Band hopes to gain local
audience's appreciation
 By
David Brunner
Staff Writer
When Elijah Woods, a senior in the School of Pharmacy,
takes his chemistry test tonight, he will be thinking of the Wolf Lady.
Woods, lead singer and guitarist for the local band Greaser's Palace,
will perform his song "The Wolf Lady" at 8 tonight at Luckey's Playhouse
in Lafayette.
"She's always on my mind," Woods said. "She was
a girl I knew in high school who said she was raised by wolves."
Woods has a chemistry test before he goes on stage
tonight and says that it will be difficult to keep his mind on chemistry
and not on his band, now in its second year.
"That is what it's like when you have a young band
like ours," Woods said. "We are always writing new songs and looking
for new places to play, but the best part is just getting together and
jamming with the guys."
Tom Kiesel, a senior in the School of Science and
bassist for Greaser's Palace, said jamming is fun, but it takes a lot
of work to be good at playing an instrument.
"An instrument is very hard to play well," Kiesel
said. "I have been working with the bass guitar for almost four years
and I am still coming up with new stuff to play and new ways to play
it."
But the challenge is not the only thing that keeps
these musicians interested.
Mike Rittenhouse, lead singer and guitarist for
local band Broken-up, also playing tonight, has performed at Luckey's
before and said that the variety in his music is what keeps him interested.
"We have many different styles of songs that we
play," Rittenhouse said. "The crowds at Luckey's are not always big
but we usually end up playing something that just about everyone will
like."
To help boost the audience's interest, the bands
perform some cover songs along with their original creations.
Woods said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, one
particular song that they play has been unusually popular with the crowd.
"Neil Young's 'Keep on Rocking the Free World'
has become wildly popular," Woods said. "Even people who have not heard
us before get into that."
Amy Pfeiffer, a senior in the School of Liberal
Arts, said that she has not seen these bands before but is looking forward
to the show.
"I am looking forward to the new experience," Pfeiffer
said. "I have been to Luckey's before and I like the atmosphere there
… you actually get to talk to the bands."
Kiesel said that while he does not seek super-stardom
for Greaser's Palace, he does hope that the local crowds will gain a
better appreciation for his music.
"I like the smaller audiences," Kiesel said. "But
it is hard to get the audiences in this area to respond forcefully to
our music … when they do it is awesome."
Rittenhouse, however, said that the audiences only
play a small role in keeping the bands together and successful.
"The hardest part about being in a band is keeping
it from breaking up," Rittenhouse said. "I have played guitar for 10
years and I know that the toughest part is staying together."
Woods agrees.
"Being a student and in a band at the same time
is stressful," Woods said. "You have practice sessions and recording
sessions to go to … I spent 19 hours in the studio last week and
I only recorded four songs on a trackless CD that we hope to sell."
All bands will have their albums available to buy
tonight during their performances at Luckey's. The show is open for
all ages, costs $3 and costumes are optional.
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