Author: Ronald McTrump

This was one of the most fun performances I have seen at The Ark.  Steve Poltz, who describes himself as a Deadhead, was full of creative energy that he used to really bond with the audience. The weirdest exchange he had with the audience was when he came into the crowd and bit an old man’s ear. That’s right HE BIT AN OLD MAN’S EAR! Thankfully it wasn’t in a Mike Tyson ear biting way which draws blood, but in a playful mood that had the old man’s consent. For his last song he led the entire audience in a rendition of “This Land is your Land” where we were all holding shoulders, swaying, and singing our hearts out. He had a cute dialogue with a little girl in the audience, where he replaced the cuss words of one of his songs with a child friendly version which he had her sing. I will only repeat the kid-friendly version which was “Duck off Cancer”. My favorite way in which he connected with the audience, was that he made the concert special to this one show in Ann Arbor at the Ark. He did this by improvising his songs with fun playful rhythms and lyrics specific to Ann Arbor and our night together. This made the show feel special and unique. It made it so that I want to see him perform live again, because I know that the next show will be so different from the one I saw last night. Half of the songs he played for us he mentioned he had written only a few days before with his friends, one of the songs does not even have a title yet, although I believe it will be “Please don’t Crash my Car” because this was the most repeated phrase. I was a little skeptical at first that these awesome songs could have been written in only a few hours, but by the way he was improvising last night I came to believe.

Steve Poltz is a little crazy and rambled for almost the entirety of the second half of the show. He only played one or two songs the last 45 minutes. His stories were very interesting and amusing and he did 42 push-ups for us, but it was not what I wanted out of this night. He is so talented musically and I wish that he didn’t get carried away with talking to the audience.

To describe his music, it is American folk. His rhyming patterns are very simple, usually AABBCCDD and sometimes ABABCDCD. His guitar playing was all finger picking, and he had a way of talk-singing, sort of like Bob Dylan or The Sultans of Swing. His voice was extremely calm and soothing, which is why it sounded so good in his half-talking half-singing manner. Overall I had a great time and hope to see him again!

As a fan of dramatic classical music this performance was a treat for me to see. It was especially fitting for me to see yesterday because I was having a pretty rough day with some pent up anxiety and frustration. The first act quickly released all these pent up emotions because the music felt so relateable to how I was feeling. The xylophonist were alternating between crescendo and decrescendo, steady rhythms and contrasting beats all while Yuja hopped between low and high notes ignoring the use of scales. It felt a little frantic and I wondered if the musicians had a similar day to the one I was having.

The second act was different from the first, even with how Yuja was dressed. She changed from a classic black dress to a yellow dress that felt calming. I am curious if her dresses had any particular relationship to the music she played? Whereas the first act felt more frantic to me, the second act seemed more structured and listening to it would remind me of life. When the xylophonists played in harmony it felt like a clock ticking, and when they would all start playing extremely fast I felt like there were a swarm of bees surrounding my head.

The friend that I was sitting with is a dancer and I asked her “how come you aren’t dancing to the music?” She replied that the beat in the music was too irregular. The music was pretty hectic. There were three drummers/xylophone players in the first part, and four in the second part. Additionally, Yuja’s piano playing felt like a free-style that didn’t always match the rhythm of all or any of the percussionists, but masterfully still fit in. This performance was not like a synchronized quartet or orchestra.

The seats I had were in the very top of the Mezzanine and there were a lot of open seats surrounding me. I not only took advantage of this extra room to spread out and be comfortable, but I tested out how the sound was from every side of Hill Auditorium. It’s incredible that sitting so high up in Hill Auditorium I still felt as though I was sitting at the second row because the music was so loud and clear. However, something I thought I noticed, but don’t want to be quoted on, was that the music did sound louder when I sat in the middle of the mezzanine compared to when I was sitting on either side. If you are ever choosing a seat in Hill Auditorium, I suggest the middle.

This art display is being featured at UMMA until November 18, deceivingly before football season ends. If your schedule is based on Michigan’s football schedule, check out this art display before the Michigan-Indiana game. Unfortunately, Michigan is not playing for the Brown Jug this year, which happens when we play Minnesota, because the display consists of photographs taken by LIFE magazine photographers at the Michigan vs Minnesota game in 1947.  In addition to the photographs, which capture moments from all over campus (excluding north) and from all throughout the homecoming weekend, there is also a replica of the Brown Jug.

When first looking at the display it is easy to miss the hidden details and excitement of the photographs because the photographs are all gray-scale, which we are not used too in the digital age. However, when looking closely I realized that gray colors do not hide the expressions on faces and the details of the environment.   The photographs include pictures of young couples staring intently into each others eyes, army veterans walking with their families, and college students and adults alike simply enjoying themselves.  The most common photographs are of the football stadium, from the billboard, to players, to football announcers. However, my favorite photographs are of the student football fans, because it is these images that I can most relate too. When first looking at the photos I paid attention to the differences from my experiences at football games.  I saw no giant M’s on people’s shirts, no students being tossed into the air, a short brick wall to separate the field from the fans, and audience members drinking from alcohol flasks while watching the game. However, I saw something that reminded me of what I see every football game I attend, and it is the most important thing that I saw; joy and anticipation in every students face. In fact it seemed as if there was a greater sense of anticipation in the faces of students in 1947 compared to today. This could be because the photo was captured at a moment of great excitement in the game, like a touchdown being scored or field-goal being kicked. I think it was because of the significance of the year 1947.  World War II had recently ended and the emotions from the war time still affected the students. The anticipation of how your brothers fighting across the sea were doing, the anticipation of if a bomb could reach the United States, and the anticipation of  when the war would end all affected the anticipation of if Michigan will convert on fourth down, the anticipation of if the Quarterback will be hurt from that sack, and the anticipation of if Michigan will win the game. Football is timeless, and this art exhibit did a wonderful job allowing me to connect to the past.

Most of us students know UMMA for the relaxing coffee lounge facing the diag or the large art display room facing the Union. More perceptive students realize that UMMA houses some amazing art pieces and galleries. Still, even more perceptive students know that UMMA hosts a variety of talks and events, all of them listed online, and you should go check it out!! Now to the actual review–

When I arrived at 1pm I was disappointed at first to see no one in the audience listening to Adam and Kenji performing a duet of music except a lone student photographer. However, it also meant I got the best seat in the house sitting on the bench next to them. I then realized that there were no actual seats laid out for the musical performance, the bench I was sitting on is in the museum permanently. It was then that I realized that listeners were intended to stroll around the art exhibits while listening to the music. The acoustics were fantastic and the music could clearly be heard from any of the art rooms on the first or second floor. I enjoyed having two perspectives to listen to the music. One perspective where I was very engaged sitting next to the music watching Adam’s fingers fly around the fretboard of his guitar, and the other more passive perspective hearing the music in the back of my head as I focused on artwork.

I don’t know the names of any of the songs Adam and Kenji performed, but I know that it was all jazz music. It was an unusual instrument pairing, a tenor saxophone and a guitar, but this allowed for a unique sound. I expected that the guitar would play the rhythm and support the saxophone who would solo over the guitar, but to my happy surprise, they took turns being the lead and background. I personally enjoyed Adam’s rhythm playing, I think low toned notes sounded really good on his guitar.

UMMA does Pop-Ups every weekend, usually around 1pm on Saturday and Sunday, and as long as a football game isn’t going on you should really check it out. If you do, you might see me there because I certainly plan on checking out some more Pop-Ups