llos Angeles 6ttmes I Pop Reviews Thomas Doi by Gives His Invigorating Mix a Bite ou could tell he's a Serious Techno-Freak because he brought his own sound sys- Ytem to the Roxy. You could tell he's a Certified New Wave Hitmaker because he received a self-serving on-stage introduction from KROQ deejay Richard Blade. And you - could tell he's an Arty Eccentric because he walked on stage in a top hat and tiny '60s-style sunglasses, looking like a rock 'n' roll Mad Hatter. But you couldn't tell just how adept Thomas Dolby has become at juggling his roles, personas and styles until he started playing music Wednesday at the Roxy. With his current band, the Lost Toy People, the Los Angeles-based Englishman has whipped up an invigorating mixture that finds him part the synth-pop whiz, part the more atmospheric experimentalist and part a brash, tongue-in-cheek funkster. Crucially, the latter took prece- dence for most of the show. Always an impressive technician, in the past Dolby sometimes became so quirky and self-consciously clever that he was downright annoying. But with a tough, funk-based rhythm section behind him, his music now has real authority and bite to go along with the playful mannerisms and satiric jibes. Dolby concentrated on the manic pop-funk of his recent "Aliens Ate My Buick" album. But he also played a fair sampling of his older material, ranging from such up- tempo hits as "Europa and the. Pirate Twins" to his haunting ver- sion of Dan Hicks' "I Scare Myself,". which led into a terrific closing segment. Here the grooves got harder, the performance more spirited, with the only drawback being that the tough, sassy assurance of new songs like "Hot Sauce" and "Air- head" made the set-closing "Hy- peractive" sound cluttered, frenet-· ic and . well, hyperactive. But maybe that's the point-and after all, it's not a bad dilemma to have new songs so good they make your "classics" pale by comparison. -STEVE POND Paris' Ghetto Blaster -Hooked on a Fela he Afro-French octet Ghetto TBlaster probably didn't need a lengthy post-set skull session to pinpoint the high spot of its local _deb .at.the la ing C lossus dub arresaa1 v-.~~~~~~~~~~ When Ben Sourisse kicked off "Na Waya" with a circular key- board riff, the band locked into a smoking performance that recalled the mid-'70s prime of Nigerian musical demigod Fela Anikulapo- Kuti. The proof was on the dance floor, where the intensity level among the sparse but enthusiastic crowd escalated dramatically from the polite swaying that had greeted the group's first songs. And the only time Ghetto Blaster seemed fully relaxed on stage came when the the group returned to a Kuti- influenced sound on "New Genera- tion." The band had just flown in from Paris and performed without a sound check, and bassist Willy N'For's had lost his voice-all of which might have contributed to the hit-and-miss nature of the generous, two-hour performance. The weak vocals lacked confidence and were all but swamped in the sound. Ghetto Blaster, formed in Nige- ria in 1982 and later transplanted to Paris, is a second-generation Afri- can-music band that adds contem- porary twists to traditional African pop styles. It was those modern touches-sparkling horn lines, forceful percussion and thrilling dynamic punctuations-that pro- vided the sparks Wednesday. But the group's Pan-African grab bag of styles-brightly tex- tured high-life, straight funk, an African-inflected blues boogie, the excursions into Fela territory- ultimately masked Ghetto Blaster's own identity. Still, there were enough promising elements in the band's performance to merit an- other listen under less adverse conditions. -DON SNOWDEN STAGE BEAT Continued from Page JO Ooh-la-la? There are some pictorially erotic •WESTWOOD BUENA PARK •COSTA MESA •GLENDALE *LA HABRA *MONROVIA •PASADENA TORRANCE Mann Plaza 208-3097 Pacific's Buena Park Drive-In Edwards Cinema Center Mann Glendale 818/24~4m AMC Fashion Square 691-0633 Mann 6 818/358-4545 UA Marketplace 818/795-1386 Mann Old Towne 371-1221 moments in Lorenzo Buford's play, ' Dally 12 30 • 3 00 • 5.30 • 8 00 714/821 -4070 714/979-4141 Dally 1-15 • 3 30 • 5·45 • 8 (I) Ca ll Theatre for Showtlmes Dally 12.45 • 3 15 • 5.15 • 7.30 Dally 12 30 • 2-25 • 4 25 • 6 20 • 8 30 Daily 12 15 • 2 45 • 5 15 • 745 &1030PM Show Starts Al Dusk Dally 12:30 • 2 30 • 4-30 • 6 30 • 8 30 &10 20 PM *LA MIRADA &9: 45 PM &10 ·25 PM &10 ·15 PM at the Flight. But they seem dis- *BURBANK &1015 PM GLENDORA Pacific's Gateway _ Fri-Sat-Sun Midnight Show *PUENTE HILLS Fri-Sat-Sun Late Show 1215 AM *HOLLYWOOD 7141523 1611 tanced by the brooding pacing of Mann Hollywood 463-9371 AMC Burbank 818/953-9800 *EL TORO Mann 6 818/914-2817 Dally 12·30 • 2.30 • 4 30 • 6·30 • 8·30 MONTCLAIR PLAZA AMC Plaza 10 818/964-2240 *UNIVERSAL CITY Stanley Bennett Clay's staging, and Dally 5:30 • 8 00 &10 .30 PM Dally 12 30 • 3 o!7. 5 20 • 7-SO Edwards Saddleback Dally 12.00 • 2:15 • 4:30 • 115 &10 40 PM GCC Montclair Cinema Dally 11 35 AM • 150 • 4 30 • 1 30 Cineplex Odeon Universal City Sat-Sun-Mon 100 • 3 15 • 5 30 • 8 00 &10 :15 PM 714/581-5880 &9. 30 PM LONG BEACH 714/624-8006 &10 .15 PM Cinemas 818/ 508-0588 &10 30PM CERRITOS Dally 12.00 • 2.00 • 4 oo • 6·05 • 8 oo Fri-Sat-sun Midnight Show Pacific's Los Altos Drive-In Dally i.oo • 3.15 • 5 30 • 7.45 RANCHO CUCAMONGA ~~'bY1W Po~• 2 30 • 5 oo even more so by the lulling sounds 10 00 •no of Clay's score and the dark light- * LOS ANGELES UA Mall 924-7726 &lO :oo PM *GRANADA HILLS Kl 2 421-8831 & PM Edwards Rancho Cucamonga Fri-Sat-Sun Lale Show 12 30 AM Clneplex Odeon Fairfax Dall 10·15 AM • 12 15 • 2 15 • 4·15 *FULLERTON UA Movies 818/366·0iv15 Show Starts At Dusk , NORTH HOLLYWOOD 714/989-6697 VENTURA ing design of Leroy Meadows. And 6·15y • 8:15& 10.15 PM AMC Fullerton 8 714/992-6000 ~~~ WJ.~ • 3.15 • 5 45 • 7 *LONG BEACH MARINA UA Valley Plaza 818/766-4317 Dally 12 45 • 2 45 • 4 45 • 6 45 8 45 653-3117 CHATSWORTH Fri 2·10. 4 35. 1:10 &9: 30 PM ·1 Dally 12:00 • 2 05 • 4:10 • 615 • 8·20 &10 45 PM • Pacific's 101 Drive-In Dolly 100 • 3.15 • 5 30 • 7-45 if this play isn't consistently erotic, &10 .15 PM 's Winnetka Drive-In ~o9t··M3oonPM12 · 10 • 2.10 • 4 35 • 710 *IRVINE UA Movies 594-6525 &10 :30 PM *ROLLING HILLS 8sf>ow5 /S61a4rt4s-5At5D9us5k it isn't much of anything; expect no Pacific " Edwards University Dally 12:3o • no • oo • 6 3o • 8:3o *PASADENA " 818/349-6806 Tues-Thurs 2·10 • 4.40 • 7·00 &9 10 PM 714/854-8811 &10 :30 PM Mann Hastln8s Ranch ~~yC2 ~oo~i~~o ~il~s2~~~-~;~~ WESTMINSTER MALL sharp rev~l~tions about the impact •BREA Show Starts At Dusk GARDENA Dall~ 6·. oo • 8.oo &10.00 P *MARINA DEL REY 818/351-893 UA Cl 714/893 0546 UA Marketplace 714/529-9036 CITY OF INDUSTRY Pacific's Vermont Drive-In Sot· un-Mon 12 oo • 2oo •·00 • 6.oo UA Cinema 964-3333 Dolly 12·30. 2 45. 5:15 • 7.45 *SHERMAN OAKS Doll 1oo nemo 2 50 4 40 -6 30 s 2r:r of matriarchy or sexual repression Doily 6·10 • 8·10 &10 10 PM Sat-Sun-Mon 12:10 • 2.10 • 4 10 • 6.10 Pacific's Vineland Drive-In 323-4055 a.oo &10 oo PM Dally 1oo • 3 15 • 5·30 • 8 10 &10 oo PM GCC Sherman Oaks Cinema &1J 10 PM· • • • or anything else. 818/961-9262 Show Storts At Dusk Show Storts At Dusk &l0 ·25 PM 818/986-9660 TRX WOODLAND HILLS 8 10 &10 .10 PM Dally 12:45 • 3 00 • 5·15 • 7.30 -- * Performances are at 6472 Santa &9 45 PM UA Worner Center CYPRESS FOUNTAIN VALLEY •ORANGE ORANGE SANTA FE SPRINGS SIMI 818/999-2130 Monica Blvd., Fridfiys through Sun- Cypress Family Twin Family Four 714/963-1 307 Clnedome 714/634-2553 Stadium Drive-In 714/39-8770 Lo Mirada Drive-I n 921-1706 Simi Drive-In 805/526-6824 P1mnled '" 00 I DOLBY STEREO I @ ~~~ j~ ~~ • 2 05 • 4 10 • 6 15 • 8 20 days at 8 p.m., through June 19. 714/828-1660 * Tickets: $15,. (213) 480-3232. -- --ii --- (·----- 12 Part VI/Friday, May 27, 1988 llos Angeles mimes RESTAURANT REVIEW plain grilled meat. FIRST IMPRESSIONS high-class food. Don't miss the Still, the only thing that disap- oyster-and-spinach soup or the pointed me was the oddly tough smoked chicken on spicy noodle osso buco. I do believe the risotto pancake. And don't miss dessert- side that came with it was made Urban Roadhouse Chic at Duplex Carter was once responsible for the For Hip Italian Dishes in with Italian rice, but it seems to incredible pastries at Bernard's in have been cooked in water rather 'This is such a friendly awfully young mom and pop serv- the Biltmore.