6.:E a ae@technewsiitcom TechNews | Tuesday, 0ct0ber27th, 2015

Chvrches put on performance at Chicago Metro

Annie Zorn
LAYOUT EDITOR

If you wanted to see the Scottish
electro—pop band Chvrches last Saturday night,
you had to be prepared to spend over $150.
That was the asking price on ticket reselling
websites for their show at the Metro that sold
out in 20 minutes when they went on sale this
August.

The venue was packed as the open—
ing act, Mansionair, varied their mellow Aus—
tralian alternative chill songs to and make
them a bit more upbeat for the live show. They

Fall Fest

Abha Dalmia
TECHNEWS WRITER

The Lincoln park zoo is a must—visit
on every student’s list, and what better time to
do it than the zoo’s Fall Fest? Albert Camus, a
French Nobel Prize—winning author, journal—
ist, and philosopher, had once said that “Au—
tumn is a second spring when every leaf is a
flower.” The essence of this statement can be
enjoyed in abundance at the zoo.

The zoo is only a seven—minute bus

played a 45 minute set that included songs
from their two EP’s, closing with their most
well—known song, “Hold Me Down.”

Chvrches played a mix of songs from
their first LP released in 2013, “The Bones Of
What You Believe,” and their most recent al—
bum, “Every Open Eye.” They started off the
show by playing “Never Ending Circles,” a
synth—heavy song from the newest album.
Their instrumentation is a collaboration main—
ly between clean synth beats and lead singer
Lauren Mayberry’s vocals.

Within the simple nature of their
music, the songs are complex and sonically
diverse. The band showed diversification and

versatility as the lead singer played drums
for two songs and the synth player Martin
Doherty took center stage to sing “Under the
Tide.” The other member, Iain Cook, plays a
variety of instruments on stage including syn—
thesizers guitar, and bass.

In between songs Mayberry ban—
tered with the audience about topics ranging
from the Miley Cyrus movie “LOL” that had a
scene filmed at Metro and also the band’s plans
to watch the newest Paranormal Activity film
on their following day off. During a technical
difficulty, Mayberry also had a short Q & A
with the crowd.

After a raucous minute of clapping

and chanting the band came back on stage for
their encore to play “Afterglow,” a slower song
that closes “Every Open Eye.” They then fin—
ished the show playing the popular “Mother
We Share,” which was also their official debut
single back in 2012.

For those who missed the show be—
cause of plans or weren’t able to get tickets,
Chvrches will be playing in Chicago again De—
cember 30 at the Donald E. Stephens Conven—
tion Center in Rosemont as part of the Reac—
tion New Year’s Eve Festival and it is sure to be
an enjoyable show.

at The Lincoln Park Zoo

ride away from the Clark and Division stop
on the CTA Red Line. What’s more is that ad—
mission to this well—kept zoo is free from 10
to 5 pm. The zoo boasted species from the
grassland, aquatic, dessert as well as the for—
est biomes. The tundra biome is still under
construction and would probably be ready by
the end of the year. The whole area consisted
of various exhibits and animal houses, namely
the sea lion pool, African journey habitat, bird—
house, swan pond, forest habitat and others. In
addition, they had a show where they showed
us techniques they used to train the seals. An

interesting fact we learned was that in order
to not surprise the seals with doctor visits, the
zoo keepers make the sea lions turn on their
backs and open their mounts for dental check—
ups everyday. They even have a weighing scale
in place for the seals.

There were exotic animals from all
over the world and many of some of them
were actually endangered species that people
will rarely get an opportunity to see and learn
ab out. Specifically, to celebrate fall, parents and
children could be seen picking out pumpkins
from a pumpkin patch with an array of pump—

kins with different shapes and sizes.

Visiting the zoo is a very effective
way to release stress. The whole experience
was refreshing and enjoyable. In addition, it
was a pleasure to watch small kids being able
to tell the difference between mammals, birds,
reptiles and amphibians. A visit to the Lincoln
Park Zoo keeps you wanting more and to be
honest can make for a romantic date for those
of you looking to go out with your significant
others!

Chicago Theatre hosts presentation on global financial crisis

Shachi Sayata
TECHNEWS WRITER

If you crossed The Chicago Theater
at 6 pm. on the evening of October 13th, you
would probably wonder what so many people
in suits and briefcases were doing there. I am
certain if I’d throw a stone in the air it would
hit someone who worked at a bank (and would
hopefully give me a job). It was indeed a re—
markable evening with The Chicago Council
hosting an event with Ben Bernanke, former
chairman of the Federal Reserve and Martin
Wolf, a renowned economic commentator;
who had gathered to converse about the Global
Economic Crisis.

This highly intellectual crowd was
not only eager to hear the speakers that night
but also receive signed copies of Bernanke’s lat—
est book “The Courage to Act.” It then dawned
on me, I was at one of Chicago’s finest events,

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5.55% Reviews:

surrounded by the most intellectually stimu—
lating people and was about to attend the most
breathtaking presentation of my life. I learnt a
lot of interesting things on this occasion since
the speakers lucidly covered a wide range of
events that occurred during the crisis and the
measures that were taken thereafter as well as
the overall health of the global economy today.

Bernanke highlighted how he start—
ed writing his book as a method of keeping a
chronicle for himself. The book thus provides
the reader with an augmented experience of
the crisis. It is a summary of all significant
events in his life, these include his academic ca—
reer, research, work with Alan Greenspan, and
finally his role as the Federal Reserve chairman
during the crisis. Wolf rightly exclaimed how
Bernanke’s early interest and research with the
Great Depression was serendipitous consider—
ing the role he would play later in his life with
the Federal Reserve.

The most important question that

arose that evening was a question that has
definitely crossed everybody’s mind. Didn’t the
regulators see this coming? Couldn’t they have
contained it when the scale was much smaller?
To this Bernanke said, “We understood that
housing prices were very high and the mort—
gage prices were too low. However, we did not
fathom that the system was fragile and highly
dependent on short term lending. Further,
banks were meeting the capital requirements
of that time. Ultimately the responsibility lies
with those who took the risk but I agree that
the regulators should have taken better mea—
sures.”

This presentation was followed by
a round of questions from the highly erudite
crowd. These questions were answered by both
the speakers with great detail and enthusiasm.
One could easily note how they had the time—
line of the events memorized at the back of
their hand. As they objectively answered these
questions to palliate the queries of the rather

zealous crowd, I wondered to myself, it is mes—
merizing how the economy is recuperating to—
day and how the crisis has not only lead us to
be more cautious but also more aware of our
financial system.

Though the crisis unfolded in 2008,
it is still a subject that is extensively researched.
Further, there have been multiple documenta—
ries, books and blockbuster movies that were
created to depict the topic. The impact of the
crisis cannot be quantified however, it has led
to many changes in reforms and increased our
understanding of the financial system. The
Federal Reserve under the leadership of Ben
Bernanke earlier and now Janet Yellen contin—
ue to take preventive measures and safeguard
the American economy. As I read the signed
copy of Bernanke’s book, it makes me realize
“The Courage to Act” is indeed a befitting title.

New music review: ‘U.S. Elevator'

Soren Spicknall
WIIT MUSIC DIRECTOR

On a warm, humid evening in April
of 2013, I somehow found myself as the guest
of someone who was attending a folk concert
at The Frog Pond, an invite—only, BYOB ven—
ue in the middle of a collectively—run farm in
Silverhill, Alabama, 20 miles southeast of the
modest city ofMobile and 20 north ofthe Gulf
of Mexico. It was there, among an army of fold—
ing chairs and hundreds of glass jars filled with
true southern moonshine that I came across
Johnny Irion for the first time. Headlining in
a duo with his wife, Sarah Lee Guthrie (daugh—
ter of Arlo and granddaughter of Woody, both
folk music legends,) Irion was joined addition—
ally that night by Mobile natives Will Kim—
brough, Grayson Capps, Corky Hughes, and
Spencer Bohren on some of their numbers to
form a full Americana band, something that
longtime followers of Guthrie and Irion know
is seldom heard of from the pair. Though their
work is compelling in its own right, the best
moments of the show came when the talents
of additional performers were added to their
compositions, breathing new life into each
track. In my mind, it was that night that the
seeds were sewn for US. Elevator, the new
roots rock band fronted by Johnny Irion. A
creative mind like Irion’s deserves the power
of a full range of musicians behind it, and the
challenge of working with other creatives of
the same caliber. On their first album, a self—

titled LP due out on November 3, we begin to
see whether such a collaboration brings out the
best in Irion like it should in theory.

Johnny Irion comes from a long
line of artists from one discipline or another.
His great—uncle was John Steinbeck, writer of
such landmark American novels as “Grapes
of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men.” His grand—
mother, Rubilee Knight, was a professional vio—
linist and one of the leading figures in classical
music in the American south for a number of
decades. Others in his family tree have written,
sung, or otherwise performed their way into
history, and Irion himself is set to do the same.
His first two solo albums, 2001s “Unity Lodge”
and 2007s “Ex Tempore,” were released on Yep
Roc and Rte. 8, respectively, and gained quiet
yet concentrated critical acclaim. His collab—
orative releases with Sarah Lee Guthrie have
expanded his reach even more, including one
that was added to the catalog of Folkways, the
Smithsonian—run label that has a permanent
mandate to never allow any of its albums to go
out of print. Now, Irion has settled in Califor—
nia and put his full weight into US. Elevator,
along with Anders Bergstrom on guitar, Brett
Long on keyboards, Erich Riedl on drums, and
Nate Modisette on bass. The result? A debut al—
bum that shows off the talents of each member
and sounds mature for a newly—formed band,
but suffers from a lack of fresh, passionate ma—
terial. While everything on “US. Elevator” is
certainly pleasant, as well as a welcome change

from the low—key, traditional folk sound that
characterizes previous work from Irion, it
seems like many of the best songs of his might
be behind him. Stylistically, it’s impossible
to deny that “US. Elevator” is a natural step
forward for Johnny Irion. Spiritually, it feels
sometimes like his heart is not really in it.

The first track on this new album, the
instrumental “Pierre Lafond” (named for the
founder of a namesake vineyard and market
in Santa Barbara County), sets an encouraging
tone for the LP, with floating sitar tones, a wel—
come change of pace for Irion. However, the
momentum of that impressive piece is damp—
ened by the next couple of songs that follow
it, with backing harmonies lacking much spirit
and songwriting that seems too intentionally
alt—country in style (for example, “Community
Service” is all about not being able to tour due
to one member of the band having committed
a minor crime, territory that has been covered
extensively by hundreds of Americana acts in
various forms over the years.) In fact, until
midway through the album, it almost seems as
if “US. Elevator” is a dud. From there, though,
a bright light suddenly flickers into existence,
and stays with the recording through to its
end. If it weren’t for this album’s latter half, it
wouldn’t even be worth writing about. Listen—
ing the whole way through, though, you get
the sense that the band formed actively as they
recorded these songs, getting into their groove
more with each passing moment in the studio.

Starting with “Where The Rubber
Meets The Road,” Irion and his group be—
gin to seriously diverge from their old folk
rock habits, touching on territory claimed by
groups like My Morning Jacket and The War
On Drugs rather than Neil Young and Jack—
son Browne. The band shifts styles with re—
markable maneuverability, traversing between
Dawes—style storytelling and early Rolling
Stones psych in a single verse without any loss
of cohesion. The sitar comes back into play at
some point, and synths are even added in a re—
invented reprise of “Pierre Lafond,” an element
that could have potentially huge ramifications
for the group’s relevance going forward. There
is currently a notable gap in audience between
the Americana and Folk Rock communities in
the US, and with Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee
Guthrie firmly in the former camp on previous
releases, an electronically—aided expansion of
their sound could open up the entire genre to
experimentation that has previously been con—
sidered taboo to many purists. This willingness
to innovate is US. Elevator’s saving grace, since
the actual written content of their debut isn’t
incredibly strong and songs one through six
are pretty forgettable. If they settle into a tra—
ditional folk formula from here, it’s not likely
we will hear much from them again. If they
continue to explore new territory, they could
become one of the keys to keeping Americana
alive and vibrant. For now, though, there’s still
progress to be made. 5.8/10