Thirty dollars for the `dopest high energy bass music`

A Complicated Vikings Tale
JOEL BERNTSEN
pop culture columnist
Oh, for suck's sake:
The modern ruination
of Draculas
Vampire… That name used to mean something. I
mean, it still does, obviously, but the word triggers a
whole new range of responses nowadays. Now, if I just
were to randomly whisper "vampire” in conversation,
two things would probably happen: a) people would ask
me, “Oh gawd, vampires? You’re talking about vampires? Don’t even talk to me about vampires…” or b)
they’d pause for a second, clock their head sideways and
ask, “Wait, do you read 'Twilight'?” There’s also a small
chance they might bring up "True Blood," but those are
slim pickings (sorry, HBO contemporaries).
But what I’m getting at here is that something terrible
has happened to everyone’s perception of vampires. It’s
like Dracula slept with the town slut, got a couple STIs
and then The New York Times did some huge front-page
expose on how you really need to avoid him now. And
though there’s a portion of the population that suddenly
finds this sudden humanization of Dracula sexy, in a
weird, angst-y kind of way, everyone else basically just
thinks that he’s this trashy guy that only people of lowlevel intelligence associate with. Basically, it sucks to be a
vampire nowadays.
And let me add that when I say Dracula, I am speaking
about vampires in general. Dracula is just, like, the president of vampires (CNN did a thing about the vampire
election process a while back. I’m pretty sure it’s still a
seniority rule kind of deal. A little outdated if you ask
me, but whatever).
Anyway, when I was 10 — and I don’t mean this to
be a ramble-y, back-in-my-day rant — but back when I
was 10, a vampire wasn't something the public generally
disregarded for tween-fluff or snuff programing, but
something my parents desperately warned me about. It
was almost as if they thought vampires actually existed.
“They are evil,” they would explain. “And we don’t want
to surround ourselves with things that aren’t good for the
soul, right, Joel?”
“Right,” I would quickly assure them all big-eyed and
dazzled at their vast wisdom, and then I promptly walked
over to my neighbors' to watch "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer" because those vampires were evil incarnates, and
because I loved everything my parents warned me about.
I mean, in the end, Buffy and all her pals pretty much
always won the battle against those “evil” vampires, but
man, those vampires helped make some of the best television that’s ever graced TV.
But that’s a thing of the past. The modern day definition of a vampire is no longer an evil mother-sucker out
to murder, maim and take over the world, but someone
out merely to survive and maybe romance a woman
or two, which is almost sweet. But in terms of decent,
"Nosferatu"-style villains having credibility? Those days
are gone. The excellent recent remake, "Fright Night,"
which turned Colin Farrell into “Jerry,” a hilarious, coldblooded vampire, made a little less than $10 million on its
first weekend, where "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" raked
in $68.8 million on its opening weekend.
The game has changed, and maybe it’s for the best.
I mean, vampires have never really been this financially
successful, and that’s great for them I guess. But for me,
that little kid who stayed up to 3 a.m. to watch the TBS
version of "Blade," I’m just stuck watching reruns of
"Buffy" on Netflix.
R.I.P. Dracula.
PREVIEW
Thirty dollars for the
'dopest high energy
bass music'
A quick Google search on dubstep DJs
Excision, Dieselboy or any of their openers
coming to The Blue Note on Saturday will
give you the basic information: Who they are,
where they’re from, what their music is like,
when their shows are and how you can buy
tickets.
Countless YouTube videos pop up to give
those interested a taste of what to expect
when the tour stops by this weekend and
fans can stalk them via Twitter, Facebook
and MySpace. What is undeterminable by this
search, though, is why they do what they do
and why they have developed a cult following — two considerations that are crucial in
understanding their mixes.
It’s hard to fit DJs such as Excision and
Dieselboy into a single genre since they mix,
overlap and combine styles constantly to
create a cohesive sound that has best been
described as dubstep, a relatively new name
for a flourishing genre.
“I play cutting edge, layered, aggressive bass
music,” DJ Dieselboy (Damian Higgins) said
in an email. “I take pride in the craft of DJing
and layering tracks. My goal is to make the
party hop and the mosh pits begin.”
Cutting edge and aggressive are two common ideas used to describe the music dubstep
PREVIEW
*
DJs mix, and they have drawn a cult following
to the 140 beats-per-minute energy. Higgins
attributes the success of the genre to the
slower bpm.
“I have always felt drum and bass had the
most energy in dance music,” Higgins says.
“Its only real downfall was the fact it was
175+ beats per minute. Most people hear
drum and bass and are like... it's too fast.
Current Dubstep captures the energy of drum
and bass but pulls it down to a more palatable
140 beats per minute, which works for nondiehard dance kids.”
Higgins’ explanation hit the nail on the head
Dubstep stars
invade The Blue
Note.
for freshman Joe Mabrey.
“I like Dubstep because of its drops and
overdriven bass lines,” he says.
Whether you like to mosh or just dance
a lot, the show on Saturday appears to be
the place to see and be seen. The bpm of
the Excision and Dieselboy mixes create an
indescribable atmosphere that can only be
experienced live. Seeing a YouTube video or
listening to an album, as suggested above,
can give a potential fan the sense of what the
music is sounds like, but fails to capture the
energy of a few hundred college students and
twenty-somethings piled into one building
with the bass pounding and feeling the place
come alive.
“Dubstep is a lot like love," freshman Erik
Settingsgaard says. "It's all a feeling, and it fills
the room from the floor to the ceiling."
Still having trouble figuring out what to
expect at a dubstep show?
“(Expect) a selection of the dopest high
energy bass music with a guy who has been
doing it for 20 years and knows how to
manipulate the music to be as high energy as it
possibly can be,” Higgins says. “Expect a riot
on the dance floor.”
emily topczewski | reporter
Murphy Lee to host video premiere party at local bar
Bar and Grill
* Salty’s
first time Friday.
Rapper Murphy Lee (with original hit
"Wat Da Hook Gon Be" and featured in "Air
Force Ones" and "Shake Ya Tailfeather"), formerly of St. Lunatics, the group that launched
Nelly’s career, is coming home. The St. Louis
native will appear with rapper LNM on Friday
to debut their new music video at the newly
transformed Memoir dance club, now Salty’s
Bar and Grill.
Lee will be hosting the party to unveil the
video, "Sick-a-Cell." The video was shot at a
hospital in St. Louis and features both LNM
and Lee. The song will be released on LNM’s
new mixtape, "I’m Famous 2." Chase Lauer,
recent MU grad and general manager of Salty’s
Bar and Grill, has cameo on screen.
“LNM is in a straight jacket in a sketchy
hospital, and I chase him when he escapes
from the holding cell,” Lauer says. “You barely
see my face — I wish you didn’t at all, though.”
Lauer refers to Lee and LNM on casual
terms, calling them “Murph” and “L.”
“Murph’s really down to earth,” Lauer
says. “He’s a busy guy, so we did almost all
the shooting without Murph. He just came for
the last two hours, but he was really cool. He
made sure to come out and introduce himself
and everything.”
Justin Garrett, a close friend of LNM and
*
former MU football player, also appears briefly
in the music video. Looking to get his party
planning business off the ground, Garrett will
help throw the party at Salty’s on Friday.
“LNM and I are really close friends, and
he’d been working to get his career started
and motivated me to get my stuff together,”
Garrett says. “I’m looking forward to getting
involved in charities, doing bigger and better
things in Columbia party-wise and representing Mizzou the right way. I guess this is life
after football.”
Friday’s party will also feature promotional
giveaways and free samples of Lee’s new wine
label, Freaky Muscato. Lee and LNM will stick
around after the video to autograph, take photos and mingle with fans.
“I just want everybody to be focused on
the video,” LNM says. “I’ll be walking around,
looking cute and handing out CDs. I don’t
want to perform or anything, I just want everyone to party and have a good time.”
Although the party will be the first big
event at Salty’s, Sept. 9 marks the new bar
and grill’s grand opening. Salty’s will host a
kick-off party and unveil its new sign as well
as several of their own drink labels, including
“Goorilla,” “Salty Snail” and the most popular,
“Deadfro6.”
Chelsea
Lately star
to perform
at Déjà Vu
hunter woodall | staff writer
will show Lee’s new music video for the
In addition to these changes, the old
Memoir building is hardly recognizable inside,
with new chalkboard walls fo r customers to
decorate and a MU-themed black and gold
color scheme. For the first time, the location
will serve food.
“When I was given the opportunity to take
over, I decided I wanted to make it more of a
college bar and grill, sports bar sort of thing,”
Lauer says. “I gutted the inside, repainted,
renamed and did a lot of rebranding.”
Lauer says a focus on music is also part
of the plan to transform the establishment.
Lauer’s hand in the music industry through his
own music label will make it possible to bring
big performers to the venue. Andy Grammer
is scheduled to preform Sept. 2.
Salty’s has several weekly events including
karaoke on Mondays and $2 Tuesdays. The bar
is usually only open to ages 21 and up, though
on Thursdays, Fridays and special events,
adults 18 and up are admitted. The party on
Friday will have a $5 cover, and a bottomless
cup can be purchased for $10.
“This building has never really done well,
but it’s an awesome location, so this is a brand
new bar with a brand new management and
brand new staff,” Lauer says. “We’re going to
stick around."
julia bush | reporter
Comedian Ben Gleib has spent his career appearing on talk shows such as “Chelsea
Lately” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” as well as touring the country and
performing live. This weekend, Gleib brings his act to Columbia’s comedy club Déjà Vu.
“I do a wide range of stuff in my act that hopefully people can relate to,” Gleib says.
“I talk about male and female interactions, sex and drinking and random observations.”
This weekend will mark Gleib’s third time performing in Columbia. In 2010, Gleib
was named one of Esquire Magazine’s top five comedians.
“I enjoy being on Chelsea Lately the most because it’s just a really, really fun time,”
Gleib says. “It’s doing live comedy essentially. No rehearsal, no safety net, just go out there
and try and be funny. Also, it’s the show I’m on the most so I have to say that.”
Gleib will be performing at Déjà Vu Friday and Saturday night with his fellow Chelsea
Lately comedian, Chris Fanjola.
“I love (Déjà Vu); it’s a great crowd and they have a really fun vibe,” Gleib says. “I
love that there’s a nightclub under the comedy club because I get to go after the show
and mingle with hundreds of people who just saw my act, and not be successful with any
of the girls, so it’s perfect.”
MOVE HIGHLIGHTS
(EVENT)
PARTICLE
TIME: DOORS OPEN AT 8 P.M.
DATE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
LOCATION: THE BLUE NOTE
TICKETS: $15
Particle People may sound like a nerdy group of
science-fair rats, but they are actually a group of
raving music fans. Though the band’s name is
Particle, it’s music is actually a fluid blend of jazz,
rock, funk and electronica, also known as livetronica. Starting as a predominantly festival-band, has
moved from smaller scale shows like, you know,
Bonaroo to the big-time stylings of The Blue Note!
(MOVIE RELEASE)
OUR IDIOT BROTHER
RELEASE DATE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
(ALBUM RELEASE)
THE RIP TIDE, BEIRUT
DATE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 30
After his last film ("The Ex") was panned by critics, director Jesse Peretz took the safe route with
comedy veterans Paul Rudd and Zooey Deschanel.
"Our Idiot Brother" might look like it's soaked in
happy-go-lucky fuzziness, but perhaps Deschanel's
dive into unfamiliar territory as a promiscuous
bisexual will salvage some laughs. In any case, any
Deschanel flick is a must-see for men and women
alike, if not for the mysterious novelty of just how
well she balances cute, quirky and sexy.
Any band that can popularize Eastern European
and Balkan folk in the indie-mainstream (what an
oxymoron) has earned its fame. Beirut is a fitting
name for this band, but "The Rip Tide" may be just
as fitting an album title, as in, a rip tide took the band
away from its roots. Critics are saying this album is a
lot more American-pop-oriented. Talk about opposite
ends of a spectrum.
(EVENT)
“CHRIS FRANJOLA AND BEN GLIEB”
TIME: THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 TO SATUDYAT
LOCATION: DÉJÀ VU COMEDY CLUB
TICKETS: $12
From “Chelsea Lately” and “The Late Late Show
with Craig Ferguson” having not only an early but
a late show at the Deja Vu Comedy Club will be
right up their respective alleys. These two have had
so many big-time television experiences, you’ve
probably already seen them elsewhere (hopefully
something you can’t say about their jokes). And just
to make this clear for those of you who changed
the channel mid-commercial, Chelsea Handler
didn't make the trip to Columbia.
MOVE • 08.26.11
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