Wed. June 15

Last call! Have you ever fallen for military propaganda about how you would just be so happy to sign up and serve? The Army of One campaign? The "Be all you can be" campaign? The "few, the proud" Marines campaign? All those TV adverts that make the action non-combative and skill building and rather like a giant real-life chessboard? I grew up during the Vietnam War era, listening to Country Joe MacDonald sing the "Fish Cheer," and CSN&Y do "Ohio," and the Doors do "Unknown Soldier" and Eric Burdon and the Animals do "War." This helped solidify my thoughts about that war, the only one I really might have been eligible for. (The draft ended the year I could have been called.) So, joining up and maybe taking one for the team was not going to happen in my world. But I've always been fascinating by the selling points of service: Bravery, camaraderie, career ... the opportunity to go to far and distant lands, meet foreign people and kill them. (Wait, that last one was from an ad parody.)
   At any rate, in the pre-TV era there were recruitment posters, lots of them. The International Poster Gallery is mounting an exhibit, "Paper Wars”, an evocative exhibition of original propaganda posters of the First and Second World Wars.  It's up April 28 - June 15. (WWI was called the Great War before WWII 'cause who would have thought we'd have another and they'd need numerals? Those friggin' Germans.) The exhibition, which is free, features some of the most persuasive and galvanizing posters from two of the most significant military conflicts in world history.

  World War I was the first conflict in which the illustrated color lithographic poster was used as a means of propaganda. 

ongoing
   

      “I like details, the small, intricate tapestry details of family dynamics,” said Jodie Foster. “How we influence each other and change each others lives.”
    Foster, 48, was talking movie making in general and “The Beaver” in particular, which she directed and co-starred in. I liked the film very much, as did Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers. The film, which opens Friday is going to be very difficult and problematic for some people.
    Svelte and sleek in black designer slacks, blue shirt and black jacket, Foster was at the Four Seasons doing promotion last month. She knows the film faces at least two hurdles.
    One: “The Beaver” is an unflinching look at crippling depression and dysfunctional families.
   Two: It stars America’s celebrity pariah, Mel Gibson. He plays Walter Black,an alcoholic toy company CEO who has shut down emotionally and is at the end of his rope.
    Has ever an actor seemed closer to a role?
    No one can forget, and many can’t forgive, Gibson’s meltdowns. There was his drunken, anti-Semitic tirade in 2006, when he was busted for DUI. And last year there was his profane rant against ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, which was broadcast all over the Internet. “The Beaver” marks the first time Gibson’s been on the big screen since that vitriolic outburst.
    JSInk: “The Beaver” is dark, gritty and surreal.  Walter spends most of the movie talking through a beaver hand puppet, sounding like Michael Caine. But it’s not a funny ventriloquist act. You’ve said this movie was your “hardest professional project.” How do you mean that?
     Foster: The hardest thing really was getting the tone right. It was very challenging and there were a lot of steps along the way to really have the film do what I hoped. And to have people behind it who embraced and understood the film I was trying to make.
    There seems to be a discomforting parallel between Walter and the Mel Gibson we think we know now. I guess he is the elephant in the room here. 
   Yep.

Fri. June 10

Singer Jerry Lehane and his pals in the Dogmatics had a shining moment or two in the '80s when their brand of scruffy garage/punk rock packed 'em in at places like the Rat. Everybody grows up and moves on, of course, but one nice thing about Boston (and Boston rock) is growing up never means you can't go back every now and then. Band re-formations for special gigs, often charity deals, abound in this city. We're not talking about the Cars here. That's a different deal. We're talking about groups who are not reaching for the holy grail of pop stardom, just remembering how much fun it was to do what they did, even if, perhaps, they're not as young, nimble and slim as they might have been. At any rate, Lehane has organized a beneift at the Paradise Friday June 10 with pals the Neats - in photo, see review of one of their reunion gigs at Church, which I wrote about last year for the Herald (see below) - and Band 19, one of numerous bands Unnatural Axe singer-guitarist Richie Parsons put together. Two more bands to come. Gritty punk era novelist Patrick McDonald ("All Souls") is expected to do a reading and Patrick McGrath - the city's best rock 'n' roll emcee, Wheelers & Dealers frontman, Looney Tunes owner, the best King Herod to ever play the role in "Jesus Christ Superstar, and one-time caretaker for the late Billy Ruane - will provide between set patter and chatter. The benefit is for two riders in the Pan Mass Challenge - each needs to raise $4200 - and this is Lehane's way of helping them get to their goal. DJs will be WMBC vets Julie Krylsur and and T.T.'s Randi Millman.

                                                                                                         Tues. June 7

A couple years back a riend who returned from a trip to Cambodia was raving about all the music he heard - American-influenced (psychedelia, surf, etc.) Cambodian rock played in clubs and cafes. Lo and behold, a few weeks later, a disc from Dengue Fever showed up and news that they're on aUS tour that hits us   Their disc, "Escape from the Dragon House," was named the No. 1 international release of 2005 by Amazon.com's editors. They're now touring behind "Cannibal Courtship," (out in April) and making thier first east coast swing in more than a year and a half.

Tues. June 7

   “We want to wake up people in America to the fact that we still exist,” said Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover. “A lot of people you talk to say, ‘Oh, Deep Purple … Are they still together? Didn’t one of them die recently? Are they still with Ritchie Blackmore?’”
    Answers:
    * It wasn’t a Deep Purpler that died, but Ronnie James Dio, who once sang with guitarist Blackmore’s band Rainbow. He died in May of 2010.    
     * The temperamental Blackmore - who came and went several times from 1969 to 1993 – is gone for good and now leads Blackmore’s Night. Since, 1994 ex-Dregs guitarist Steve Morsec has been in the fold.
     * As to Deep Purple? The classic English hard rock band whose career-defining song is “Smoke on the Water” lives. The quintet will perform with a 35-piece orchestra at the Wang Theatre Tuesday June 7 on a tour called “The Songs That Built Rock.”
    Deep Purple has had 14 players over the years, but this is close to what people consider the classic lineup. It includes Glover, singer Ian Gillan and drummer Ian Paice. Founding keyboardist Jon Lord  left in 2001 to concentrate on orchestral music, and was replaced by Don Airey.
    We spoke with Glover, 65, from his Switzerland home last week.
    JSInk: Deep Purple has done concerts with orchestras several times, going way back. What’s this one about?
     Glover: Yes, we’ve dabbled with orchestras before, and we were one of the first bands to do it. It was actually something Jon wrote, [“Concerto for Group and Orchestra” in 1969] and nothing to do with rock music. It was really a symphonic piece. We’ve also done our music with a bit of backing, which is a cruel way of saying what we’re going to do this tour. But it’s a bit more than that.
     Is it at  all like Metallica’s “Symphony & Metallica” live CD?
     Every time you mention rock bands and orchestras everyone says, “Oh, like Metallica,” which sticks in my throat a little bit. Nothing against Metallica, but bands have been doing it way before Metallica.
   How do you explain it then?
   It’s a Deep Purple gig. There’s no concession to the fact there’s an orchestra there, and it’s not really even an orchestra. It’s some strings, some horns and it’s as much jazz as it is orchestral-classical stuff. It’s a rock concert with added heft. We don’t quite know how it’s going to sound.