AUGUST 1-7, 2013 -------------------------- Feature • Nic Cowan/Niko Moon ------------------------- Making His Own Kind of Music By Mark Hunter an, a native Texan trans- and low-paying bar gigs, playing his own planted to Atlanta and material and adhering to his father’s advice, Those of you expecting to hear raised in a family of mu- which was to be original at the expense Nic Cowan perform at the Botanical sicians. Like his father, of everything else. He played at night and Roots Outdoor Concert Series on a Moon was a drummer worked at UPS and as an apartment complex hot August night are in for a surprise. when he first started maintenance man during the day. Nic Cowan is now Niko Moon, and playing. He switched In addition to his own tunes, he began he’ll be playing acoustic versions to guitar in high school learning covers so he could get more gigs. from his self-titled debut CD as and started writing songs At one show he caught the eye of a booking Niko Moon. The Botanical Roots immediately. At first he agent named Francisco Vidal. Vidal eventu- show will be his first as Niko Moon bounced around genres ally got him a slot opening for Zac Brown. and the first to feature his new and ideals, from Soon Cowan found himself snugly under music. fronting a Brown’s wing, writing songs for Brown, Lee Miles, who is punk band touring with him and finally recording under still Lee Miles, and to leading Brown’s label. his band Illegitimate a worship From the start, Cowan fit right in with Sons will open. service at Brown’s broad appeal. Cowan was a tal- Cowan became a church. ented songwriter, a great singer and had no Moon a couple of But none problem joining the party. The one thing months ago follow- of that sat- Cowan lacked was focus, at least where his ing a sudden insight isfied him, style was concerned. His songwriting was all into the meaning so he start- over the map, from Southern rock to South- of life. For Moon, ed making ern country-rock to urban hip-hop to R&B. that a-ha moment the rounds And all those styles got room to move when changed everything. to open Cowan recorded Hardheaded for Brown’s “I’ve actually mic nights Southern Ground Artists label. changed my style “I’ve always been really into all differ- of music,” Moon NIC COWAN/NIKO MOON ent kinds of music,” Moon said. “The last told me via cell- record had all types of different songs. I’ve phone. “Thing is, I w/ILLEGITIMATE SONS always written in all genres. I never wanted had a couple epiphanies Friday, August 9 • 8:30 p.m. to be classified as one certain kind of song- about life. For one thing I got older. I just writer.” turned 30. But on a more personal level, I Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Now, Moon said, he’s found a way to began to question the life I was living.” Conservatory put all the types of music he loves into one Like a lot of grownups, Moon had his 1100 S. Calhoun St., sound. He said it will be classified as rock, WHEN vices. Trouble is, he said, his vices had but he’s convinced he’s latched onto some- Fort Wayne grown up, too. “I wanted a new clarity in thing unique. And he has his moments of in- SATURDAY life, wanted to write about different things. Tix: $6 (12 and under free) sight to thank. Now instead of singing about Before I just wanted to write party songs. 260-427-6440 waking up to a six-pack and a shot, he’s Now everything is different.” www.botanicalconservatory.org Continued on page 4 8.10.13 Niko Moon made his name as Nic Cow- Headwaters ------------------------------Feature • Cinema Center ----------------------------- Park West TICKETS can be purchased at Cap n’ Cork locations or at www.jani.org 4 Cinema Center Joining Digital Age Advanced Sale $25 4 Day of Event $30 By Deborah Kennedy “Digital is not nearly as romantic as “My wife and I had just started dating 4 Designated Driver $10 film, of course. It doesn’t have the same am- and we were looking for a movie to see. BRING CHAIRS & BLANKETS There is much to mourn in the impend- bience, but it should work out great for us.” We got the times wrong – I can’t remember ing death of 35-mm film, but there’s also a As it is now, the Cinema Center often now what we were intending to watch – and so you can enjoy a bottle of wine silver lining, and Fort Wayne’s Cinema Cen- has to get in a long line behind many other ended up seeing Joyeux Noel, a movie based or beer with your friends! ter has spun that silver into gold. theatres to screen the latest indie flick, and on a true story about how soldiers fighting In January of this year the not-for-profit some movies don’t get to the CC before on opposite sides during World War I take a movie theatre received notification from they’re released on DVD. Digital copies are break from fighting to celebrate Christmas. film distributors that they would basically cheaper and easier to come by. They’re also It’s a beautiful, simple story, and it reminded have to go digital or go dark. In response, lighter. A typical film reel weighs 75-100 me of the great power film has to make us the Cinema Center launched a campaign pounds; digital is virtually weightless, and evaluate what we want out of life.” to raise the $50,000 needed to purchase a that translates to shorter waits and longer Crismore decided that night that what digital projector, and thanks to two matching runs. he wanted was to devote himself to movies, grants – one for $5,000 from the Waterfield The real benefit to the transition from and his position at the Cinema Center has Foundation and one for $20,000 from the film to digital is obviously that the Cinema allowed him to create similar life-changing Chapman Fund – it appears they’ll be going Center will be able to continue showing the moments for others. digital beginning August 9. same quality independent, foreign and docu- “It’s probably only going to get worse Cinema Center Executive Director Jo- mentary films it has since its founding 37 in Hollywood, but theatres like the Cinema nah Crismore is an unabashed fan of 35-mm years ago. And it’s personal for Crismore Center are proof that film doesn’t just have film but says joining the digital revolution who, eight years ago, had his life changed to be mindless escapism. It really can make could end up making Fort Wayne’s only art- by a Cinema Center screening of a French you examine your life and your world in a house theatre stronger in the end. film. whole new way.” 2 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------www.whatzup.com ---------------------------------------------------------------August 1, 2013 whatzup Volume 18, Number 1 otice the numbers right above this line? Volume 18, Number 1? What that means is that with this issue we begin our 18th year of telling you what there is to do in and around Fort Wayne, Indiana, our 18th year of telling you – in theN nicest possible way, of course – where you can go. We published our very first issue (Kurt Cobain was on our cover) on August 1, 1996. We’ve done about 900 of them since then (you people who told us you kept every sin- gle copy forever are probably running out of attic space right about now) and we’ve done our best to make each one of them as entertaining and informative as we can. To those of you who have been with us all 18 years, we thank you for your support. To those of you who have come along more recently, we hope you’re enjoying the ride (even if you are most likely reading this online). New or old, we hope you’ll continue to look to whatzup week after week for what there is to do. This being an “anniversary issue,” it’s only fitting that we feature Herbie Liddell of Piere’s on our cover. More than anyone else, Herbie’s father, Stan, was instrumental in keeping whatzup going for many of those 18 years. On page 4 you can read about Liddell’s plans to revive the club following a recent fire and the passing of his father. Also of note is Kris Fremont’s piece on a couple of Fort Wayne rockers who are pass- ing the torch to a new generation of musicians. There is, of course, lots more, but you’ll just have to read it all for yourself. So read on and enjoy, and we hope you continue to read on for another 18 years. Oh, and for the 900th or so time, be sure to tell everyone you meet that whatzup sent you. • features FLIX ................................................ 16 The Way Way Back CURTAIN CALL ............................... 20 NIC COWAN/NIKO MOON ..........................2 Les Misérables Making His Own Kind of Music THE GREEN ROOM ........................ 20 CINEMA CENTER........................................2 ON BOOKS ..................................... 22 Cinema Center Joining the Digital Age Cooked PIERE’S ........................................................4 SCREENTIME ................................ 22 Staging Their Comeback Weak Wolverine Ekes Out a Win MUSICIAN TEACHERS ..............................5 Passing the Musical Torch • calendars Pregnant? • columns & reviews KARAOKE & DJS ..............................7 Let’s do lunch... and talk about your options.