Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > June > 10
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Spice Boys go Luau (Vegans beware)
For 11 years, the Spice Boys — three longtime couples — have traversed the culinary map through almost monthly dinner parties, often in the company of willing guests. Sunday, two Austin couples took that short journey with us to a Polynesian luau, a new experience for the cooks that combined tropical fruits, rice, crab, arrowroot for thickening and, for the first and last time, a suckling pig. Central Market carries the 26-pounders, which are defrosted, stuffed, trussed and grilled on banana leaves for four hours, then served on a bed of pineapple, star fruit, papaya, sweet onions, etc. It was a mess, but a theatrical success. Cooking and serving complete animals always brings out the latent vegetarian in me.
Dale Rice, Mark Erwin, Clay Smith, Kip Keller, Matthew Mielcarek, Robert Mayott, Stephen Rice
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Jets Under Fire, The Alice Rose, Alpha Rev at Antone’s
One detects remnants of U2 and Radiohead in Alpha Rev’s daedalian mesh of sound, but honestly, I haven’t enjoyed an Austin club concert more than the Rev’s set at Antone’s on Saturday. Employing a capacious touring mix, the fivesome could not be more charismatic and their combination of voltaic guitar, undergirding rhythms and electronicized strings had a full house pulsating with social connection. (It helps that the Rev’s lyrics often deal with the way that people cohere, socially.) Warm-up sets by Jets Under Fire and The Alice Rose further kindled my interest in these promising popsters. Antone’s really is becoming an anchor for the New Austin Sound, and a young, beaming crowd is there to witness it.
Allie Chapman, Ellen Daly, Dillon Lewis, Breck Lewis, Chris Copeland
Samantha Hatcher, Wesley Smith
Brian Batch, Kate Douglas
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‘The Bat’ and ‘Hamilton Township’
More evidence of innovative twists from Austinites:
Austin Lyric Opera’s “The Bat” has been lauded by critics for putting a local spin on Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” thanks to playful concepts, lyrics and other inspirations from the Esther’s Follies gang. (I was relieved that my name-check in the first act generated laughter rather than cat-calls.) Purists have not been so kind to the adaptation. My minor observations: It was ironic seeing so many Apple products placed on the Dell Hall stage; and, to me, the only character who represented contemporary Austin society was played by the character himself — Stephen Macmillan Moser — during the trippy second act.
Meanwhile, over at the Salvage Vanguard Theater on Manor Road, the company broadens the rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic established by founder and former artistic director Jason Neulander some 15 years ago. Early on, “theater for club kids” sometimes resulted in onstage garage-band-feedback; now, under interim artistic director Jenny Larson, that has been refined to include expertly pitched, if muted performances; and especially stunning apocalyptic video designs by Lee Webster. The social set? The same club kids, who are now graduate students in various humanities, from the look and sound of them.
And now more photos from that social mega-hit: The Long Center plaza.
Michael Helferich, Laura Martin, Joe Chauncey, JJ Muniz
Julie Delgado, Maru Cueto
Soon Cho, Chad Hall
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