PAGE 18 March 15, 1985 Lhe Beverly Sisters 9 Hey, do you wanna dance: “The Beverly Sisters? Who are they?’ “Oh, just a great local band who plays all sorts of great dance tunes.’’ by STEWART WOOLVERTON ‘“Are they the ones who are playing at the college dance on the 22nd over at the Towers?’’ ‘“‘Yeah. Should be a great show.”’ ‘“‘Didn’t you just go to see them last Friday?”’ _ “Yeah. It was a good one.”’ Last Friday night’s Showcase ‘85 at UBC’s SUB ballroom was definitely underattended, apparently due to lack of advertising. We got there late, missing Go-4- 3 entirely, and most of Red Herring's set, and barely early enough to talk to the Beverly Sisters before| their set. Band members Ewan McNeil (vocal- ist), Dennis Newton (guitarist), and Don Jones (bassist) took time out to talk with us before and after the set, while Jackie Fola (percusstionist) and Vince Clark (drummer) imbibed in refresh- ments and occasionally chipped in. Keyboardist Niko (Nick Tatroff, also backup vocalist) was late so we didn’t get to talk to him. THE OTHER PRESS: So how long have you guys been at this together? DON JONES: Well, three of us, Vince, Ewan and myself, have been together for five years; Jack, Nick, and Dennis have been with us for two and a half years. Some of us knew each other in high school. Vince knew Nick, and | knew Jack. We just sort of got together and played. . TOP: Are you playing full time? DON: No, not yet. We still have day jobs. TOP: Are you planning to go full time? DON: It would be nice... TOP: What topics do you write about in your songs? DENNIS NEWTON: Our songs deal with the basic motivating factor of people: greed. We write about the problems of unemployment. And of course, the standard rock ballads. We write a lot of non-linear verse. TOP: Who does most of the writing? DENNIS: We all write. Don writes some lyrics, and we do a lot of stuff written by a local poet. TOP: Now for the stock rock interview question: who would you say are your biggest musical influences? EWAN McNEIL: The Talking Heads, Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, the Pistols, (deadpan) Tony Bennett, early Sinatra, and the Kinks. TOP: Another standard question: how did you get the name? EWAN: We stole it. VINCE CLARK (in background): Green’s my favourite colour. EWAN: Write that down. (laughs) Got that? TOP: Thanks. With that we went out and watched the show. The band performed a number of songs off of its album (which just came out) and some others obviously fam- iliar to the decidedly partisan crowd. The first song, Tell Me, encouraged a number of people onto the dance floor ihe its great bass line and dance rhy- thm. By the beginning of the second song, Green Eyes, the dance floor was packed, and remained that way for the rest of the night. Green Eyes and the next couple of songs that followed it really bopped along; the first with a sort of rockabilly sound, and the others a little more funky. In You’re All Guilty, Jackie Fola played a bongo solo, and the rest of the band’s rhythm section got to show off a bit. Ewan McNeil even went into a Yt Pde an a rap in this one. All the way through the show, the band showed an incredible tightness and cohesion, and great stage pres- ence. There were different solos for each band member to show off his abilities. Vocalist McNeil bopped around all over the stage, did the bump with key- boardist Niko, and even did jumping jacks for a while. There were even a couple of good jokes, like Niko’s ‘‘paid political announcement’’ and Evan’s joke about James Brown, ‘‘there’s no brakes on this bus’’, and even one about K.D. Lang. | even saw someone in the audience dancing with a card- board box over her head. Of the songs from the album, The Wait and the ‘‘dance favourite’ (McNeil’s words) Chocolate Bar came across very well, full of energy and tight instrumentation. After a good hour and fifteen minutes, the band completed their set and left the stage, but were called back for an encore that started with ‘’a song whose lyrics were written by Cole Porter after he fell off his horse’’: Gigolo. Twenty minutes later they finished off and left for good. Overall the band was great:however, | was glad that | had the opportunity to see them at an earlier date doing a: full-length show. The Showcase format is a good idea for giving people expos- ure to the participating bands, but it is also an unfair representation of a band’s abilities and versatility. On Friday, March 22, The Beverly Sisters will be playing at the Crystal Ballroom in the Royal Towers. Come out and see a fantastic dance band. 2 roles alee) (2913 presents SOLO MEO lee) tp Romer L) Directed by Dorothy Jones Sets and lighting by Drew Young OUR TOWN depicts the life of a New Hampshire village - with its humour, picturesqueness and pathos — set against Fm ey-(eL.ceCelU tO MOL Mme LAL COLA TSc NOLO CLUS social history, and religious ideas Thursday thru Sunday MARCH 21 - 24 MARCH 28 - 31 OU a ue ee Ticket prices $6 00 adults $5 00 seniors and student 520 5469 Melee MOS)