THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180012
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music review
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 46 lines
NEWS FLASH: Tracy Bonham's playlist doesn't end with ``Mother Mother,'' Spacehog's glam-rock arsenal includes more than ``In the Meantime'' and Everclear, ``Santa Monica'' to the contrary, slams it out with a fury.
If audiences ever suspected that alternative, sorry, modern rock radio in Hampton Roads suffers serious tunnel vision, the Summerland Tour, which brought those three acts, plus Seattle's 7 Year Bitch, to a steamy, raucous Boathouse Tuesday night, confirmed it.
What did Dr. Seuss say? ``. . . There's no end to the things you might know, depending how far beyond zebra you go.''
The all-female 7 Year Bitch gave no quarter. With their bare-bones rhythms, ``Crying Shame,'' ``Hip Like Junk'' and ``Scratch'' came straight from the punk-rock playbook. Vocalist Selene Vigil matched guitarist Roisin Dunne's jagged riffs growl for growl.
Bonham presented by far the evening's most intriguing set - and credit her for putting off her unshakeable single until near the end. Instead, she came out alone, accompanying herself on violin on the queasy ``Brain Crack.''
Joined by her three-piece band, the diminutive singer/songwriter switched to guitar and thrashed through ``Bullfrog,'' the kiss-off ``Sharks Can't Sleep'' and ``The One,'' a slice of pure power pop.
Picking up the violin again, her furious reel propelled P.J. Harvey's ``50 Foot Queenie'' to a rafter-shaking climax.
Spacehog, four lads from Leeds, England, was making its second area appearance, having packed the Abyss in May.
Led by the animated Langdon brothers - Royston on bass, Antony on guitar - they gleefully pilfered the glam-rock goldmine, adding some twang to ``Spacehog'' and swagger to ``Candyman.'' And you had to love how they exited the stage, with ``Rule Britannia'' playing over the PA system.
If Everclear got a little repetitious, Art Alexakis, Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund made up for it in sheer energy. Drawing from theirindie ``World of Noise'' and the platinum-selling ``Sparkle and Fade,'' their furious set was the antithesis to the radio-ready ``Santa Monica.''
``Heartspark Dollarsign'' is about an interracial relationship and ``You Make Feel Like a Whore'' is Alexakis' response to an A&R man who asked him to add another verse to a song; the lyrics, though, were lost in the sloppy mix.
But that was part of the charm. So the acoustics weren't perfect and a few light queues were missed. Give the Summerland Tour points for spirit. by CNB