefully Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses' "epic." But honestly, it'll be epic by default if it would just come out. 2006 was great, and 2007 will be even better. Stick around, and we'll see you next week with a full story and photos of the Battle of the Bands. Movies you've never seen: Waking Life • Film is a surreal journey through life and the nature of dreams ByMATTSMIT A&E writer I happen to be crazy about reading, but after finals roll around, I still tend to get sick of any and all written material for about a week. It's an illness. It passes, but in the meantime I get the opportunity to watch the latest season of LOST on DVD or run through some of my favorite movies. Waking Life, a trippy, delirious film about the nature of dreams, happens to be one of them. "Waking Life," written and directed by Richard Linklater, is an incredibly playful and unpredictable film. It was shot with real actors, but then roto scoped - a process in which the real film is -animated over- mak-ing everything stylized and sur-real. It's a style that wouldn't work in most films, which either want the full flexibility of cartoons or the full depth of expression of the human face. Here it does an excellent job- / because the main character, a nameless young man, is unsure whether he's awake or dream-ing at any given moment. He spends the entirety of the film searching for a way to find out. Throughout the course of a day, he wanders through town, having conversations with the increasingly strange people he meets, fro^n the An ethereal ecene from "Waking Life1 man with a car shaped like a boat to the redheaded girl who encourages him not "to be an ant." Everyone he speaks with is interesting and memorable, and frorn them, he learns more about dreams and about life in general. By the time the story has finished unfolding, the main character and the audi-ence both will have reached a conclusion; but the journey is the more interesting (and entertaining) part. ® VENUE FRIDAY. 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