European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                What a a concert without Beer and Frisbee by David Grimes Mew York times one of the dangers of living in Sarasota Fla is that sometimes without warning you will find yourself in the presence of culture. Sarasota positively reeks of culture to the Point that you can hardly throw a Beer can out of your car without hitting an Ira House an Art gallery or a museum. The chamber of Commerce ranks cultural event attendance As the third most popular activity among Saras tans right behind driving slowly and taking free blood pressure tests. And so it was perhaps inevitable that sooner or later i would find myself at a classical music concert. For those of you who have never attended a classical music concert be advised that the experience has very Little in common with say a concert by the rolling stones. For one thing classical music concerts Are not performed in football stadiums but rather in Small nicely upholstered auditoriums. This is Good in the sense that you can actually see the stage without Jim Croce a Jim Croce live the final tour nostalgia for the 1970s appears inevitable so we might As Well learn to Deal with it. One simple Way would be to avoid ripoffs such As the new disc Jim Croce live the final tour. Singer songwriter we he at s Croce died in a plane v 1 1- crash in 1973. This new live recording does no to serve his memory Well despite Ingrid Croce s role As  for one thing a a at a Mot the package is cheap. Vii Quot x 1 w 1 a there s one picture of Croce and no liner notes. There a a whole generation of music buyers out there who weren t born when Croce died they should be told a Little about his life and music. The 16-Cut disc includes an appalling 18 minutes of record a review Benefit of binoculars but bad in the sense that you can to take your shirt off and catch some rays. Classical music concerts Are different from Rock concerts in other ways too. Unlike Rock fans classical music fans Don t trample one another coming through the door and almost nobody smuggles in pot or a cooler of Beer. You can choose from a wider variety of to shirts at Rock concerts than you can at classical concerts but the restrooms at classical concerts tend to have less water on the floor. At classical concerts the Westphalia virtuoso chamber ensemble plays compositions with names like fettuccine s sonata opus Allegro concerto for Cornish Horn and Bazzoon in a plus minor. At Rock concerts the band is called Lizard secretions and plays songs with names like love Blister. Compared to a Rock concert audience the people who attended the classical music concert with me were exceedingly Well behaved. Fans did not throw Frisbee Back and Forth during the performance nobody rushed the stage and at the end of the concert people showed their appreciation by clapping not by jumping up and Down in their seats and chanting Quot we want More we want More Quot in fact the whole experience was surprisingly pleasant except for the fact that i never knew when to applaud. The orchestra would play for about 20 minutes and then Stop. I took this As a sign that the show was Over and started to clap. Unfortunately the orchestra was not finished a it was just getting its second wind a and by the time i got two or three claps out the music started again. It was very embarrassing and everybody turned around and gave me a dirty look even the Guy whose digital alarm watch had gone off right in the Middle of the adagio. Rock performers give the audience obvious clues that the show is Over and i think classical musicians would do Well to copy some of their techniques. For example when the orchestra is playing its final notes the cello player could pick up his instrument and smash it Over the piano. If that seems wasteful the conductor could take off his Tuxedo jacket and throw it into the crowd or perhaps bite off the head of a Bat. It would be a stirring Way to conclude a concert and it would save a lot of embarrassment for culturally impaired people like me who done to know when to clap. David Grimes is a humor columnist for the Sarasota Fla Herald Tribune. Croce talking to the audience. He a mildly amusing though occasionally dated when was the last time you heard jokes about the maharishi one stretch is remarkably ghoulish. Croce a apparently months weeks or Days from dying in a burning plane a talks about trips on Allegheny airlines which later became us air. He jokes about a Quot White knuckle  the worst thing about the dialogue is its much better to hear Croce sing than talk. Unfortunately you wont hear him sing some of his Best known songs including bad bad Leroy Brown time in a bottle or i got a name.  a few minutes of talking be sacrificed a few songs could be sacrificed too. One potential victim is the dated roller Derby Queen with the 5 28 minutes of roller Derby Queen dialogue preceding it. The lewd Limerick Ball of Kerry Muir is tasteless. Operator that s not the Way it feels and the poignant these dreams which Bookend the disc Are Croce a Best musical moments. Elsewhere a Lack of balance in the recording a the voices too loud and guitars too soft a is an annoyance. With so Many Well researched and Well documented reissues coming out it s disheartening to see such a shabby package. A by David Bauder a Ernie Isley a High wire Ernie Isley s singing is Sweet and soulful possessing the same pliant sensuality and High Silvery falsetto As his Brothers. Yet where High wire sounds most like an Isley Brothers album Isnit in the singing but through the Hendrix style fire of Ernie a guitar. From the fluid wailing leads that open song for the muses to the stinging Funk of Deal with it Isley evokes All the Power of Isley Brothers classics like who s that lady and fight the Power without seeming to retread old ground. At the same time touches like the Semi Metal Back to Square one or the Gritty blues of in deep manage to open enough new ground for the guitarist to make this seem an impressive step Forward. A . Considine the Baltimore Sun the Wall Street journal. Europe announces a new reduced Price for the american armed forces in Europe the Best newspaper investment just got better by special arrangement with the stars and stripes outlets you can now buy the Wall Street journal Europe for Only $1 find out Why Over 2 million americans depend on the journal each Day to track the events that Are shaping their lives. Only a profit from our exclusive coverage of events in Eastern amp Western Europe events that Are affecting your life today. For Only $1 pick one up today at your local stars and stripes outlet. The Wall Street journal. Al roof. Dollar. Olmi s nows a wednesday March 28, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17