Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 59

THE FAB I Inside: A complete guide to Metro Detroit entertainment events. Page 3G The Detroit News i I il I 7 I i 1l Your ticket to the weekend's best TmmW Jj, j.j 4 Section Thursday, August io, 1995 1 ii 1 mi 11 1 1 'i 11 If 11 (I Li JW EE EE If I j-m ,11 Iff Tti i 1 sr-J II II 41 11 r.v a 1 8 'S i Nobody does it better Singer, lyricist, author of children's books, Oscar-winning composer, the remarkable Carly Simon performs from her Letters Never Sent album tonight at Pine Knob, with Hall Oates. Call (810) 377-0100. 2 A common chord Guitarists Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton both came out of the L.A. session scene and into jazz fusion circles, earning follow-ings for pristine technique and melody-oriented material.

They trade licks tonight at Industry in Pontiac. Call (810) 334-1999. 3 Maze and blues Always popular in Detroit, rhythm and blues stalwarts Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, along with Gladys Knight, should keep the Fox Theatre swaying in Friday and Saturday shows. Call (810) 645-6666. 4 The island life Immerse yourself in calypso, reggae and soca music, spicy food and bright costumes at the Caribbean International Festival all weekend at Hart Plaza.

At 1 1 a.m. -Saturday, a masquerade parade snakes down Woodward. Call (3 1 3) 53 8-4452, HH Hiv 5 A A. St A I 4 if' Concert Preview Weezer With Teenage Fanclub and That Dog, 8 p.m. Friday at Meadow Brook Music Festival, Rochester.

Tickets: $17.50, $10. Call (810) 377-0100. X1 I ji' Photos by Jena Fraser The Detroit News A group of artists called Guys with Small Beards did these giant portraits at the Cass Cafe. Top: Chris Connell with bunny ears. Above: Jerome Ferretti (with fragmented features) and Dave Roberts, dwarfing diners.

The eatery has regular exhibits by neighborhood artists. 'A I Vi i A S-- Art Exhibit 'Gifyswith Small Beards' Cass Cafe, 4620 Cass, Detroit, south of Forest. Hours: 1 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday, 5 p.m.

to 2 a.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays. Call (313) 831-1400. Clearly they do not represent an ego trip for the artists because the images aren't the least bit flattering.

Chris Connell, for instance, is endowed with giant pink bunny ears. And Jerome Ferretti's eyes, ears, nose and mouth skid crazily rather than being anchored to his face in the usual places. So what are these big pictures doing in a Cass Corridor restaurantbar on the edge of the Wayne State University campus? The answer is simple: Owner Please see CAFE, Page 4G By Joy Hakanson Colby Detroit News Art Critic The beards may be small, but the pictures are huge. And the artists and other regulars who hang out at Detroit's Cass Cafe can't ask for more. Six artists calling themselves Guys With Small Beards (GWSB) have invaded the cafe, filling the place with enormous portraits of themselves.

The paintings are 8- and 12-footers that blanket the walls and stare down at diners from a superior position based on sheer size. Welcome to the Cass Cafe, a hot new artists hangout where the shows are catchy, the mood is easy and every few months, the 'decor' is simply off the wall ft if lt' Movie Review A dazzling 'Walk in the Clouds' weathers its overcast male roles Weezer has a lot more up its musical sleeve than its geeky reputation might suggest. Nerd-chic? Weezer trashes the labels and just plain rocks By Vikki Tobak Special to The Detroit News Weezer. They've been called everything from "geek-rock" to "nerd-chic," and in a lot of ways, that's not so far from the truth. But taken on their own idiosyncratic terms, these guys prove that even the most unabashed musical underdog can rock as hard as the big boys of today's "cooler than thou" indie rock.

With a platinum-selling, self-titled debut album under their belt, this gang of four is adored by screaming teens and closet Beach Boys lovers alike. Their unique mesh of nontraditional lyrics, guitar-ridden grooves and all-around good, solid songs such as "Undone The Sweater Song," "Buddy Holly" and the current single "Say It Ain't So" prove that they have a lot more up their flannel sleeves than their "geek-rock" reputation might lead you to believe. 'A Walk in the Clouds' Rated PG-13 Opens Friday of heightened reality. They're the kind of sequences that give new juice to the old saw, "Only in the movies One, staged during a night when frost threatens to kill the nearly mature fruit, shows the entire family and workforce sporting gauzy white silken wings and fanning the heat from torches set throughout the vineyards down toward the grapes. It's as visually seductive a sequence as you have ever seen on film.

It's as if a company of angels had descended to do the winemaker's duty. Another, staged during the harvest festival, shows all the women with skirts Please see Page 5G By Susan Stark Detroit News Film Critic If you saw Like Water fot Chocolate, last year's surprise hit from the art-house circuit, you won't be surprised to learn that Alfonso Arau's new film has the same lush, heart-stoppingly sensuous visuals. A romantic drama set in the wake of World War II, A Walk in the Clouds brings together a battle-sobered young GI, played by Keanu Reeves, and the troubled, refined daughter of a proud Mexican family, played by the young Spanish actress Aitana Sanchez-Gijon. He's an orphan from Moline, HI. Her family's vineyard has, over the generations, made California royalty of her parents and grandparents.

The film's three principal set pieces are, in Arau's treatment, masterpieces Acceptable rr- If 1 i 1 Success for Weezer has meant going beyond power pop. "We're like the antithesis of grunge," guitarist Brian Bell says proudly. The foursome first crossed paths a few years ago in Los Angeles after Please see WEEZER, Page 2G Keanu Reeves gets his arms around Aitana Sanchez-Gijon but never-gets a firm grasp on his character. tiWitoitwikteliKrtiaaiHiiii.