Fun Afoot

I’m a little overwhelmed.

As a Penn State student, I’m excited about this coming weekend. As a member of the arts staff, I’m stressed out.

Friday night at Chronic Town (I still can’t believe they call it that) is the aptly named Fallin’ Back festival, comprised of six local bands who, despite having quite a following in State College, all missed the cut to play at the Movin’ On Battle of the Bands.

Saturday evening is the student film festival, screened at the State Theatre and open only to students. I went last year (held at Schwab) and came away impressed, and I’m kind of miffed I won’t be able to attend this year.

Unfortunately, Movin’ On is scheduled to begin before the film festival and end well after it, and as a senior music reporter, I’ll be on the HUB lawn all day.

This isn’t really a big deal as Movin’ On will certainly have its share of highlights as well.

I’ve seen Piebald a few times, and they always put on a great show. When I interviewed lead singer Travis Shettel last week, he promised that they would only play a few songs from the newest album—a good thing, because even though Accidental Gentleman isn’t bad, it’s a little bit of a letdown after All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time and We Are the Only Friends We Have, the latter of which being one of my favorite albums ever.

I’ve seen Days Away a few times as well, opening for other bands, and they’re not bad either. I’ve listened to a little bit of You, Me, and Everyone we know, and they sound like a combination of Fall Out Boy (bad) and Say Anything (awesome). Hopefully the live performance is closer to the latter.

Sunday night is My Chemical Romance and Muse at the Bryce Jordan Center, which has potential as well.

Oh, and my brother is coming up for the weekend, so I have to entertain him as well. I guess that won’t be too hard.

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

It's tough to think about the arts scene in State College after the events at Virginia Tech earlier this week. But it always seems as though musicians do wonders for the healing process in times like these. After 9/11, there was the Concert for New York. After Hurricane Katrina, there were the all-star singles. Then there's Live Aid, Farm Aid, Live 8, Band-Aid, and so on.

In State College, the healing process can start when a couple of bands in the area do what they can to turn this into a positive situation. The Man, a jazz/rock fusion band and one of the winners of last week's Battle of the Bands competition, is teaming up with a bluegrass band called Hay Sugar for a benefit concert this Thursday at Chronic Town.

As of yet, there's no indication that there's a national tribute show in the works. But if history holds true, there should be. And considering this week's events plus the fact that a couple State College bands got a show together in two days, there's no excuse for the national acts not to get something together.

If you're looking to give to a good cause, here's your timely opportunity. The Man is the only original funk/fusion band in State College and they won a spot at Movin' On, so they must be doing something right. Hay Sugar is a new band and one of few bluegrass acts in State College. Plus, Chronic Town is a sweet hang. There's something for everyone, and it's for charity. Rock on, Hokies.

Let's all go to the movies

I don’t know if seeing a couple of Hollywood movies over the weekend counts as “local arts,” but since I will lamentably have to miss the upcoming student film festival, we’ll roll with it.

Friday night, I saw Grindhouse, the Rodriguez/Tarantino (/Roth/Wright/Zombie) double feature, which may be the fastest three and a half hours in recorded history. I have never sat that long in a movie theater without checking the time.

Both films were throwbacks to vintage horror films but managed to be somewhat postmodern in their portrayal. Though the movies screamed “1970’s,” from the wardrobe to the sets to the cars, neither director had any qualms with anachronism, as characters make use of cell phones and talk about Osama bin Laden.

Further, grainy film stock and faux-damaged reels served both to give the film a decades-ago feel and to present the stories in a less conventional narrative format.

On Saturday, I went to see Blades of Glory. I was extremely conflicted going in: members of the cast had me unsure of what to expect. Nick Swardson and Will Arnett can make me laugh with whatever they do, but Will Ferrell is pretty hit-or-miss and Jon Heder is usually just miss.

Will Ferrell as a realistic human being is usually a waste of time. The characters he played in Stranger than Fiction and Kicking and Screaming are too regular for Ferrell’s comedic abilities to shine through. In a movie like Anchorman, Ferrell as a completely out of touch, over the top, completely preposterous character is gold. Chazz Michael Michaels of Blades of Glory, from his nymphomania to his childish bickering with Heder’s Jack MacElroy, was much closer to the latter.

While the movie was one of Ferrell’s funniest, the most turbulent scene of the film came when Jack MacElroy was about to kiss Katie Van Waldenberg. In the context of the movie, this was fine.

What made this troubling was that these characters were played by Jon Heder (star of perhaps the most overrated and inexplicably popular movie of all time, Napoleon Dynamite) and Jenna Fischer (who plays Pam on “The Office,” also known as “The only show on television that’s worth watching on a weekly basis”).

Because of characters they’ve played in the past (and in Fischer’s case, still plays), I have diametrically opposite opinions on these two people, and watching them kiss was nearly unwatchable.

Grindhouse and Blades of Glory might be about as different as two movies can be (even though I spent a lot of time laughing during both), but they were equally enjoyable.

Souled Out

Being a critic often has its downside. Sure, I get to tell everyone about their shortcomings, but after a while, it's hard not being able to enjoy mindless entertainment for what it is. For example, I'm glad that my friends can get a laugh out of Dane Cook, but for me, he wore out his welcome a long time ago. I got sick of Dave Matthews Band in 8th grade, but more power to everyone who can get through his songs anymore.

This burden follows me everywhere, though, and unfortunately, that makes it difficult for me to tolerate the environments at some of State College's finest dance atmospheres like The Cell Block or Players. When I think of dancing, I'm thinking more groove than grind, more funky than freaky. It's for this reason that I went to Chronic Town's monthly all-ages dance party Soulution on Friday night.

I understand that people might question why there's a $2 cover at a place that doesn't serve alcohol. But you can stretch that two bucks as far as you want if you like good soul, R&B, Motown or funk music. And besides the joy of getting down to James Brown, The Jackson 5, and Aretha Franklin, you can also observe a room full of pale indie kids attempting to dance while you smoke a hookah and lounge in the comfy old furniture. It's sort of like a bunch of people in their bedrooms dancing around in their underwear, but without the bedrooms or underwear. Er...with the underwear, plus more clothes.

This past Friday, it was hard to take a break from the dancing just to sit down. Every time I'd go to hang out with my friends for a bit, the DJ would start calling my name: James Brown's "Sex Machine," The Jackson 5's "ABC," Aretha Franklin's "Think," Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," and so on. The nights usually start with some more subdued music until about halfway through the party when the funk gets turned up a few notches.

Since the events are monthly, I suppose that leaves room for only one more at the end of April. But for the crowd sick of the same old weekend grind, it's a great experience to see if you've still got soul power.