page 8 Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Observer

SOFIA ITURBE | Observer Graphic

In case you haven’t heard, OK Go is coming to NotreDame this weekend to perform at halftime of the Pittsburgh gameand later in the evening at Legends Nightclub. Some other musicalacts that have graced South Bend with their presence in the lastcouple of years include Good Charlotte for“The Show” in 2008 and Papa Roach withTrapt at Club Fever just last week.

Now, I am not equating the caliber of OKGo’s music with that of Trapt (although I donot doubt several of you know every wordto “Headstrong”). I recognize OK Go’s talentand staying power. Nor am I denying thatwe have welcomed some other extremelygifted acts to campus in recent years(Guster, Mike Posner, The Roots).

But I cannot lie. As I paged through theyearbooks of the 1970s to see what artistshad been at Notre Dame, I wept out of jeal-ousy. Each year in the blissful decade, atleast one music legend performed atStepan Center, the Athletic and Convocation Center (ACC, now theJACC) or at an intimate blues festival. Only a straightforwardchronology can do the 70s set-lists justice, and I am only mention-ing some highlights. My apologies if you end up wallowing in the

mediocrity of modern campus concerts after reading.

1978Hall and Oates and Steve Miller. Don’t you wish you could hear “Rich

Girl” and “The Joker” live? Crosby, Stills and Nash finally performedtogether, having visited Notre Dame as solo acts or duos in years past.

1979Neil Young’s performance was apparently a “disappointment” to stu-

dents, according to “The Dome.” Maybe they preferred the performanceof Bruce Springsteen (right), The Beach Boys, Yes or Aerosmith (who’s“warm-up group” just happened to be a little band called AC-DC).

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and notnecessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Marissa Frobes at mfrobes@nd.edu

Photos courtesy of “The Dome” 1970-79

Marissa Frobes

Scene Writer

Campus concerts

Scene

1976The Beach Boys returned. Notre Dame experienced another British inva-

sion, this time from Rod Stewart and Jethro Tull.

1977This year was host to a couple familiar faces as well as some notable new-

comers: Chicago, The Doobie Brothers, Boston and KISS (left).

1975Van Morrison serenaded

female Domers with “BrownEyed Girl.” Elton John (left)donned a flashy sequinedcostume to entertain. AndElvis Presley (right) was justan added bonus.

1972Students hopped on Cat Stevens’ “Peace Train,” were entertained

by “Proud Mary” herself, Tina Turner (left) and relished SoCal vibeswith The Beach Boys.

1973The student body received English rock from Yes, local American

rock from Chicago and Latin rock from Santana.

1974Rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry. Motown phenomenon, The

Temptations. Sibling duet, The Carpenters. Paul Simon of Simon andGarfunkel. Joni Mitchell. Words do not suffice.

1970Welcome Smoky Robinson

and the Miracles (left), the firstsuccessful group act signed byMotown Recordsand performers

of Motown’s firstmillion-selling record, “Shop Around.” DionneWarwick (right) also made an appearance, anartist probably best known to our generation asthe singer of “I Say A Little Prayer,” featured in thehit 1990s film “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”

1971“Jeremiah was a bullfrog…” sang Three Dog

Night at Notre Dame. It’s safe to say their hit sin-gle “Joy to the World” is known by almost every

American.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 page 9

The Observer

SOFIA ITURBE | Observer Graphic

Fit or fad?‘Fitness shoes’ not for everyone

Reebok Easy Tones promise a nice poste-rior, Skechers Shape-Ups claim to give JoeMontana better posture and myriad knock-offs at stores like Target and Wal-Mart offerall the benefits at half the price.

But can so-called “fitness shoes” actuallytone muscles on the walk to class? Dr.Damian Dieter, a podiatrist at the PortageFoot Clinic in South Bend, has treated somepatients who have worn the shoes and hastried out a pair himself.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter answer, that it’sgood or really bad,” he said.

From working muscles to increasing cir-culation, the benefits described in the com-mercials and other promotional materialsare mostly true, he said, but there are somecaveats.

Dieter said people with foot problems —such as plantar fasciitis, heel spurs,bunions or arthritis — should be carefulwhen trying out the shoes, since it mightaggravate their discomfort.

“If you’ve got a really whacked-out footand you think going around in these shoes,all your prayers and questions areanswered, that’s not the case,” he said.

The mostimportant part

of any walking shoe is theheel counter, Dietersaid. This “cup” in the shoethat surrounds a person’sheel has to be stiff in order tokeep the arch of the footfrom wobbling.

Most fitness shoes dohave this heel support,Dieter said. However, inmost of the designs, instabili-ty in the rest of the body of theshoe is the whole point.

For example, the Reebok Easy-Toneshoes have two air chambers (what thecommercials call “balance ball technolo-gy”). Dieter said the air cushion is forcedfrom heel-to-toe, heel-to-toe, in the reversedirection of the force of the step, so thewearer is constantly working against nor-mal walking motion.

Dieter said he tried out the SkechersShape-Ups in a store for about 15 minutes,but did not feel stable in them.

“I constantly had to hold onto something,”he said. “Now, if I wore them for a weekstraight, I probably would get used to it.”

Forcing wearers to overcome thatunsteadiness is an intentional part of theshoes’ design, he said.

“Well, if you’re unsteady, you clench upmuscles,” he said. “It’s like sea legs. Whenyou’re on a boat, the boat is constantlymoving, so even without thinking, you’reclenching your leg muscles to stay on bal-ance, that’s why you get stronger legs.”

The Skechers’ website rec-ommends going through

some warm-up andadjustment exerciseswhen first putting on the

shoes, in order toadjust to the newform of walking.Re-learning howto walk shouldn’t

be the goal of any exercise routine, he said,especially just for one pair of shoes.

“You shouldn’t have to tell your bodywhat to do when you walk,” he said.“Walking should be like breathing. Youshouldn’t have to say to yourself, time tobreathe in now. It’s an automaticresponse.”

Additionally, Dieter said “rocker bottom”shoes like the Skechers Shape-Ups, with acurved sole, actually shorten the wearer’sgait. The shoes force people to shorter,faster steps.

“It increases blood flow just becauseyou’re walking fast,” he said.

But he added, “You can just do jumpingjacks to get your blood flowing, too.”

“People that are going to go work outwith any shoe, yeah, they’re going to havebetter circulation,” he said.

While Dieter said the instability and gait-changing aspects of these shoes will helpsome people with posture or circulation,just wearing a different kind of footwearwon’t replace eating healthy or breaking asweat.

“The marketing thing is that everybodywants to sell you something that, if you dothis, you don’t have to go to the gym, youdon’t have to watch what you eat,” he said.“Everybody’s got a gimmick.”

Does Kanye West have the potential tomake a bad album? “808s andHeartbreaks” was a scare, but provedits worth overthe long haul.With four dyna-mite albumsbehind him,three of whichplace on almostevery American “Best of the Decade”list, Kanye West has set a high standardfor himself.

Nine years from now, when theumpires of musical taste come togetherto analyze the defining moments of the

decade, if Nov. 22 doesn’tland on the table early inthe discussion, thensomething will have trulygone wrong.

If the tracks releasedoff his new album are

any indication its quali-ty, fans have nothing

to worry about. Infact, while tabloidand mediahounds continueto portray him asthe anti-Christfor interruptingVMA acceptancespeeches andaccusing presi-dents of racialapathy, Kanyemay be finishingup his magnum

opus to shut them up once and for all. IfWest can outdo himself again andreleases his fifth great album, he canstorm overrated award show accept-ance speeches and interrupt publicservice announcements until he loseshis voice.

Album release delays can be irritatingfor music aficionados, and Kanye Westfans have had their fair share of aggra-vation. The numerous pushbacks ofWest’s fifth album have thus come as lit-tle surprise. Originally slated for a sum-mer release, the album was pushed toSept. 14, and then moved again whenWest announced that it would be hittingstores “sometime in November.” Untilyesterday, the date and album title wereunconfirmed.

In a Twitter update, West revealed thenew title and official release date of Nov.22.

Never mind that the new title, “MyBeautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” soundslike a bad manga series. The early trackreleases are some of the most innova-

tive hip-hop tracks of the last couple ofyears. “Power,” the first single from thealbum released in June, is five minutesof classic bragging, soul searching andspot-on self-identification.

In July, West started the “GOODFriday series,” releasing a new trackevery Friday for eight straight weeks,ultimately collaborating with over 15artists. Among the eight tracks, fourcrossed the six-minute mark, six werebrand new concepts and three weresome of West’s best in years. “GOODFriday,” “Monster” and “Christian DiorDenim” were the highlights and willhopefully make their way onto thealbum.

The most promise lies in the secondsingle, “Runaway,” which West pre-miered at the MTV Video Music Awardsin September. Last week, the final mixwas officially released for digital down-load. The song is West’s most accurateand peculiar artistic statement yet.Raising a glass to “scumbags” like him-self, the song is the perfect mix of self-

loathing and spite. Excitement for the new album began

back in 2009 before anyone had heard aminute of it. Confirmed collaborationswith fellow innovative producers Q-Tip,DJ Premier and Pete Rock began antici-pation. DJ Premier expressed excite-ment for the novelty of the material inan interview, and fellow rapper Drakespeculated that the album could be oneof “the best hip-hop albums of the last10 years.”

Early evaluation for the album is high-ly speculative, considering most trackshave yet to see the light of day, but thealbum certainly has the potential forgreatness. If Kanye West can pull offthis album, he may secure himself a slotin not only rap history, but in the pan-theon of popular music icons.

The views expressed in this columnare those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Mac Hendrickson at mhendri1@nd.edu

Mac Hendrickson

Scene Writer

Contact Jordan Gamble at jgamble@nd.edu

By JORDAN GAMBLEScene Editor

Skechers Shape-Upsskechers.com/shapeups

$75 — $130

Reebok EasyTonereebok.com/easytone

$99 — $125

Scene