REO Speedwagon was the choice for this year’s Family Weekend concert, but many students have mixed ideas about the true appeal of the selection.

This five-person rock n’ roll band has been touring since the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and was a popular group with the older generations.

Many students said they do not know who they are or do not believe the concert was chosen to appeal to students.

Marissa Guenzi, a senior communication studies major, said she has heard of the band, but would not be able to list any of REO’s songs.

“I don’t think this would be a majority of the students’ first choice,” Guenzi said. “(It’s more for parents) because the genre of music and the era that REO Speedwagon was popular in.”

Guenzi said the concert has helped attract families for the weekend.

“I have family coming down specifically because they want to see REO Speedwagon,” she said.

Kelsey Myers, a senior special education major, agreed.

She said her mother loves the group and wanted to come down for the concert.

“She loves REO Speedwagon, but she has really loved the last three bands they’ve had,” Myers said.

She said she would like to see a more balanced choice in the Family Weekend concert.

“It’s good to have a combination of both,” Myers said. “Some people bring just parents, but others bring siblings, so they should have something everyone will like.”

She said the university could involve the students more in the decision making for the concerts.

“I know what I like, and I know what my parents like,” Myers said.

David Groves, a junior management major, agreed that there needs to be a better balance in the performance.

“I feel like when you hear family, it is supposed to attract the whole family,” Groves said.

Groves said when he first heard about REO Speedwagon’s concert, he went and looked them up.

“I listened to one of their songs, and it seems like it would attract an older crowd,” he said.

Staci Bates, a junior special education major, said she thought the choice worked well for the crowd that will be attending.

“A lot of the parents use to listen to them, and it’s something people of all ages can go to,” Bates said.

Jen Theisinger, a senior special education major, said she thinks REO Speedwagon was chosen because it attracts parents to the concert.

“The parents will pay for the tickets, and students won’t,” Theisinger said.

She said her parents are making her go and she feels that the campus should try to find something that is more of a compromise for student and parents.

Morgan Adkins, a senior communication studies major, said she has noticed a common aspect of the previous concerts.

“Every year, the bands they chose are from my parents era,” Adkins said.

Danisha Roddy, a freshman business major, said she is OK with the selection because it allows students to see what their parent’s music is like.

“It’s a chance to find someone new to listen to instead of having someone we commonly hear,” Roddy said.

Dana Laging, a senior special education major, said having this type of concerts give her parents a trip down memory lane.

“It’s a blast from the past— it reminds them of times when they were young,” Laging said.

Wilford Stevenson, a Charleston resident, said the concert is for both generations.

“A band like that reaches out to multiple generations,” Stevenson said. “They don’t just gear towards one group, and I guess that is why they’ve survived.”

Jonathon Weisbacher, a senior geography major, said he has trouble figuring out if his parents are coming to visit for him or the concert.

“It gives us something to do together and bond over,” Weisbacher said.

Weisbacher said he thinks they choose a group for parents because students grow up listening to their music.

“I think we are more adaptive to listening to our parents music than they are to ours,” he said.

Deborah Starwalt, a housing and dinning administrator in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, said she is surprised so many students do not know who REO Speedwagon is.

She said she started listening to them when she was in middle school and has played them throughout her life.

“I grew up with them and (my children) did too,” Starwalt said. “It’s a shame they don’t know classic rock.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.