The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, March 13, 1998 Page: 11 of 24
twenty four pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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FRIDAY. MARCH 13. liWK
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Saturday
4
1
'THE SNOW
MAIDEN'
The Houston Ballet
combines their talent with
the American Ballet
Theater to produce the
/
- )
Russian fairy tale about a
*' tragic love triange.
\ Until March 22 in the
1 Wortham Center's Brown
f Theater. $11$89. For tickets,
I call (713) 227 ARTS.
weekend
ST. PATRICK'S DAY
FESTIVAL
i Houston floats the green
I. keg to honor the Irish saint
. a few days early. Join in
festivities like snake races,
step dancing and live
f
• music.
1 All events (except the
■ parade) will be held at the
Garden in-the Heights.
\ 11 a, m.-midnight
* •
: Saturday through
* Monday. 5 a.m.
I midnight Tuesday. $8
| . $18. For more info call:
j (713) 8801065
ongoing
'ALL OVER'
Three-time Pulitzer'Pri?e
winner Edward Atbee
presents this rarely
produced play about
conflicting personalities
forced to unite to hold a
vigil for a dying public
figure.
The play runs until March
29. Wednesday through
Sunday at Stages
Repertory Theater. $5-
$28. For tickets call:
(713) 52-STAGES:
Joshua Katz
FOR THE THRESHER
Anyone who wants to deny their
ever-increasing age should be ad-
vised to avoid Sugar Ray shows. With
the audience's median age only just
approaching 16.1 bt^an to wonder if
perhaps I. too, should be sporting
shiny pants and an exposed midriff.
Faster than you can say "statutory,"
1 was inside the shiny new Aerial
Theater for Save Ferris, Goldfinger
and Sugar Ray. Good music is age*
less anyhow, right?
f'h, r v J ¥ hl'Mr'r'TVI v , '< <: >,! «* f ■" ' 't < i <; ;.V
bores crowd
i
goldfinger
Rating: it it it it (out of five)
Save Ferris, an up-and-coming
ska-pop outfit from scenic Southern
California, kicked off the evening
and got the teenies bopping. Featur-
ing a well-choreographed brass sec-
tion and the sultry stage antics of
lead singer Monique (she demon-
strated to the entranced male audi-
ence contingent exactly how to
"move your bootie"), the group only
slowed its typically frantic beat for
an ever-so-catchy (and kitschy)
cover of Dexy's Midnight Runners'
immortal '80s hit "Come On Eileen."
Although relentlessly upbeat and
generally entertaining, the majority
of Save Ferris' tunes were highly
reminiscent of a sound already pro-
duced by Reel Big Fish and No
In fact. Monique's high
and "just a girl** come-ons
scream out Gwe'n, minus, of course,
the sequined haltertop. Still, it's ever
so gratifying to watch a lead singer
inspire a inosh pit with such nonsen-
sical lyrics as "S-P-A-M /Don't ya
know it's my best friend?" Save Ferris
rose above ubiquitous pop with the
song "Superspy," which added a
healthy dose of swing to the band's
fun mix.
Goldfinger took to the stage with
intensity, which belied the fact that
the band performed 382 shows in
1997 (you do-the math).Thankfully,
the grind of constant touring hasn't
diminished this group's will to jump,
shout and thrash about. By the end
of their set, two numbers were top-
less and three had made the crowd-
surfing plunge into the pit. If it is
pure pop energy you seek,
Goldfinger is MC'. Their approach,
which often uses straight rock
rhythms and guitars, is certainly not
for ska purists but will delight those
tired of the bland, derivative repeti-
tion of pop,
The band mixed horns and break-
neck punk tempos throughout its
set, relying more heavily uppn ma-
terial from its second album,
Hangups, on indie label Mojo
Records. The performance of their
Beastie Boys-esque anthem "S.M.P."
("Skiers Must Perish" — a nod to
the disenfranchised snowboarders
of the world) whipped the audience
into a frothy adolescent melee.
Goldfinger gleefully covered tunes
See SPAM, Page 15
AlliSlrN'. • H
Goldfinger vocalist John Feldmann connects with his underage audience.
time
Sarah Pitre and Josh Katz
FOR THE THRESHER
Goldfinger is somewhere be-
tween sickeningly famous and
slightly well-known. You might not
be familiar with the name, but you'd
probably recognize its hit from last
year, "Here In Your Bedroom," after
hearing a few bars. The band re-
cently released its sophomore al-
bum, Hang-Ups, which has yet to
rival the sales of its self-fit led debut
CD. But that isn't from lack of effort
by the band.
I>ast year it played 382 shows in
365 days and managed, after spend-
ing that much time together, not to
break up. "It was. 10 times more
intense than marriage," Charlie
Paulson, who plays guitar for the
bandvsaid.
We interviewed Paulson before
Goldfinger's Houston performance
Feb. 27, when it shared the bill with
Save Ferris and Sugar Ray.
As Paulson came backstage at
the Bayou Place Theater, our ner-
vousness shot up a notch. His shaved
head and tall, looming stature - not
to mention his multiple tattoos and
earrings - gave him the ultimate
hardcore metal presence — intense,
piercing... all right, just plain scary.
Only later did we find out that his
black leather jacket was not a state-
ment of affected toughness, but a
symbol with sentimental value. Bass-
ist Simon Williams bought the jacket
for him at a thrift store in Oregon
because he was cold and didn't have
a coat.
As the interview progressed, our
apprehension and anxiety melted
away. Despite his in-
timidating appear-
ance, Paulson is actu-
ally an intelligent, ar-
ticulate and ,v#ry hon-
est guy. He listens in-
tently (with piercing
eyes) to every word
spoken to him and puts
a lot of thought into
what he says. His
voice, which reflects
his Southern Califor
j, rsdeep
Tattoo*, piercings and a nice guitar
player named Charlie
and gritty, with a touch of Nicholas
Cage-like surfer speak.
What might have been -a short,
stilted interview stretched into an
hour-long conversation because
Paulson was doing his laundry —
rock stars can be normal sometimes
— and didn't care how long we
stayed. He even smiled and laughed
a little — we got the feeling that he
doesn't do that a lot, being the in-
tense type.
We walked away from the inter-
view newly baptized fans of Paulson,
and then proceeded to watch with
admiration and a sort of pride (think-
ing of ourselves as insiders) as he
thrashed around during the perfor-
mance like a prototypical punk
rocker.
So we hope you enjoy, as we did,
Paulson's views, comments and ec-
centric — yet thoroughly intelligent
— thoughts.
On the inappropriately applied
ska label
"I don't consider Goldfinger a
ska-bandrWehave elements of it .
anybody that owns our record knows
that 20 percent of our material is
ska-influenced — maybe 20 — so
how do they account for the other
80? Nobody ever calls us a metal
band, unless it's a derogatory refer-
ence, which I don't take in that man-
ner We're a pop band, first and (ore-
most.
1 mean, Blondie is a huge influ-
ence on us. And they had several
different styles. The Police played a
lot of ska^style music and a lot of
reggae-style music. When they first
came out they were considered new
wave and then they were just the
Police. Nobody ever called them a
ska band.
So I definitely think (the ska la-
bell has hurt this band. 1 don't think
' it's fair to us, and 1 also don't think
it's fair to ska traditionalists."
On the idea of Helling out
'To all of the hardcore punk and
ska people anyway, we sold out from
the gate, because we were on MTV,
so I don't care. Do 1 want a million-
dollar home and [toI be able to raise
children and not have to worry about
money? Absolutely. So I have a prob-
lem with being on MTV or the radio?
Not whatsoever ....
Selling out to me is doing some-
thing that I don't want to do. be-
cause I'm being pressured .... I)o I
want to be a big fucking rock star?
Absolutely. Yes. Because it wouldn't
change" me.
I'm the scumbag guitar player. I
always will be. No matter how much
money I have in the bank. I don't
have any money rightnow, and taxes
are coming up. and I'm going to get
raped. But, you know, such is life."
"What '80s giant metal hair band
would you be in?M
"Ok. see, that's three different
things to me. Glam is one thing,
nUtal is another thing, a"hd hair band
is another thing,
I like true glam rock and I like
true metal. The hair bands areolar
the least interesting I have no lo«e
for Whitesnake or ... Nelson. To
me, those are hair bands. Bon Jovi is
a hair band. A metal band is
Motorhead A metal band is Judas
Priest or Anthrax. Those are real
metal bands to me. And then a real
glam band is tin- New York Dolls
1 don't know if 1 could pick
While I like those forms of music
and have certain records in my col-
lection, 1 don't know it 1 would be
happy playing that kind of music 1
think it's too one-dimensional It's
c ool to put a record on and listen to
it for 45 minutes, but to be in a band
and have to play .that shit every
night ..."
On Motley Criie and responsible
behavior
"Uhhh. 1 fucking hate them.
There was a time when I was 14 or
15 when Motley Criie was cool. But
now they have just become such
ignorant pigs. 1 mean.Trnl idiots ...
they're just Neanderthals And
they do stupid shit. Tommy Lee's in
jail for beating up his wife — again
— while she's holding the baby . I
have no love for that, man.
There are consequences lor ev-
erybody. And sometimes people get
let off because of money or stature.
And sometimes they don't. But even
if they get away with whatever
bullshit they're pulling, they still
have to wake up the next day and be
the person that pulls that shit. I think
that's true for anybody. I don't think
anybody's above the law anymore."
Sugar Ray's got
the dope, pimp,
JAMES BOND bus.
On'the concept of a rock star
persona 49
"The interesting thing is that
people seem to get upset when you
don't (put on a personal and you
show that you are human. Now. I'm
not going to say, Oh my life is so
hard, I get to play music for a living,'
Th<? truth of the matter is, however,
there are days when you don't get to
Slower. There are days when you
are smelling nine other guys' stinky
- — S*>4> SCUMBAG, rutft-Ui—
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111
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Hardi, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, March 13, 1998, newspaper, March 13, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246617/m1/11/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.