funny, 17, 1985

Screaming Trees a decent band

BY Glen Boswall Simplicity and strength. ’ The Screaming Trees seem to take these concepts as the center point- of their visual image and sound.

That was, at least, the mes- sage I seemed to be getting from guitarist Bruce‘ Nelson as we screamed out a short interview amidst the crowd and P.A. noises between sets.

“Most groups will have 20 or 30 microphones on stage,” he said, “we have three. Everything else goes dir- ectly into the soundboard.”

Indeed, with both the bass and quitar plugged into Tom Sholz Rockmans (small amplifiers about the size of a Sony Walkman) and a Sim- mons drum set up, the stage had a noticeably uncluttered look.

The Screaming Trees sang, joked, and played through three hours of U2, Billy Idol, The Talking Heads, Phil Col— lins, The Cars, The Thomp- son Twins, and others. Their

performance was nothing short of astonishing consid- ering that they were formed only six short weeks ago when‘ ex-Titan members Dave Roberts (bass, vocals, and keyboards) and Bruce Nelson (guitars, backing vocals, and keyboards) link- ed up with ex-Tequila drum—

, mer Steve Coady.

The band is currently on the Maritime club and uni- versity circuit but hopes to go tovthe studio in the near future to record several orig- inals. Asked if the group

\ would be looking at touring

Quebec or Ontario in the future, Bruce Nelson replied that these circuits were not all that lucrative and that the band will likely remain Hali- fax-based until the fate of their studio recordings be- comes apparent.

I don’t know what to hope for. If they succeed with their originals, I fear we will lose one of the finest bands the Maritimes can lay claim to.

The gear used was of fairly

straight-ahead quality: we keyboards (a Prophet 5 and a JX3P), A Korg bass, a BC. Rich Mockingbird guitar (domestic make, very im- pressive), Simmons elec- tronic drums, an E—mu Sys— tems Drumulator and a Yamaha and a Seck mix P.A. system.

A slight over-reliance on the Prophet 5 keyboards and the use of the Drumulator (programmable drumming) caused me some unease, but the band compensated well. Perhaps they may benefit from an extra group member to fill in gaps currently filled by the electronics. The sight of the electronic drums also caused me some concern, but these fears soon melted under the skilled drumming of Steve Coady.

Skilled is the adjective that describes each and every band member. Steve Coady provides a solid beat with tasty fills, Bruce Nelson knows his guitar and exactly how to push and cajole it for maximum effect, and last

Life Styles, Confirmed

Beverly Hills PD. The cop Billy? The guy is awesome —- toqtgood to be true, by far. He must be seen to be be— lieved. . .

Do go see this fabulous flick, won’t you? It’ll .keep you laughing start to finish.

Wow. I feel good about

SEX IS BEAUTIFUL. BUT IT SHOUlDN’T INCLUDE UNPlEASAN'I' SURPRISES.

this week’s column. Even though I drive the space

‘shuttle Columbie (by the

way, the Enterprise is in space drydock‘ forever —- sobt), I’m still not a full- fledged cadet yet, so I won’t say anything about how I feel I’ve made contact with the powers that be. Ask Fly-

ing Phil about that — he’s got some pretty amusing ideas on how week after week I come up with this stuff. I think it’d make a great novel.

I have bled the rock that is my foolishness dry. See you next week.

Take Care.

but not least, Dave Roberts sings, screams, and croons on a level that matches the best. Not only are they res- pectively talented but they are tight as a unit.

As with most things, the *

best was saved for the last. The Screaming Trees closed out the show with an as— tounding version of “Purple Rain”.

.. Junior S

One last thing. To the impromptu visitors who spent the last few numbers on stage with the band . . . “Get off, people didn’t pay to see you.”

“’5

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