Scenepage 8 Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Observer

BLAIR CHEMIDLIN | Observer Graphic

As the student body prepares for the first football weekend of theyear, it’s the perfect time to grow nostalgic and discuss seasons of old. Toour generation, that includes probably around fiveseasons, if that.

An era that is so far off the radar still producedsome photography and stats worth looking at. Early-20th century Notre Dame football is documented infull detail in books, magazines and yearbookshoused in the Hesburgh Library. This football is prehistoric, pre-Knute

Rockne and basically pre- what we know to be American football.

Marissa Frobes

Scene Writer

The University of Notre Dame of 1907regarded their players differently, too. Thoseon the roster today are glorified stars in thebubble Notre Dame assumes in South Bend.

But the athletes were taken a bit less seri-ously in 1907. In the yearbook, players have ashort dedication where their performance dur-ing the season is described vaguely. Capt.“Cally” Callicrate “was so consistently good.”

Quarterback WilliamRyan was a “goodpunter, a drop andplace kicker, anda good all-aroundman.”

But we alsolearn thatCallicrate loved toplay checkers,and another play-er liked to play“policeman.” Theyhad lives outsideof football.

This week, Notre Dame is worrying aboutBrian Kelly’s premiere as the new head coach. TheIrish faithful are anxious to see how Dayne Crist willplay as starting quarterback, and if freshman

Tommy Rees will end up in the game at all.Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick

might have to orchestrate coachingchanges, but in 1907, athletics managerT. Paul McGannon had bigger problemsto mull over. Notre Dame was initiallyonly scheduled to play two games, and

the team had no shoesor uniforms. Hecame through in theclutch for thoseissues — theyplayed eight gamestotal in someancient gear.

And at least Brian Kelly is a tenuredhead coach. Robert L. Bracken was theassistant coach for the 1907 team — anauthority position he acquired after gradu-ating in 1906. Editors of “The Dome” year-book of 1908 assert that he was qualifiedafter playing “his full three years of varsityfootball.” Not to mention he was a memberof the “All-Indiana” team while in school— a veritable accomplishment in a worlddecades before the first Heisman Trophywas awarded. But how would mostAmericans react today if a graduateinstantly began fronting their favoriteNCAA football team?

That’s not to say this team wasn’t successful. The NotreDame football team of 1907 walked away from the season unde-feated, scoring 137 points in eight games with only 30 pointsscored against them. Sure, the competition was not as stiff —their first opponent was a team of “Physicians & Surgeons”— butthey also played Purdue. And won, 17-0.

Maybe if the Notre Dame community takes this look back to thepast as a way to remember the raw, basic joy people feel watch-ing and playing football, without all the glitz and glamour of theNBC broadcast and the pressure of 80,000 fans in the stands,Notre Dame football can mimic their successful season. Maybe?

The views expressed in this column are those of the author andnot necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Marissa Frobes at mfrobes@nd.edu

Black and white photos: “The Dome,” 1908Color photos: DAN JACOBS/The Observer

SceneWednesday, September 1, 2010 page 9

The Observer

BLAIR CHEMIDLIN | Observer Graphic

This August, the Chicago area expe-rienced its annual musical invasionknown as Lollapalooza. With the addi-tion of 20,000 extra tickets per day andthe expansion of the park beyond theusual border ofColumbus Drive, Iquestioned whetherthe event wouldhave the same feelas in years past.Despite hesitations, the added space andextra concert-goers didn’t hinder thefestival at all — they simply amplifiedthe energy in Grant Park and fed theunstoppable force that is Lollapalooza.

The Friday lineup was, unfortunately,the sparsest. I suppose it was a goodway to start the weekend, considering Iwould spend the majority of the next twodays standing, but it was still disappoint-ing. It seemed everyone was sittingaround looking for a band to casuallywatch before Lady Gaga or the Strokes.

I started Friday at Budweiser Stage forWavves which was, in a word, fine. Theysimply didn’t seem to translate that wellat a noon show outside in the middle ofthe summer. It also got awkward whenthe band members bickered onstage.Planned or not, the fighting was not con-ducive to a good show. I would haveloved to keep one of the lime green “PostAcid” beach balls, however.

After lazily walking around for a cou-ple hours after Wavves, I ventured overto the Adidas MEGA Stage (the partystage that isn’t Perry’s) to get a goodspot for Matt & Kim.

Of course, many may question mychoice to see a two-person band asopposed to Dirty Projectors or the NewPornographers, but it ended up beingone of my top-five shows of the weekendfor sure. It’s not easy to describe theenergy that erupted both in the crowdand onstage when Matt & Kim came outto Fat Joe’s “Lean Back.” I knew I was inthe right place.

The rest of the show was full of danc-ing and just about as much happiness

as a person can handle. Matt & Kimwere so great because it was clear theyweren’t taking themselves too seriously;they were just two people who got reallylucky and are enjoying every minute ofit.

The highlight of that show, aside frommy crowd-surfing antics, was what Kimdescribes as “the booty dance.” Sheactually got into the crowd, stood on thehands of the people in the front row, andbegan to shake her “booty” for thecrowd. While this was occurring, Mattclimbed at least 25 feet on the side of thestage and then hung on with one armwhile sticking his legs out in the air. Itwas crazy in the best way possible.

After seeing countless headlines about“Gagapalooza,” I was certain that LadyGaga was going to be the highlight of myweekend. It was a difficult to decidewhether to go to the Strokes or LadyGaga, but I figured I couldn’t miss seeinga pop culture icon at her peak.

Boy, was I disappointed. I am definitelya Lady Gaga fan, but I was beyondannoyed with her political rants andself-absorbed monologues. After tellingfans, “Take my picture” and asking thecrowd in a baby-ish voice, “Do you thinkI’m sexy?” she would proceed to screamin a terrifying voice about who evenknows what.

The show was great, but it was herthat I was disappointed in. She wasingenuine and narcissistic, which wasthe last thing I wanted to see.

Saturday was definitely a differentstory. I ping-ponged between PlaystationStage and Budweiser Stage for most ofthe morning and saw Stars, The XX andGrizzly Bear.

As for The XX, I was really impressedby how good they were live, but I wasalso a little bit afraid of them live. Icould not have pictured anybody so pale.It was just a little bit funny that thecrowd was out in the sun sweltering andthe band was completely shaded by thestage. That’s probably the only way tokeep such a light complexion. Despite

what they lacked in aesthetic appeal,they were one of the best shows that.

Another highlight of the day wasEdward Sharpe and the MagneticZeroes. They played at the Sony BloggieStage, and while I was worried aboutgoing to a new stage to see them, it wasmaybe the best match-up of venue andartist I had ever experienced.

They were essentially tucked away ina little forest while fans piled into theclearing and stood on sides of a ditch tosee them. Some fans even went so far asto climb up the trees to get a better view.The combination of the wooded venueand the band’s free spirited nature madeit seem like everyone at the concert hadbeen transported back to the hippie cul-ture of the ‘60s.

I wrapped up Saturday seeing Frenchphenomenon Phoenix. I was excited, butI honestly wasn’t expecting them to beas good as they were. They had anincredible light show that was bothclean and engaging. It wasn’t to busyand it added just the right amount ofspectacle to the show.

It was really cool to see bands likePhoenix be awed at the number of peo-ple in their audience and it’s one ofthose things that just makes me like aband so much more. They were charm-ing and humble and light-years awayfrom the flop of a headliner I chose tosee Friday (that would be Lady Gaga).

Friday and Saturday, however, weremere warm-ups to the marathon ofamazing bands that played on Sunday. Igot down there early to see the Dodos,but it was worth braving the cold andrain to see Neko Case come onstage sononchalantly to sing back-up for the trio.

After fueling up for a day that I knewwould be mostly standing, I waited forYeasayer at Budweiser Stage. I was sureYeasayer was going to be one of the bestshows of the weekend because I hadloved their latest album, but I was a littledisappointed. It wasn’t as high energy asI thought it would be, but they were stillgreat live. Despite being totally bummed

that they didn’t play “I Remember,” itwas still worth seeing just because thelead singer was dressed exactly likeJustin Timberlake in the SNL skits “MyD*** in a Box.”

After moving up considerably, I waitedan hour for MGMT. Without questionMGMT was my second favorite show ofthe weekend. I had heard that they werenot really into playing any of their mostpopular songs like “Kids,” which had methinking they would be pretentious andannoying, but I was blown away by howgreat of a show they put on.

Not only did they play “Kids,” but theyseemed happy to do it. They had theperfect mix of songs from “OracularSpectacular” and “Congratulations,” andthey had a refreshing sense of humorabout the fact that they were playingsuch a huge venue. Without cracking asmile, the lead singer looked out on thecrowd of at least 30,000 and said, “Wow,there must be at least 2,000 peoplehere.”

Hands down my favorite concert wasthe festival closer, Arcade Fire. Meredays after releasing “The Suburbs,” theentire crowd was there singing alongwith their newest songs. It was one ofthe most incredible experiences to beable to see music unite such a hugenumber of people with ease.“Neighborhood #1” and “Sprawl II”were so much more full in Grant Parkthan they ever could have been playingout of my car stereo.

The show brought each person in thecrowd into the experience. It was unre-al to be part of a crowd of around60,000 people where every single personknew the words to “Wake Up” and sangit with conviction at the end of the show.It united the entire festival at the veryend of three long days.

The views expressed in this columnare those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Courtney Cox atccox3@nd.edu

Courtney Cox

Scene Writer

If you’ve been living with no electricity,in the Antarctic or with your eyes shutthis past year, you may not have noticedNew Jersey’s fast and steady takeover oftelevision. From those crazy fist-pumperson “Jersey Shore”to the crazy fist-punchers on “TheReal Housewivesof New Jersey,”loud-mouthedeast-coasters areall the rage rightnow, with showsabout GLT-ing,selling promdresses andmaking cakes, toname a few.

So what’s with this current fascination?Is it the toned and tanned bodies of manyof these shows’ stars? Is it their no-holds-barred attitudes? Is it their love of allthings glittery, gold and “Guido?” And,most important of all, do the larger-than-life inhabitants of the silver screen’s NewJersey look anything like the real peoplewho call Jersey home?

To answer that last question, findsomeone from New Jersey and ask himor her yourself.

But as for the rest, I don’t know thatthese questions can be answered. What Ican say, though, is that every Jersey-cen-tric show on television is very distinctlyNew Jersey — meaning that, with fewexceptions, the shows are very muchabout being from New Jersey and the

way that people use that toidentify themselves.

Case in point: Oxygen’s“Jersey Couture,” about afamily-owned dressbusiness, cateringmostly to the home-coming/prom danceand beauty pageantcrowd. It’s actually agood show, and notbecause the peoplewho come into thestore are amusingto watch (thoughthey are). Rather,the family, in par-ticular the twodaughters thatthe show centersaround, are hilar-ious to watch asthey try to exemplifythe very stereotypicallyNew Jersey Italian family.Whether the stereotype is realor not, this family is proud ofwhere they come from andproud of their home. In some ways, NewJersey and the New Jersey culture aremain characters themselves.

Compare “Jersey Couture” to some-thing like “Jersey Shore,” where themajority of the reality show’s stars aren’teven from New Jersey. They have,though, come to be associated with thestate and the stereotypical party atmos-phere of a summer at the Jersey Shore.

Even moving thecast to Miamicouldn’t changethat. But whileJersey is still total-

ly central to theshow (except when

they’re in Miami,maybe), theMTV showseems to use itmore as aromanticizedideal of what a

high-flying, par-tying life can belike in New Jersey.

Maybe it’s not cele-brated, but it’s not

attacked either. “Cake Boss,” TLC’s show

about a New Jersey-basedcake baker and his shop, is

very much centered on BuddyValastro’s Italian upbringing in New

Jersey. But the show could really beset anywhere. The distinct New Jersey

flavor comes more from the cake shop’sclients than it does from the bakery itself.But there it is, trumpeting New Jersey’sunique culture nonetheless.

And “The Real Housewives of NewJersey” has increasingly become aboutdefending a very “New Jersey” idea ofprotecting one’s name and one’s family.That’s not a distinctly New Jersey thing,but the characters on “Real Housewives”tend to blend their Italian close-knit fami-

ly pride with their New Jersey upbring-ings.

So where is the appeal? We can findloud-mouthed twenty-somethings inplenty of other states. And shows aboutcake shops have already infiltratedplaces like Baltimore. And “The RealHousewives of New Jersey” is just one ofa growing number of “Housewives”shows that span the country. Maybe wesee an ideal in the seemingly carefreelives of many of the “characters”(because that’s what they often are) onthese shows – don’t we all just want to goto the gym, get tan and do laundry allday? Or live in luxury thanks to our hus-bands’ big salaries? Or make really awe-some cakes?

Maybe we see an “otherness” in theNew Jersey lifestyle.

Or maybe there is absolutely no expla-nation for why shows about New Jerseyare popping up everywhere

It doesn’t really matter. But you candefinitely believe that these New Jersey-ites are taking our fascination with themto the bank – the kids of “Jersey Shore”reportedly make $10,000 an episode andmay be looking at $30,000 an episode forSeason 3.

Here’s hoping the next big thing isabout kids from South Bend, Ind.

The views expressed in this column arethose of the author and not necessarilythose of The Observer.

Contact Maija Gustin atmgustin@nd.edu

Maija Gustin

Associate SceneEditor