By: Pat O'Brien
Friday, January 20th was the debut of the Fine Line's new once-a-month feature Brew And View, an ongoing series featuring a film screening followed by a performance from a complementary band. Things got off to a rollicking start with the showing of Xanadu followed by a performance by Electric Light Orchestra tribute band E.L.nO. The relationship between the film and band being that ELO's Jeff Lynne penned some songs for the film's soundtrack.
You can dress up "Xanadu" in whatever ironic clothing you wish, but the fact remains that the movie, at best, is a wrongheaded mess. A disaster film with no specific disaster to speak of. It features a couple of songs everyone remembers and can sing along to; but for the most part it's a series of sub-par special effects, forced dialogue, a bizarre Don Bluth-animated stretch, Olivia Newton-John as a goddess of some sort and Gene Kelly (yes, that Gene Kelly) sleepwalking though his lines and at one point looking like he might break a hip dancing on rollerskates. To say that it is not entertaining, however would be a misstatement. It is supremely entertaining to watch, if only for the trainwreck-ishness about it. It so happened that I grabbed a table next a woman who had seen this movie many, many times in her childhood and knew all of the songs and most of the aforementioned terrible dialogue. I was amused the entire time as the movie took on a Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe. There was cheering when good things happened, booing at the conflicts, and a standing ovation at the end that continued as E.L.nO hit the stage.
Tribute bands are a complex animal. They play songs you already know and can sing along with, but all of the people look different. Sometimes they cross the line into outright goofiness, and it loses something when that happens. E.L.nO made me forget all of that in a hurry. Made up of members of Twin Cities bands (Accident Clearinghouse, Manplanet, Divorcee, The Wholesome People) they kept the schtick to a minimum (trading lead vocals and a Jeff Lynne afro wig along with it, all wearing 70s attire) while keeping the rocking to a maximum. They played ELO's best and brightest and a version of the song "Xanadu" (sung by Newton-John in the film) for good measure. There was no light up spaceship and that seemed to be a good thing, though Dave Davidson (aka 2024 Records A&R man David Campbell) may have been serious when he told the crowd there was one in the works. They also handed out a few ELO LP's signed by the members of E.L.nO for answering Jeff Lynne trivia correctly - a perfect example of the difference between having fun and making fun. This show was the former all the way.
The turnout was fantastic. Next month’s Brew and View features last year's atomically vulgar "The Aristocrats" with a similarly vulgar band to follow. Is 2 Live Crew still available?
Photo by David de Young.
Location Info:
Fine Line Music Café
Artist Info: E.L.nO
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