‘The best band in the world’
There was rocking.
And there was rolling.
And, more importantly, there was dancing in 7th Street Underground Friday night.
The second battle of the bands, sponsored by The Verge and the University Board, featured five bands: AJ Schubert, Howard, Learn to Fly, Little Boy Jr. and MugWump Specific.
One of the two winners of the battle was MugWump Specific, a blues band that consists of Joe Garrison, vocals; Joe Maestro, bass; Colin St. Michel, keyboards; Che Federick, drums; and Bob Zordani, harmonica and vocals. The band has been together for about a year and a half.
“I love to rock out with the kids,” said Zordani, an English professor. “It keeps me young.”
Zordani has been playing in bands with students for about 25 years. And he has yet to slow down.
“I think there are a lot of times when they have to keep up with me,” he said.
Through the years, the music scene in Charleston has changed.
“I wish there were more punk shows,” Zordani said, lamenting the past years of playing with bands that ranged from punk rock to jazz. “Everything but classical.”
The second-place finisher of the night was Little Boy Jr. Both bands will open for Wrong Way at Pantherstock on May 1. The winner of the fall’s Battle of the Bands, The Staff Blues Band, will also play.
The vibe in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union did not fit the normal scene of a MugWump Specific show.
“We have a decent sized fan base,” said Maestro, a senior family and consumer sciences major.
Usually, the crowd is much more raucous, even though the band was the only one to draw more than one third of the crowd to their feet, dancing in front of the stage.
Generally the crowd is a “shirtless, drunken party,” Maestro said.
“The parties are fun, going and being around people. It’s rowdy,” he said.
“The shows are rock mixed with blues, but it’s hard enough that you can rock out to it,” said Mitch Davis, a local musician and Eastern student.
Although the show was not an average one, the band still enjoyed its performance.
“It’s a good time,” Maestro said. “People got into it. A lot of good bands. The kids got into it.”
“The battle is over,” Zordani said. “MugWump is the best band in the world.”
Click here for more on the bands.
Sarah Ruholl can be reached at 581-7942 or at seruholl2@eiu.edu.
‘The best band in the world’
Eastern alumnus Alex Nicol sings the opening song for Battle of the Bands with the band Howard on Thursday evening. The five bands that competed were AJ Schubert, Howard, Learn to Fly, Little Boy Jr. and MugWump Specific. Little Boy Jr. and MugWump Specif
