Your guide to live music within a 75-mile radius
By Sasha Benderly-Kraft
This is a new monthly feature showcasing musical events happening in and near Richmond. Our aim is to let students know about what’s going on that’s worth going to. Inform yourself, get tickets in advance, set up a ride and have fun.
At Earlham
Saturday, March 6: Genesis Benefit Concert. Earlham will once again host the yearly benefit show to support the Genesis Women’s Shelter of the Young Women’s Christian Association, a shelter for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Hosted by the Earlham Women’s Chorus, the show will show off a wide variety of talents. No tickets required, $5 suggested donation. 7:30 p.m., Goddard Auditorium
Sunday, March 7: Michael Chikuzen Gould. Gould is one of the only non-Japanese Grand Masters of the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese flute. Admission is free. 7 p.m., Stout Meetinghouse
Saturday, April 3: Orchestra Concert. The Earlham College Orchestra will put on its first concert under guest conductor Aik Khai Phung. Don’t miss it. Admission is free. 7:30 p.m., Goddard Auditorium
In Richmond
Every Friday and Saturday: Live music at E Street Pub. Fridays are smaller-scale rock/ folk nights, while Saturdays are typically metal/hard rock shows. Local Ozzy Osbourne tribute band Speak of the Devil plays on March 20. Free most Fridays,$3 most Saturdays. 21+. 9 p.m. Fridays, 10 p.m. Saturdays. 815 N E St.
Friday, March 19: Shredfest at The Outlet, a young local music venue, hosts several local metal and hardcore bands for a night of heavy music. Performers include Indianapolis bands Ghost of Maine and Gamma Pulse, Muncie post-hardcore outfit In Pairs They Galloped, and New Castle’s Phoenix Down. All Ages, $7 admission. The Outlet, 315 National Rd W. 7 p.m.
Under 75 miles away
Thursday, March 11: Megadeth’s Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour. The renowned thrash metal band is celebrating 20 years of its seminal album by touring with Testament and Exodus. $35-45, all ages. Murat Theater, Indianapolis, Ind. 502 North New Jersey Street. 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 14: We Were Promised Jetpacks at Radio Radio. This introspective energetic Scottish post-punk act released their debut album, “These Four Walls,” last year. $8, 21+. Radio Radio, Indianapolis, Ind. 1119 E Prospect St. 8 p.m.
Monday, March 15: David Bazan at Southgate House. Bazan is an acoustic singer-songwriter who formerly led Pedro the Lion. After releasing four albums with that band, he issued his first solo full-length album, “Curse Your Branches,” last year. $12, all ages. Southgate House, Newport Ky. 21 E 3rd St. 9 p.m.
Wednesday, March 17: Cage The Elephant at Bogart’s. This up-and-coming rock band, from Bowling Green by way of London, has been accumulating acclaim since their 2008 selftitled album — their second will come out this year. $13.50, all ages. Bogart’s, Cincinnati, Ohio. 2621 Vine St. 8 p.m.
Monday, March 22: A Place To Bury Strangers/The Big Pink at Southgate House. New York neo-shoegaze band A Place to Bury Strangers, who last year released their second full-length album, “Exploding Head,” are touring with London-based electro rock band The Big Pink, who just released their first album. $10, all ages. Southgate House, Newport Ky. 21 E 3rd St. 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 23: Lincoln Center Orchestra Featuring Wynton Marsalis at Miami University. The prestigious jazz ensemble of Lincoln Center is touring with well-known trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. They will perform together at nearby Miami University in Oxford, Ohio — less than 25 miles away. 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 27: Girl Talk at Murat Egyptian Room. The sometimes-controversial mashup artist promises to continue questioning copyright laws and crafting catchy beats during his live show. $15, all ages. Murat Egyptian Room, Indianapolis, Ind. 502 North New Jersey Street. 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 30: Jedi Mind Tricks at Southgate House. Jedi Mind Tricks is a long-running Philadelphia indie hip-hop act, and released their most recent album, “A History of Violence,” in 2008. $14, all ages. Southgate House, Newport Ky. 21 E 3rd St. 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 30-Thursday, April 1: MusicNOW Festival, Cincinnati. This year’s MusicNOW festival features harpist Joanna Newsom (Tuesday), St. Vincent (Wednesday), and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (Thursday). $20, all ages. Memorial Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1225 Elm Street. 8:00 p.m. all days.
Friday, April 2: Electric Six at the Vogue. The satirical Detroit hard-rock band has been pumping out albums lately, with last year’s “KILL” about to be followed by an as-yet untitled album. They are touring on both. $12, 21+. The Vogue, Indianapolis, Ind. 6259 N College Ave. 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 7: Mission of Burma at Southgate House. This legendary Boston postpunk band just released their third album since coming out of retirement, titled “The Sound The Speed The Light.” Mission of Burma is one of the key bands in American underground music’s history, and shouldn’t be missed. $15, all ages. Southgate House, Newport, Ky. 21 E 3rd St. 9:00 p.m.
He’s got rhythm, he’s got music; energetic, ecletic, innovative: that’s Polanco-Safadit
by Adam Tobin
It is obvious to anyone who encounters music instrctor Pavel Polanco-Safadit that he is very energetic, as he readily admits. That energy signifies a deep passion and love of music, shown as he leads Earlham’s jazz ensemble.
As the band dives into a few bars, Polanco-Safadit becomes animated, paces the aisle like a dancer, moves to the rhythm and beat and throws his body to the feel of the music.
At one point he notes the band’s sound is becoming cheesy.
“I used to stay in the Hilton Hotel twice a month and I had to cover my ears while walking the hall because the jazz music was so cheesy, so let’s not fall into that trap” he said.
Polanco-Safadit is the newest addition to the music department. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, he is in his first semester as the new jazz ensemble and salsa band director and is in his second year as an instructor at Earlham.
Polanco-Safadit has also initiated Earlham’s first salsa combo simply because he wanted to do something different.
Aside from the two ensembles, he also teaches jazz improvisational piano, classical piano, Latin piano and composition. He will also step in to teach the theory class next semester, as music professor Forrest Tobey will be off campus.
“We hired him to teach it and he’s taught a number of classes at the college level,” said Tobey.
Polanco-Safadit would like to incorporate the study of avant-garde and modern music in his composition seminar.
“I want to promote contemporary musicians like Luciano Berio and Karl Stockhausen,” he said.
Polanco-Safadit’s musical experience is a journey rich with schooling and performing.
At the age of 14, he learned classical piano from a missionary in the Dominican Republic and by 15 he was already teaching the instrument.
After a brief stint with the computer sciences, he decided to follow in his parents’ footsteps and study medicine.
“I wanted to do something with my hands, so I thought about becoming a surgeon” he said.
When Polanco-Safadit met up with his former piano instructor, however, his advice was to stick with music.
“He told me, ‘music is for you,’” Polanco-Safadit said.
Pursuing studies and a career in music, Polanco-Safadit and moved with his wife Emily to Kentucky and Wisconsin before moving to Indianapolis three years ago. Exhausting travel time and touring took up most of his time during his first years in Indianapolis.
“Sometimes I would play three gigs in one week,” he said. “For instance, I would fly to New York in the morning and then fly back to Chicago in the same day to do two gigs in two days. I don’t miss that, but I do miss playing.”
During that time, he played with many notable jazz greats including bassist Richard Davis and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell.
Polanco-Safadit performs occasionally, including a performance at the Latin Festival earlier in the fall, where he sang with Kapítulo Uno, a group that blends salsa, bachata and merengue styles. He is also part of a group called Direct Contact, another salsa and bachata group that has performed at Earlham.
“When I perform, I want to be with great musicians, and Direct Contact is fantastic,” he said. “We only practice once, which is at the live show.”
Tobey spoke to Polanco-Safadit’s connections to other musicians.
“He’s connected with a network of top-flight musicians,” he said. “We are lucky the guy is settled in Indy and that he’s available.”
He added, “What’s great for us about Pavel is he has a great Latin jazz background and holds a doctorate in serious Western composition, which is a great reason to bring him on board.”
Reflecting on Polanco-Safadit’s initiation of a salsa combo at Earlham, Tobey said, “There is a lot of enthusiasm for salsa. This is an obvious thing: we want to play to someone’s strengths and so Pavel decided to take a Latin direction, and Latin studies are serious on campus.”
What Tobey and other music professors found especially attractive about Polanco-Safadit as a candidate was his eclecticism.
“Pavel has what all of us have in that we’re eclectic, so that lets him fit in nicely, opposed to just having someone who is trained only rigidly classical,” Tobey said.
At one point music professor Dan Graves asked him if he could do a ballad, poking fun at the fact that Polanco-Safadit is fast-paced and a ballad has a slow tempo. Polanco-Safadit eagerly accepted the suggestion.
“I’ve been in almost every situation with musicians all over the spectrum,” he said. “Although I haven’t tackled heavy metal yet.”
Polanco-Safadit is always willing to experiment and try new things, and his energy is contagious.
“He has a lot of energy and it’s really infectious. It transfers to us and it makes us better performers,” said sophomore Anna Hetzel, who works with him in the Jazz Ensemble and the Latin Jazz Combo.
“His passion for music has inspired me to work harder and try new things,” she added. “I like how personally he works with each one of us. Even if we are in an ensemble we feel that he is giving us personal attention.”
Hip-hop show performs art as resistance
Earlham students sing with Mohammed Al Farra during Friday’s Art Is Our Resistance concert.
Poets slammed, break dancers spun, rappers spat, and the crowd went wild at the hip-hop concert “Art is Our Resistance” on Friday, Nov. 13.
The four-hour event was sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs’ newly-formed Diversity Council and showcased ways in which hip-hop artists use their craft as a vehicle to resist oppression.
The event featured nine acts, ranging from the politically charged duo Dead Prez to break dancers from Chicago’s Southwest Youth Collaborative, a group that seeks positive ways to channel the energies of urban youth.
The night’s many performers hailed from such diverse locales as Chicago, New York, Puerto Rico and Palestine, and their performances reflected the political realities they perceived in those places.
“The question of liberation was one that all the artists … were addressing broadly, but from their particular locations,” explained Director of Multicultural Affairs Trayce Peterson.
Peterson said that the idea for the event was proposed to the Diversity Council by the co-convenors of Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (SPJP), one of the many groups that compose the council.
Sophomore Leith Odeh, a co-convenor of SPJP, was heavily involved in the planning and organizing of the event. He hoped the event would be “a start for us to be able to do work together in the future … to recognize all the different struggles and connect them together, and basically just to understand them.”
In addition to SPJP, the event benefited from the participation of many other campus groups such as Black Student Union, Sociedad de Estudiantes Latinos and the Student Activities Board.
“It’s something new,” sophomore Julia Berner-Tobin, SPJP co-convenor, said of the event’s scope. “At least for the time I’ve been at Earlham I’ve never seen something like this be done.”
The concert was scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. in Comstock, but plane delays pushed back the starting time. When the doors finally opened at 11 p.m., members of the Earlham community had formed a line snaking past Runyan desk.
Members of the involved campus organizations served as event staff, giving purple wristbands to ticket-holders and keeping an eye out for intoxicated guests.
Many in the crowd were unsure of what to expect from the evening. Some, such as senior Mica Whitney, had only heard of Dead Prez. “There’s a bunch of people I don’t know, so I’m excited to hear them,” Whitney said.
The performances began with poetry. King Keith and Ismail Khalidi, the first two poets of the night, expounded on oppression and resistance from an African-American and Palestinian perspective respectively.
“This is addressed to you, America,” King Keith proclaimed, “so you never forget, so you always remember our faces.”
The third act, Puerto Rican poet Mayda del Valle, brought a distinctly feminist viewpoint. Her poetry also touched on her commercial success. “I may not be true to this ‘cause I get a paycheck for doing this,” she conceded. However, the audience’s hearty applause indicated that they accepted her as the real thing.
After the poets left the stage the audience opened a circle in their midst to allow the five break dancers from SWYC to show off their skills. The young men spun, balanced and leapt their way into the crowd’s favor, taking turns trying to out-perform each other. Not all was competition, however, as they also executed carefully choreographed dance moves and lifts that could have been borrowed from classical ballet.
The rappers took the stage after the dancers dispersed. G.O.D., of the Brooklyn-based hip-hop group Pitch Black, was less overtly political than the poets, although he did proclaim himself to be “from the streets.”
Shadia Mansour followed G.O.D., rapping and singing in Arabic. She declared hip-hop to be an alternative to violence as a form of resistance, saying “Every single soldier [Israelis] kill, they give birth to a new Palestinian hip-hop artist.”
In case one foreign language was not enough for the Earlham crowd, the trio Rebel Diaz took the stage next, rapping in both Spanish and English. Group member RodStarz confronted the audience, saying, “As college students you are people of privilege.” He admonished Earlham students to use this privilege in the service of people and not corporations.
Mohammed Al Farra, member of the seminal Arabic hip-hop group Palestinian Rapperz (PR), followed with his second Earlham performance, having performed here last spring.
By the time Al Farra ended his set at almost 3 a.m., the crowd had dwindled considerably. However, those who remained eagerly greeted the final act, Dead Prez. Their message was perhaps the most overtly political, demanding reparations for descendents of slaves and the release of all American prisoners. “Middle finger up for the police!” they shouted, and the mostly law-abiding crowd gladly complied.
Although the crowd reacted positively to all acts, not everyone was left completely satisfied. Senior Adam Estroff called the concert “frustratingly long.” He also wished he knew more about the political views of the Arabic-language rappers.
“When somebody’s rapping about political things I want to know, like, what they’re saying,” he said. “I’m not gonna [raise] my fist to something that I don’t understand.”
Slam poet promotes peaceful dialogue
by Michael Skib
The Word interviewed Slam poet Kealoha during his visit:
What do you think of Earlham?
I think Earlham is awesome. I think you guys are really progressive in the way that you think and it’s a pleasure to be around intelligent students who are passionate about issues.
If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
Probably a dolphin. That’s an animal that symbolizes what I’m all about. I don’t know if you’ve ever interacted with one in the wild, but they’re hella intelligent, number one; number two, they frolic in the sea. And that’s what I do.
Hypothetically, if an Earlham student were in Hawaii at the same time as you, could you hook him/her up with surf lessons?
Totally, man. Look me up, and we’ll go surfing. For sure. Anybody, whoever, let’s do it.
What brought you to slam poetry?
I lost touch with who I was; I’d been putting on all these masks and faces, all these things you need to do to get by in the corporate world. I just wanted to return to the source and hike and surf. Dialogues like the ones we’re having and interactions with nature completely propelled my thinking and my poetry and gave me the inspiration to write.
What is your creative process?
I spend most of my time just doing the things that I enjoy doing. Going surfing, hiking, hanging out with friends, whatever. When that moment of inspiration hits, whatever it is — I could be on the middle of the dance floor, at the top of a mountain - if that inspiration hits, I drop whatever I’m doing, and I write. More often than not, if you try to recapture that moment later on, what you produce isn’t going to be as good as what you could have produced in the moment.
You took a year off before deciding to become a slam poet. Would you encourage students to take time off after graduating?
Yeah. If you have the means to do it, then absolutely. But the thing is, it’s not about taking time off and fooling around, it’s about taking time off and really thinking about what it is that your life’s about, what you are passionate about. You put so much of yourself into your studies and you get your mind totally expanded, but you don’t necessarily have a whole lot of time to reflect on what that means and where that has taken you, how you’ve changed as a person in those four years. I think that having some time to do that is critical.
How do you remain humble?
My mom, my dad, they raised me to respect other people. In addition to that, I grew up next to a mountain, and next to an ocean. [When you live next to a mountain and next to an ocean] you’re surrounded by all these huge things that are vast and unfathomable. I feel like it’s only natural that a certain amount of humility follows given those influences.
Why are you a feminist?
In all of my life I’m just a confluence of influences, various things propel me to do what I do. Being raised by an awesome mother and father who taught me values that were all about respect and equality — it was only natural to view women as a perfectly equal. In college, I was surrounded by people of like minds; we all just wanted social justice and equality, whether it was with race identity, gender, sexuality, economic, or whatever, all of that has been on my mind since college. Another big part of my progression as a feminist was that I dated a couple of women who had experiences with sexual violence, and going through that with them was very enlightening.
What do you think of having a men’s only event such as the men’s forum?
These places exist, safe places for specific people. As long as they have the right intentions, they can be a really safe space for people to explore their insecurities or ignorance and become educated in a place where they won’t be judged — as long as that men’s forum taps into the larger community and allies itself with other organizations. I think that the kinds of things that were discussed last night [at the men’s forum meeting], I don’t think would have been necessarily discussed if there was female energy in the room.
What does your stage name mean?
Kealoha literally means “the love.” It’s short for my middle name.
SAB bingo night offers free candy, games
Players use Skittles and other assorted candy to fill their bingo cards.
Annual ‘Crucible’ to showcase more variety
by Micah Sommer
Earlham’s student-run literary magazine is going through some changes this year.
In the past, a new issue of “Crucible” has usually come out every semester. However, this academic year will only see one issue of the magazine, to be released in the spring. While this may disappoint devoted readers of the magazine, the staff of “Crucible” hopes to create a much-improved publication through a variety of changes.
Most prominently, persons submitting pieces to the magazine will have a chance to receive comments from the staff and revise their work before publication.
Senior Carmina Brelsford, co-convenor of “Crucible,” said that the magazine only released one issue last year as well. However, she attributed this to the fact that the staff did not feel prepared in the fall to release an issue, calling it a “last-minute” decision.
This year, however, the single release will allow those who have submitted work to the magazine to revise and resubmit their work if they wish to do so.
Senior co-convenor Helen Staab anticipates that the resulting higher quality work will make up for the fact that there will be only one issue. “We’d rather have one really solid issue for the whole year than have two OK ones,” she said.
Staab also hopes that this will change the process from one in which “strangers that you don’t know [are] sitting in a room saying things about your piece that you never hear, and then deciding whether or not it gets in,” to one in which submitters are more involved in selection process beyond initially submitting their work.
The staff has not decided on a way to go about giving feedback, according to Staab. “I think we’ll end up emailing people who submitted and asking if they want [critiques],” she said.
The opportunity for additional revision is not the only benefit of only putting out one issue. “It gives us more money, actually, to print that [one] issue,” Staab said. The staff hopes to use this extra money to include more full-color inserts of visual art.
Staab also hopes to feature a wider variety of works, both literary and visual. “I’m really into trying to diversify Crucible,” she said. She noted that while the magazine has generally featured mostly poetry, they recently have been receiving other types of material as well, such as science fiction, plays and translations.
Staab also hopes to diversify the visual material the magazine publishes. “We get a lot of photography,” she said. “We’re trying to work on getting more drawing, painting and even pictures of beautiful ceramics; I’d be into that.”
Staab noted that not only students are invited to submit works; faculty and staff may do so as well.
Brelsford recommended that those with pieces to submit wait until the spring to do so, allowing the “Crucible” staff to focus now on giving feedback to those who have already submitted.
Whether the new release schedule will continue is currently unknown. “I’m not sure if the one-issue-per-year thing will be sticking,” Brelsford said. “That’s basically going to be up to the staff for next year.”
Both co-convenors were unsure of how long “Crucible” has been in publication. Staab recounted a claim that the magazine and its name predate the publication of Arthur Miller’s 1953 play “The Crucible;” however, she was unsure of its veracity. The Earlham Archive and Lilly Library house bound issues of the magazine dating to 1964.
Visiting Assisitant Professor of English David Ebenbach, the magazine’s faculty advisor, credited Earlham students with keeping the magazine alive.
“‘Crucible’ is important because it underlines that the center of the writing community on campus is among the students,” he said.
Speaking of his role as adviser, he said, ““I do pretty close to nothing and I think that’s the point … one reason that there’s a sort of constant of a literary magazine at this school is because it comes out of actual student interest and student devotion, and is not dependent on faculty energy.”
‘Ring Around The Moon’ shines Nov. 6, 7, 13 and 14
Senior Nick Husted (right) as Hugo and junior Claire McGuiness (left) as Diana.
Sophomore Geremy Webne-Behrman plays Romainville.
Costumes, music, party!
Aracelis Girmay reads her poems with bite, power
by Wes Martin
Aracelis Girmay began in a shaky voice, steadying line by line first with conviction, then with outright indignation, “The radio will go on, shouting/ the names &, I promise you,/ they will not call your name, Hassna/ Ali Sabah, age 30, killed by a missile in Al-Bassra, or you,/ Ibrahim Al-Yussuf, or the sons of Sa’id Shahish/ on a farm outside of Baghdad, or Ibrahim, age 12,/ as if your blood were any less red, as if the skins/ that melted were any less skin, & the bones/ that broke were any less bone.”
This excerpt from the poem “Arroz Poetica” begins Girmay’s newly published book “Teeth.” The author read Monday night from her new work to roughly 30 students, faculty and Richmondites who crammed into fold out chairs in Lilly Library’s Ronald Gallery. Nearby, copies of “Teeth,” were being sold for $13.
The hushed crowd listened as Professor of Creative Writing David Ebenbach introduced Girmay.
“This is a book that denounces oppression,” Ebenbach said of “Teeth.” “It hits with power.”
After being welcomed to the podium and thanking the college, Ebenbach and Hole House for dinner, Girmay began her reading with a poem not featured in the collection, Roque Dalton’s “Como Tu/ Like You.” The crowd remained attentive.
Throughout the evening, Girmay offered anecdotes about her poems and their creation, like that given for “Astigmatism.”
“I was walking my dog in the park and I saw this boxer who looked like he was trying to fly … when I got closer I could see that he was jump roping,” Girmay said, “but I like that idea of perceptions.”
Girmay read 10 poems before opening the floor to questions and comments. When asked about her writing process, Girmay answered, “I don’t know except to say that I spend a lot of time speaking [poems] out loud and walking and thinking and playing with syntax. I love pushing against the words.”
Girmay was touring and promoting her book, which has been awarded by Poetry Picks “Best Books of 2007,” across institutions affiliated with the Great Lakes College Association.
No need to be impatient for ‘Waiting for Godot’
by Word Staff
Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., Goddard auditorium will change from the familiar stage that hosts convocations and panels into a platform for a play that has been adapted from a classic to reflect modern times. “Waiting for Godot,” by Samuel Beckett, will be performed by the Classical Theater of Harlem.
“Waiting for Godot” is considered a modern classic, written during the late 1940s. The play is literally about two men “Waiting for Godot,” though it’s the aformentioned “existential comedy” of it that makes the play noticeable.
The performance is by the Classical Theater of Harlem (CTH). Called “a company to follow and relish,” by the New York Times, the CTH has been an official entity since 1999.
Based out of Harlem, N.Y., the company’s website claims the aim of the CTH is to “maintain a professional theater company dedicated to presenting the ‘classics’ in Harlem,” amongst other things.
For a classic, this play has changed a fair amount in the hands of the CTH. They have set the performance in post-Katrina New Orleans, instead of the original set of “…country road. A tree.”
Why is the play coming to Earlham? As McElroen puts it “Our goal in remounting Waiting for Godot in 2009 is to simply continue to tell the story, through Mr. Beckett’s play, of those in the Gulf Coast who are still waiting.”
The play’s director, Christopher McElroen, considers this a positive change to the play. He said that “the production gave a powerful immediacy to a classic that has often been perceived as remote.” Even further, he feels the performance “fully [realized] the agony of waiting as well as the irrepressibility of humanity, imagination and humor that is inherently faithful to Mr. Beckett’s play.”
According to McElroen, the project was a success upon its first performance. The CTH performed in post-Katrina New Orleans, and drew “thousands of local residents.” The performance also garnered “positive responses from local residents and critics alike.”
CTH not only put on shows in New Orleans, but also became involved in the community, hosting meals, workshops and humanities events. These activities raised funds to aid the rebuilding of New Orleans, and created “a true community-development-through-the-arts-project,” according to McElroen.
Tickets for the show on Saturday night, in Goddard, are $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.
« Previous Entries