The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 18

ENTERTAB nMENT mm B8 EDITOR CAROL TOLLER 605-2120 FAX 605-2521 E-mail ctollcrigpacpress.southam.ca The Vancouver Sun MONDAY, JULY 9, 2001 V.r.V 'S Air pumps up crowd with PinkFloyd-esque 5. S5 -V r-v cm IAN SMITHVANCOUVER SUN The crowds of lounging music lovers stretched across the grass In Stanley to hear the VSO with 13-year-old violinist Caltlln Tully and the White Rock Park early Sunday, basking In the sun and the polished sounds of the Children's Choir. Performing against a backdrop of sea and sky, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The first staging of what organizers hope orchestra rehearsed during the afternoon (above), then played a two-hour will be an annual event, Symphony in the Park attracted thousands of people concert before the sun began to set. Weighing anchors sound The French group blends Euro-disco beats and rock with captivating results Air Commodore Friday July 6 By JENNIFER VAN EVRA When French electronic band Air released Moon Safari in 1998, it seemed like you couldn't walk past a cafe or clothing store without hearing the infectious bass line in the opening track, La Femme d'Argent.

The album was light and breezy, with just enough vocals and groove to give it some texture. But if that was the music that concert goers were expecting to hear at Friday night's sold-out Commodore show, they were definitely in for a surprise, since the band's latest album, 10,000 Hz Legend, sounds almost nothing like their debut. While it is still filled with wafting, dreamy melodies, it is much darker in mood and heavier in tone. Spiked with edgy guitar riffs, rock-heavy drums, and thick, dissonant keyboard lines, the sound is more reminiscent of 70s Pink Floyd than it is the surface 70s lounge of their earlier work. More prog, less fluff.

"Welcome to our world," said front man Jean-Benoit Dunkel in true rock god fashion without a hint of irony shortly after the show began. And what a world it was. Showered in bright purple and yellow lights that beamed out from the back of the stage, the five-piece group, which included ex-Red Kross drummer Brian Reitzell and ex-Jellyfish singer and bassist Jason Falkner, launched into a powerhouse set that ranged from trippy psychedelia to orchestral washes to cool, clean elec-j tronics. And while many of the guinj tar chords and keyboard were dead-simple, the group man-, aged to piece all the components together in a way that was purely intoxicating. hns "Mechanics give me some freedom- synthesizers give me some wings," droned Dunkel in a way that was so over-the-top, I was felt like I was watching electronic music's answer to Spinal Tap.

But in spite of the cliched delivery, there was some truth in what Dunkel was saying: rather than the technology being the central focus, in Air's music, the electronic is merely a vehicle for much more substantial expression. In How Does It Make You Feel, the same Mac voice that usually tells me there's something wrong with my printer was whispering lines like "You are the most beautiful entity I have ever dreamed of" and "I would be hap-' py with just a minute in your arms." In Sex Born Poison, what began with effects-laden vocals slowly built toward a powerful crescendo of, creepy keyboards and heavy guitar riffs. And it was the seamlessness of that blend between more traditional rock stylings and contemporary elec- tronics that made the music partial- larly captivating. Rather than comprising a series of, highs and lows, the live show was more like one hugely hypnotic wash, full of varied colours, textures, and i moods. For their encore, Air played a straight rendition of La Femme d'Ar-1 gent undoubtedly the tune that drew many to the show in the first place.

But after hearing a full set of, their new music so much richer and deeper than their earlier material the song seemed cheap and superficial i in comparison. The band may be moving in a com-b iletely different direction, but if their ive show was any indication of the. work to come, I'll be the first in line to follow. Jennifer Van Bvra is a Vancouver freelance writer i The people who own TV stations have taken a look at the star system and asked themselves if they really need stars to maintain their market share. In most cases, the answer has been no.

1 ') Vl Here's what you know: Veteran BCTV co-anchor Pamela Martin and veteran CKVU senior reporter Mike Killeen have jumped ship to VTV, soon to be CTV British Columbia, where they join one-time Canada Tonight-host Bill Good Here's what you might not have guessed: While the Martin and Killeen moves have made headlines in the past few days, they are just one small part of a much larger picture. And, ultimately, that picture has less to do with who brings you Alex Strachan the news every night In fact, the whole notion of a media star system whether for local television news personalities or newspaper columnists may be yesterday's news. In fact, the only question that can Bill Good has worked alongside Pamela Martin before. in-your-face imitation of Citytv, but it was always somebody else trying to get Citytv right for this market And Baton former CTV-owner Baton Broadcasting were the wrong people to do that When you realize that VTV is now going to have Canada A.M you know it's going to behave like a traditional CTV affiliate, which means its audience is going to be older." The addition of Martin, Good and, to a lesser extent, Killeen means VTV will be able to command a higher price for advertising spots on its local newscasts, Stanger said. That's because VTV's share of the market is so small barely one per cent, according to recent figures posted by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement that even a small increase could effectively double the station's audience, which in turn would double the station's advertising revenue.

Credibility aside, however, Stanger said there is increasing evidence to suggest that, with few exceptions, television news anchors no longer command the cachet they once did. It's a position echoed by Sueanne Kelman, director of broadcast journalism at Toronto's Ryerson Polytech University, one of the most prominent and influential journalism schools in Canada. "There are many companies in the U.S. that spend a great deal of money looking at, and selling advice about, everything from the anchor to the helicopter chick," Kelman said by phone. "Does it work? I'm not at all sure it does.

To what extent is the audience aware of the anchor? I'm sure Lloyd Robertson is the reason for CTV New? following nationally but, on the local level, I'm not so sure." Kelman cautioned against reading too much into the publicity generated by the Martin and Good moves. "A funny thing you tend to notice when you actually work in TV is that it's only after you leave that you get See STAR SYSTEM B10 so there's a male-female dynamic there, a sense of familiarity and comfort there that viewers can relate to." Now, the bad news: While the move has bought VTV some much-needed respectability as the station remodels itself and prepares for a war of attrition this fall between local newscasts at CBC, CKVU, CHEK-TV and BCTV, as well as a new Victoria station from CHUM owners of Toronto's upstart Citytv, the truth is that all the stations are vying for a piece of an ever-shrinking audience pie. "I've been telling my clients this for the past few years," Stanger said, "but the fact is that even before the Pamela Martin announcement and the Bill Good announcement a small but obvious trend has emerged, which is that the number of people available for local news at six and at 11 or 11 30 has shrunk and is shrinking. And the reason it is shrinking is because of what I call news-on-demand. You can come home at any time of day and turn on CTV-Newsnet, CBC-Newsworld, Sportsnet, Headline Sports, CNN- Headline and CNN itself.

You don't have to bookmark six o'clock, or 11 o'clock, or 10 o'clock as the only times you're going to get your fix of television news. If you're in the car driving home between five and seven and you're a news junkie, you can get your news on the radio, right up to the minute. I'm not for a moment suggesting this is the death of the six o'clock news, but shares are down across the board and most news directors will tell you that privately, even if they won't admit it publicly." Stanger, president and chief executive officer of Langley-based ad agency and media consultancy firm Stanger Associates, said VTV's three-year experiment to position itself as a West Coast Citytv a young station catering to a niche of young, hip urban viewers could have worked over the long haul, but the picture changed the moment CTV decided to position VTV as the network's official B.C. affiliate. "When VTV first went on the air they were trying to create a streetwise, be answered with any degree of certainty, according to the people who make a living tracking media trends, is that there is a sea change taking place in the information business, and traffic jams on the information highway will only get worse in the near future.

First, the good news for Martin and her new bosses at CTV, who sprang an undisclosed sum one published report pegged it at an unconfirmed $300,000 a year for five years to pry the 24-year BCTV veteran loose from the Burnaby station: Signing Martin is a smart move, according to veteran Vancouver media buyer David Stanger. "BCTV's News Hour, as strong as it is and has been, has been the CTV affiliate in this market for as long as most people can remember," Stanger said. "So there's a logical association linking Pamela Martin with CTV. And she and Bill Good have worked together before, TOniGHT tfsiiisartfdr' tannin 8.00 Fear Factor 9.00 Everybody Loves Raymond 9.30 Becker 10.00 3rd Rock from the Sun 10.30 3rd Rock from the Sun A il.