By Michael Hassin
Correspondent
The Rathskeller was filled with buzz and chatter last Tuesday Sept. 14, with good reason — it was the first College Union Board sponsored Student Band Night of the year, where concertgoers were treated to a night of music by two musical acts.
Punk-rock band Deece Ham, consisting of four College wrestlers — sophomore math and secondary education major Danny Brill, junior statistics major Chris Lombardi, junior criminology major Kyle Falzone and senior communication studies major Ed Broderick — started off the night with covers of popular alternative rock songs by Weezer, Green Day and Blink-182.
The band played energetically, flaunting rapid, aggressive guitar work and belting vocals faithful to the source material. The highlight of its set was a cover of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes to which the audience clapped along to the beat and gave the band a round of applause midway through the track.
When Deece Ham finished playing and began packing away instruments, the audience clapped and demanded an encore.
“Again … we don’t know any more songs!” Lombardi said.
Despite their comic attitude — the name “Deece Ham” was derived from an obscure wrestling team inside joke — the members take their band seriously and intend to venture beyond playing just covers.
“We want to get our own music going,” Brill said.
The second band of the night, Darksurfers, was comprised of five members — two clad in plaid and another wearing toilet paper wrapped around his head like a cast. It was fronted by senior English major Chris Yaple — the other members are childhood friends who live in the Trenton and Philadelphia area.
Although Darksurfers was just as energetic as Deece Ham, its music was mellow, slow and peaceful. The band played original songs with such titles as “Planet Drunk” and “MOONDATE.”
Darksurfers is inspired by a variety of musical influences, including punk, metal, blues and the Grateful Dead. Yaple described its sound as “jangly goth pop” and said the band is planning a tour this winter across the region.
