By Kimberly Ilkowski
Review Editor
Napkin dispensers and bottles of condiments were tossed around the stage as students threw down at the Rathskeller for the final student band night of the semester, on Friday, Nov. 21. CUBRat, in part with The Public Health Communication’s Club, brought in all-student bands including Schiffing and Handling, Good Luck Spaceman and Save Face to help raise awareness for men’s health issues for Movember.
The first band of the evening, Schiffing and Handling, was comprised of seniors Brandon Schiff on vocals and guitar, Jake Perlman on drums and junior Cameron Schiff on bass.
Each of them is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity on campus and had a sea of support as their brothers occupied every table in the packed house.
The group did covers of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and Silversun Pickups’ “Lazy Eye” while also playing some all-original jams such as “Polyester” and “T.T.F.O.T.A.I.A.W.O.T.,” which stands for “trying to figure out the acronym is a waste of time.”
For it’s final song, the band brought AEPi and class of ’14 alumnus Avi Yehudai on stage to play saxophone during an impressive rendition of “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits — a cover Brandon admits he has been trying to perfect for a long time.
This performance marks the last time Brandon and company will play at the Rat, following three and a half years of entertaining the crowd with vivacious energy and a characteristic sound.
Up next was Good Luck Spaceman, an indie unit made up of vocalist and guitarist Jake Rubin, bassist Kyle Newins, drummer Mikey Rosen and synth and keyboardist Mike Laudenbach, all of whom are sophomores, along with guitarist Danny Galli.
The guys brought their stellar sound during a set that included original songs like “Appeal” and “Pixie Dust,” as well as a cover of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.”
During a cover of Nirvana’s “Tourette’s,” the Rat became a chaotic scene as Laudenbach took over the vocals and screamed at the top of his lungs while his bandmates jumped spastically around him and tossed fistfuls of napkins into the air.
With its elevated penchant for mischief, the band encouraged audience members to throw things at them while they played and to get out of their seats and break things. At one point, a bottle of ketchup was thrown on to the stage which Galli promptly threw right back, accidentally launching it into family members sitting in the front row.
“Ketchup at parents? Let’s start the song,” Newins quipped before the band got down to business and wrapped up its set.
The band also has big plans to release a new EP in the upcoming months.
Closing out the night was Save Face, a band quite familiar with the Rat stage, having played there just this April with well-known hardcore acts Major League and Batten Down The Hatches.
With juniors Tyler Povanda on vocals and guitar, Chris Hranj on bass, Shane Dermanjian on guitar and Chris Flannery on drums, the band played songs “Sharks and Eddies,” “No Harm Done” and “Hunt With the Hounds” off its 2014 EP “I Won’t Let This Take My Life” and 2013 EP “Lost At Heart.”
“We usually don’t play too many songs from our first two EPs anymore, but the atmosphere at the Rat is very accepting of whatever a band or soloist will play, so it was good to play some older songs again,” Dermanjian said after the show. “A lot of our friends that see us regularly ask for us to play some of our older tunes and being (that) they were there. I’m glad we made them happy.”
