Fans and friends let their inhibitions go and moshed to their hearts’ content at the Rathskeller while Save Face, Batten Down The Hatches and Major League performed, marking a spectacular end to the CUBRat spring lineup on Friday, April 18.
The College’s own Save Face opened the show, immediately immersing the crowd in their heavy punk sound.
The band consists of Tyler Cranden, a junior marketing major on guitar and vocals, and sophomores Chris Hranj, a computer science major on bass, Shane Dermanjian, an international studies major on guitar, Tyler Povanda, a mathematics major on vocals, and Chris Flannery, an interactive multimedia major on drums.
They rocked out to songs off their recently-released EP “I Won’t Let This Take My Life” and the 2013 EP “Lost At Heart,” including “Teeth In The Floor,” “Clockwork” and “No Harm Done.”
Throughout the set, Povanda threw himself around the stage and put his microphone into the pit for people to scream along the words.
Dermanjian, also a member of CUB and next year’s Rat chair responsible for bringing acts to campus, is excited to continue the tradition.
“My co-Rat Lauren and I plan on making next year’s schedule just as stacked as they have been since we both came to TCNJ,” he said.
Next up was Batten Down The Hatches, a rock group from Freehold, N.J., that was performing at the College for the first time.
Vocalist John McManus, guitarists Joey DiCamilo and Adam Lotfi, drummer Kevin Sardy and bassist Bryan Little powered through a killer set of songs off their 2012 EP “Beginnings” and split EP with Random Holiday.
Their set included “In Case We Haven’t Met,” which led right into “Unique New York” and “Rich Mahogany.”
“This song goes out to everyone that got a cheeseburger wrap like me!” Lotfi joked with the crowd.
The night concluded with the headliner Major League taking the stage.
The punk rock unit from Mantua, N.J., was comprised of Brian Joyce and Matt Chila on guitar and vocals, Kyle Bell on bass and Luke Smartnick on drums.
The crowd burst into excitement as they played songs off their 2012 album “Hard Feelings” like “Walk Away” and “Because Heaven Knows.”
Before the band played “Arrows Crossed,” they dedicated the song to Batten Down The Hatches.
“We’ve been playing together for three years,” Joyce said. “They always have our backs and let us crash at their house.”
The show was certainly the perfect ending to a series of talented musical performances throughout the semester that brought music lovers of all genres together.
Thomas Barr, a sophomore economics major, always enjoys coming to the Rat on his Friday nights.
“The Rat fosters a culture you can’t get anywhere else on campus,” Barr said.
This special feature is what keeps students coming out week after week. Here’s to another year of awesome live music.
