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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Video made the new wave stars
Chuck Statler has directed videos for Devo, Pere Ubu and more.
Without Chuck Statler, Devo fans might not have ever had the chance to answer the question: Are we not men?
The new wave group was on the verge of calling it quits in 1976 when their friend Statler, who was studying film at Kent State University, said he wanted some footage of them before they split.
It's the Victoria Day long weekend and chances are most people who can get out of the city will do so.
But if you're stuck in town, there are plenty of things to do if you're a fan of live music. Here are some highlights:
Friday
Public Enemy is still fighting the power with its furious brand of political hip hop. Here's hoping Flavor Flav can get across the border so he, Chuck D. and the S1W can bring the noise to the Garrick Centre (The show was originally scheduled for the Burt but was moved). Tickets are $39.50 at Ticketmaster
Thinking man's grindcore quintet Putrescence scream it up at the Albert, headlining a night of metal mayhem.
Andrew Neville and the Poor Choices have a reputation as a roots-rock party band, but while they love a good song about liquor, they aren't just a one-trick pony, as they will prove at the Times Change(d). Also appearing Saturday. Admission is $10.
Saturday
George Thorogood gets down, dirty and b-b-b-b-bad to the bone with his band the Destroyers at the Centennial Concert Hall. Tickets are $45 to $79.50 at Ticketmaster.
At Le Garage Café, blues musician Debra Lyn Neufeld and her band will continue her 50th birthday celebrations. Admission is $5.
Sunday
How about a black Sabbath? Sweden's Dark Tranquility headlines a night of extreme metal with Hamilton's Threat Signal and New Jersey's Mutiny Within at the Pyramid. Tickets are $18 at Ticketmaster.
Monday
British Invasion group Gerry and the Pacemakers -- or whoever is using the Gerry and the Pacemakers name these days -- returns to the McPhillips Street Station Casino for a trip down memory lane. Tickets are $35 and $40 at Ticketmaster.
And beyond...
The Sadies aren't just a roots band, they are a roots-psychedelic, garage, surf, spaghetti-western soundtrack, rock 'n' roll quartet who happen to be one of the best bands in Canada. Really. Tickets are $20 at Ticketmaster for this Tuesday gig.
Australian hippie fave Xavier Rudd makes his local debut with his new collaborators Izintaba at the Burt on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets are $25 and $34.50 at Ticketmaster.
British punk group the Vibrators formed in 1976 and have continued to record and tour ever since. Tickets for the Tuesday show are $10 at Into the Music and Music Trader.
British punk pioneers play their first two full length albums -- Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites (both released in 1978) -- in their entireties, along with some greatest hits, at this sold-out Pyramid show on Wednesday.
The result was the short film (a.k.a. music video) The Truth about De-Evolution, featuring the songs Secret Agent Man and Jocko Homo. It went on to win first prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival the following year, before hitting the film-festival circuit.
The video helped the group issue a single on Stiff Records and sign to Warner Bros. for their debut full-length Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, a seminal new wave album.
"They had circulated cassettes to a number of record companies and nothing really clicked until we made the film -- that kind of opened it up for them," Statler says over the phone from his home in Minneapolis.
"It was my first attempt at music and film. I didn't purposely set out to record any group when I set up to make films, but music on the soundtrack was an integral element."
Statler went on to direct clips for the likes of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and the J. Geils Band before moving into advertising and becoming a commercial director.
But it's his music videos that will be the subject of Before MTV: Devo Tribute tonight at the West End Cultural Centre (admission is $15).
The evening will feature a video presentation featuring highlights of Statler's work, a Q&A session and a tribute to Devo, featuring local artists Birdapres, Pip Skid, Blunderspublik, Rouge's Malady and Ton O' Love.
Statler admits he's not nostalgic about the past, but he appreciates the fact people enjoy his work, which has been shown at festivals around the country and was the subject of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
"It was a three-night screening, and even at that point I thought, 'It's much ado about nothing,' although I certainly was flattered," he says.
These days the 60-something still follows the music scene and is working on two feature films: a documentary about elevator music, The Sound From the Ceiling; and a documentary about 13 underground bands, such as Melt Banana and Har Mar Superstar, who incorporate a visual element to their show. The working title is Beautiful Dreamers and he is in the process of trying to raise money to shoot it.
"We'll see where it goes. I keep telling myself stranger things have happened," he says.
-- -- --
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 20, 2010 E5
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