Magical moves at Midwest Masala
Emily Hoferer
Diversions Editor
Christy Hyson
The men of Muskie Matsi enjoyed energizing the audience.
The Cintas Center was transformed into a microcosm of South Asia as the host for Midwest Masala 2. The dinner and dance competition took place on Saturday, April 14 and it attracted not only students, but people from the community and the competing schools as well.
The event started with a buffet style dinner of Indian food that turned out to be the running joke of the night. Truth be told while it was very delicious it could have been much stronger. But, as the scent is quite distinct, next year the dinner crew should provide some after dinner mints.
The show was a little slow to start, but finally our emcees for the night, junior Anish Kapil and senior Faraz Rahman, introduced the opening act, comedian Rahul Siddharth.
His routine consisted of jokes about his traditional Indian parents, dating and why American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar has not been voted off yet. According to Siddharth, it’s because all the Indians are voting for him.
Midwest Masala is first and foremost a dance competition. Every team’s introduction was a video introducing the dancers, which was displayed on the screen above the stage. The first team to compete was the Indiana University Bhangara.
IU’s intro was supposed to be a parody of “The Real World,” which I found to be a little boring. There’s a lot of pressure to open a show, so perhaps something more attention grabbing would have worked better. Their performance was fine, but nothing memorable.
Next up was the University of Cincinnati International Dance Team. Their video intro was a visual tour of their campus and took a few friendly stabs at Xavier by proudly showing the “Xavier girls are still ugly” t-shirt. Their routine included a song that talked about Cincinnati in the lyrics.
After a solid performance by the Xavier Dance Team, the ladies from Michigan State University NASHA took to the stage. Their low maintenance but skillful routine received a lot of praise. It was their first time at Midwest Masala as well.
Christy Hyson
Miami University played right into their preppy stereotype by way of costuming. The women wore outfits purchased from Victoria’s Secret and Hollister while the men wore blue jeans and polo shirts (alas, no popped collars). They had some great stunts, including a terrific jump at the end of their performance.
After a brief intermission the 313 Warriors from Wayne State University brought their spirited presence to the stage. They had plenty of props and decoration as well as a very cool intro video with up-tempo music and great pictures of Detroit. There were a lot of people on stage, so there was always something to watch. It was a visually pleasing routine that included many different types of dance.
The Xavier Step Team performed after the 313 Warriors. Even though there were only four of them, the ladies held their own with a very rhythmical and exciting routine.
The defending champions, TAAL, from the University of Michigan, were next in their pink and baby-blue outfits. The stage was decorated with large, stand-up pink and baby blue iPods. Their music was a great collective mix and it was easy to see why they were the defending champions.
Finally, it was time for the home team to show the audience what they had in store for them. The Xavier University Muskie Masti’s video introduced the five male dancers in a matrix themed plot. They had to chose between the five women from the real world or the other five women from the Matrix world. It clearly shows that our dance team is not only skillful, but creative as well. Their high energy performance concluded with the team rolling out a giant silver X.
While the three experienced judges tallied the scores, the charity which received the proceeds from Midwest Masala contributions was introduced by Dr. Joshi, which was very entertaining to say the least. He spoke very passionately about the Saraswati Secondary School located in Nepal.
Finally, it was time to announce the winners. After the necessary thank you’s, the results were read aloud. Xavier’s Muskie Matsi came in third with 82 points. Last year’s winners, TAAL from University of Michigan, came in second with 86 pts. The NASHA women from Michigan State University took first, with only a one-and-a-half point difference.
Although some of the dancers from University of Michigan looked disgruntled and even appalled at these very close results, there were heartfelt congratulations all around.
The evening dragged at some points, but the dancing was phenomenal. If the Xavier team feels disappointed it is understandable as their high energy performance was a crowd favorite. However, the team and the South Asian Society have come a long way in the past two years and they should be proud of themselves, even if the judges scores do not reflect their stellar accomplishments.
Midwest Masala brought in over 900 people for an evening of great food and dancing. It was truly another great success and is sure to become an annual staple of life at Xavier.
Small wreck for talented duo
Emily Hoferer
Diversions Editor
Kristina Murray
Jessica Harp and Michelle Branch had no cat fights while on stage.
“Hmm…what would Jesus do?” Michelle Branch inquired with a smile on her face. And no, she wasn’t delivering us any kind of moral advice.
She was merely debating the invitation for her and Jessica Harp, the other half of the country duo the Wreckers, to join some members of the crowd at Dana’s after the show. The Wreckers performed at Cintas Center on Thursday, April 12, but sadly did not go to Dana’s afterwards.
Only about 800 people attended the show, which had no opening act and only lasted an hour and a half (including their encore). While the crowd was anything but sold out, the Wreckers still put on an engaging and genuine show.
Both girls were in sync with one another, like they had been playing together for decades. Branch, already well known for having great pitch, perhaps has more of a musical talent than Harp who seems to be stronger on the vocals. They even covered “Love is Here to Stay” which was sung by another famous duo, the Judds.
Throughout the concert, the girls talked with the crowd creating a great feeling of intimacy inside the vast Cintas Center. It was great to observe the girls closely. Did anyone else see the eyes that Harp was making at the guitarist? Ah, tour romance.
Branch also made plenty of jokes about being at a Catholic school. Branch, who is married to her bassist, Teddy Landae, proudly displayed a giant tattoo of what looks to be a cowgirl as she played the acoustic and electric guitar, as well as the mandolin.
For a solo performance, Branch played her last big hit “Are You Happy Now?” Harp also had an opportunity to sing. She chose a song by one of her favorite songwriters called “Drinking Problem.”
While the Wreckers tried to get the crowd to rock out, it seemed that a majority of the people there only knew their one famous song, “Leave the Pieces” and most were standing there listening to the music.
Many of the Wreckers’ songs were typical country with some pop-infused accents. They did great performances of “Same Truck,” a song about getting burned by another guy, and “Stand Still, Look Pretty,” the title track of their album, which they played as their encore.
They closed the show with their big hit “Leave the Pieces.” The crowd knew all the words and heartily sang along. Branch thanked the crowd saying “We didn’t think that anyone would show up.” And while it was still a small concert in a big arena, the girls put on a great show.
If you would like to see the Wreckers again on the road, they were hand selected by Keith Urban to be the opening act on his “Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Tour,” before he entered rehab. When he asked if they would wait for him to get his life in order, they agreed. The will hopefully get to showcase their great talents to many big crowds.
Unrated with Jeff McMurray
pulstec.com
I’ve always wondered, what does Ben actually fold?
One of the greatest aspects of the world of music, aside from the drugs and groupies, is cover music. Covers have become such an ingrained part of music that cover bands have formed. Some of the more prominent cover bands include AC/DC and Mini-KISS. But this “Unrated” is not about the bands. It is about the cover songs that have warmed our hearts over the years. I give to you now a list of the greatest covers of all time.
“Gin and Juice” – The Gourds. It is often mistaken that Phish or Blues Traveler covered this song, but in actuality it was the Austin, Texas band The Gourds. You can thank the users of Napster for this mistake, who incorrectly labeled the song. Aside from the mislabeling, the song is forever imprinted into our heads. It is hard to forget the twang of Kevin Russell’s voice singing, “Rollin’ down the street, smokin indo, sippin’ on gin and juice.”
“Bitches Ain’t Shit” – Ben Folds. All I know is that if Ben Folds tells me that bitches ain’t shit, then he must be right because he knows. In all seriousness, this is a great version of an old-school classic. If you want a real treat though, get a hold of the original version and see how different it sounds from Ben Folds’ version.
“Boyz ‘N the Hood” – Dynamite Hack. No other song that I know of tells the tale of how hard it is to grow up in the suburbs. Dynamite Hack really catches the essence of this song both musically and visually in their video. The band gets extra points for sampling The Beatles’ “Blackbird” at the end.
“Mercy, Mercy Me” – The Strokes and Eddie Vedder. The vocal stylings of Julian Casablancas and Eddie Vedder over the interlocking drums of Fab Moretti and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme are what make this song. Other covers The Strokes have done include “Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed and “A Salty Salute” by Guided by Voices. Both of those are great versions, but “Mercy, Mercy Me” is the best.
“Smooth Criminal” – Alien Ant Farm. Dryden Mitchell is the only singer I can think of who can do a cover of a Michael Jackson song and get away with it.
AF does a great job covering this song and the video is littered with tributes to Jackson, which range from the lighting of the sidewalk as well as the Thriller dance by old men. Sadly, though, this is the only song that the band is known for.
Well, that’s all for this week! I’m off to punk-ass trip in the dead of night.
Stephanie Metz
Diversions Editor
Cultural Meet-and-Greet
Join SAC and BSA for a short, sweet, cultural meet-and-greet! Come mingle with different cultures on campus at 5:30 p.m. on April 19 on the greenspace. There will be international music, dancing and fashion. Food from Greece, Italy, India, America, Mexico, Asia and much more.
Best of all, it’s free!
“A Few Good Men”
The Peer Leadership Team will be hosting a Leadership Movie Madness series and featuring the movie “A Few Good Men.” The movie will begin at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18 in Tuckers Lounge in Brockman. Free food and drinks will be served.
Late Night Movie
The featured Late Night Movie of April is “Freedom Writers.” The movie is a story about a group of impoverished high school students who find success in the safety of their English classroom and go on to achieve success when no one thought they would. The movie will be shown at 11 p.m. from April 19-21 in the GSC Theatre.
Free Concert
Listen to New Englands’ newest “It” band live from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, April 20 on the greenspace. This event is hosted by Relay for Life and is free. Come show your support and listen to some cool music.
Fiesta Solar
Join SOL for their Fiesta Solar from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday, April 20 in the Armory. There will be Latin American music, food, culture and dancing. The event is free and open to all.
