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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY MAY 7, 2013
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY HARRISON SCHEIB
Quiet Corral agrees that Lawrence is one of the best places to play. The band loves the level of support and energy that local fans exude
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY HARRISON SCHEIR
The band posts its new music videos on its Facebook page. Quiet Corral is scheduled to release a new album on iTunes.
CORRAL FROM PAGE 5
City, Mo. Halfway through their set at the Middle of the Map Fest, a group of four girls dressed in sheer flowery and solid tops, skinny jeans and scarves started getting really into the music creating their own crazy dance moves, moving around, laughing. The band played off their energy and engaged the crowd in every song they sang.
Throughout their set, Isaac would scan the crowd, making eye contact with friends and giving them a little laugh when not singing. Zach blew a kiss to his girlfriend standing a little behind first row.
At the end of their set, they began moving around each one playing a different drum. The energy on stage was immense. They bobbed their heads to the beat of the drums. Every minute, they would switch places on stage and start playing their new drum with even more enthusiasm than the last. Halfway through the drum medley, Isaac came out into the audience banging the drum hanging from his body. The girls in the front row squealed with excitement as he came and stood right next to them facing the audience.
Bethany Brown from Kansas City, Mo., came to Middle of the Map Fest and saw Quiet Corral play for the first time. After the set, she exuded excitement and amazement from Quiet Corral's drum medley toward the end of the set. "That was awesome. They totally engaged the whole crowd," she said.
Quiet Corral writes all its own lyrics. Jesse is the one who will write, then during practice, the whole band will come together and modify or perfect what he created. Some of the members are Christian, including Jesse, and their beliefs are expressed through some of the lyrics they sing.
Leah Frees, the fiancee of Jesse, says that her favorite Quiet Corral song is called "Where the River Ends." jesse wrote the lyrics, and it tells a story about how through all waters of life, he wants to be where she is. "It's about being committed to me," Freed said.
"We focus on writing the best songs that we possibly can and good songwriting will hopefully go a long way," Flynn said.
When asked what it's like walking on stage to a crowd of people coming to listen to their music, Green says, "It's like nothing else." He enjoys playing in Lawrence because "Lawrence is the epitome of that for us because there are so many great supporters. I value every time I play there."
Patrick Ashby, a "mini groupie," according to his friend Dusty West, tries to come to every Quiet Corral show when they are in town. He first saw Quiet Corral when they played at Crossroads. "I liked what I heard and have been going to [their shows] ever since," Ashby said.
Although their strong relationship with their fans helps their popularity, their strategy is ultimately what helps get them out in front of their fans. Quiet Corral began
playing in Lawrence at various bars around town. In 2011, they started working with a booking agent who books them for shows, festivals and tours. They then took the next step in their strategy and decided to fully commit to the band.
Fully committing to the band comes with some drawbacks and tough decisions. At the time, three of the band members were enrolled and taking classes at the University. When deciding whether or not to quit school and focus on the band, Flynn talked to his teachers, and
two of them in particular encouraged him to quit, saying that he could always come back, but that trying to make it big as a band was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
This decision has allowed the band to further its success by playing one of the top music festivals in the U.S.: Austin City Limits.
have had some incredibly memorable life experiences."
"I think getting to play something like Austin City Limits causes a boost in morale, and more importantly, it's a really cool life experience," Flynn said. "If nothing else happens with the band, we will
Through these experiences, Flynn has learned a lot about the business side of things. "The biggest thing I've learned is that you can only control what you put out. I want everything we release to the public, whether it's a song, a video, a website, or anything else to be high quality," Flynn said.
The band just finished recording a new album, coming to iTunes soon. There is no release date set, but the band plans to have a release
party with all their friends and fans. Currently they are working on new videos and posting them to their Facebook page for fans to watch.
"We are really looking forward to releasing [the album] and getting a reaction to it; whether it's good or bad, only time will tell, but we're hoping that it's good," Flynn said.
— Edited by Jordan Wisdom
FILM
'Great Gatsby' captures luster of new millenium
There's a lot to like about "The Great Gatsby," Baz Luhrmann's flashy, messy, manic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel. That slim but thematically tricky little volume remains a captivating riddle, which may be why no filmmaker has created the "definitive" version. Luhrmann, the fourth to try, hasn't, either — there's a lot to dislike here as well — but his is easily the most entertaining "Gatsby" yet.
It's a product of its time, as were the others: a 1926 silent, a 1949 noir and a gauzy 1974 romance starring hunk-of-the-moment Robert Redford as the mysterious Long Island millionaire Jay Gatsby. This version is a postmodern pastiche: Flappers gyrate to Jay-Z, Gatsby's Gold Coast mansion looks like a Disneyland castle and Jazz Age New York has more candy-colored costumes and confetti than a Katy Perry concert. (Make that Madonna; Luhrmann's vision of pop spectacle sometimes recalls the 1980s more than the 1920s or 2010s.)
The anachronisms hammer home are
obvious point — 'twas ever thus! — which would get tiresome if not for some outstanding performances. Carey Mulligan is picture perfect as Gatsby's aristocratic beloved, Daisy Fay Buchanan, but the character's vibrancy has been written away; now she's just sad, sad, sad. Tobey Maguire, as Nick Carraway, strikes a nice blend of passivity and outrage, while Joel Edgerton, as Daisy's husband, Tom, is a revelation, bringing out the nobility in this story's go-to villain. Crucial roles, such as the jet-setting Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) and the ill-used Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher), are reduced to near-cameos.
As for Leonardo DiCaprio, he is now the Gatsby to beat. Despite a borderline comedic entrance — haloed by fireworks and accompanied by Gershwin's "Rhapsoy in blue" — DiCaprio nails this maddening enigmatic character. He's as tough as Alan Ladd in '49, as suave as Redford in '74, but also vulnerable, touching, funny, a faker, a human. You hear it all in Gatsby's favorite phrase, "old sport," a verbal tic that stumped other actors. It's a tremendous, hard-won performance.
McClatchy Tribune
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