The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 59

THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 18. 1987 Music 6 rap acts draw 5,500 at ft it. can rap music translate into bigger halls like the Centrum, halls that usually house full-scale rock concerts? Based on last night's show, the answer is a defi- nite maybe. 1AA DEF JAM '87 With LL Cool J.

Whodini, Kool Moe Dee. and others. At Worcester Centrum, last night. By Brett Milano Special to the Globe WORCESTER Rap music went big time in 1987: It's on the charts, it's on the radio, and it's moving up from underground. Much of the credit goes to three rap acts who made platinum al- RCYISW bums in the past year: Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys, who toured together over the summer; and LL Cool who headlined at the Centrum last night.

But can rap music translate into bigger halls like the Centrum, halls that usually house full-scale rock concerts? Based on last night's show, the answer is a definite maybe. The "Def Jam" package tour sponsored by the record label of the same name had a lot in its favor: There was a strong batch of acts, including LL Cool rap veterans Whodini, and up-and-comer Kool Moe Dee. The show attracted a smallish (about 5,500) but racially mixed and generally peaceful crowd. But two ugly incidents put a damper on the good spirits. The first happened in the audience, where a security guard was punched when trying to break up a fight.

The second was onstage, where rapper Ecstacy of Whodini interrupted a strong set to pick a fight with an audience member who'd been heckling the group. The night also fell prey to a longtime problem of arena concerts: A horrible sound mix. LL Cool J's set was affected the most, but his manic energy was enough to carry the show. Playing a half-hour closing set, the 19-year-old rapper bounded onstage in a jogging suit, and attacked some familiar topics -love, sex and self-confidence with an inexhaustible (if not always audible) stream of rhymes. With six acts on the bill, the show also had a bit too much of a good thing: LL Cool didn't get onstage until after 11, so some of the early acts (notably Jazzy Jeff, whose rhymes were standard, "I'm the greatest" boasts) might have been cut to give the star more room.

But the night did have its peaks: Who-J dini were the most musically inspired, one-upping most rap groups by using two disc-jockeys. Everyone-" used turntables instead of a band, but Whodini upped the ante by jumping from raps to vocals, and matching the turntables for futuristic cross-; rhythms. The team of Eric and Khalil provided night's social conscience, with a credible rap anthem "Togetherness." But the night's award for naughty fun goes to Kool Moe Dee, who stepped in at the last minute as a replacement for Public Enemy. Moe Dee recorded "Go See the Doctor," one of the year's funnier and more i controversial rap singles. It attacks the touchy sub- ject of venereal disease with some clever (and un printable) verses; and makes a plea for protecting; oneself without turning preachy.

It's a streetwise iirtlvaMlMiiitoiia Globe staff photoTom Herde Bono: A leading candidate for improv entertainer of the year. U2 comes through for 15,000 fans cautionary tale. The song risks sexism ito these ears. it doesn't go too far) and last night offered the unusu- al sound of the full audience black and white, male and female shouting back the risque rhymes. I dle solo but the sheer emotion of the song compensated.

The rhythm section of bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen were occasionally obscured in a muddy sound mix (Larry Bird couldn't do anything about that), but everything clicked midway through as did the stage lights at last. If there was one problem, it was the band's insistence on doing cover versions of several songs. Frankly, they added nothing to a snippet of Bob Marley's "Exodus," nor much to Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and the Beatles' "Help," which plodded along roughly. It would have been preferable to hear more songs from U2's early career, which was shortchanged last night. guibble aside, this was still another victory for the gutsy Dub-liners, who return to the Garden tonight and to Sullivan Stadium next Tuesday.

Hopefully their lighting system will be back on the beam and Larry Bird's spirit can get some rest. group boldly opened with the album's most vehemently antiwar protest song. "Bullet the Blue Sky," preceded briefly by a biting touch of Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner," which Hen-drix had played at Woodstock. U2 guitarist The Edge did justice to Hendrix and was a mainstay all night with his intricate chordal leads interrupted by wallops of feedback. Dressed in a Navajo vest with a wide-brimmed hat, he also looked like a psychedelic medicine man.

Numerous "Joshua Tree" anthems drove the crowd into hysterics, including the heavenward plea of "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the gospel passion of "In God's Country." But it was a surprise version of "One Tree Hill," a tribute to band employee Greg Carroll (who died in a motorcycle accident last year), that really touched the crowd. Only recently has the band started performing the song, since Bono always maintained it was too painful to do on stage. The arrangement sputtered part of it had to be on tape since there was no electric viola player to duplicate the mid U2 Continued from Page 51 stage as if ready to join a layup drill. This was not as you may gather a typical U2 performance. It was more like seeing a club band trying to finesse its way through an awkward situation.

Although Bono recently reminisced that U2 had been "a lousy club band," the evidence last night was to the contrary. Where other superstars might have fallen flat without their lights, U2 carried on like troupers, forging an even closer bond with the audience (something Little Steven could not do with his overly anthemic opening set). Bono was infinitely more chatty, while still managing to convey the spiritual power of the band's music as the crowd spurred him on with long, majestic singalongs. The set list had been shaken up since the band played the Worcester Centrum only four months ago, but still was drawn mostly from the group's last album, "The Joshua Tree." The 11 'j MOLIIRINGWD ROBERT DOWNEY llmLJ. TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX PRESENTS THE PICK-UP ARTIST MOLLY RINGM-ROBERTDOMY-DENNIS HOPPER DANNYAELOANDHARVEYKETIEL GEORGES DELERUE pho(M)0N WILLIS, A.S.C.

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