Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite College Bands

It's Little 500 week down at IU.  As I write this, a large part of the student body is on its second or third night of binge drinking this week, with four more nights to go.  In case you aren't familiar with the Little 500, it's a 50-mile, 200-lap bike race that takes place every April at IU.  There are 33 teams, each comprised of four riders, and it's kind of like a relay race, although the riders can switch off as much as they want.  Teams are affiliated with dorms or Greek houses, or independent, and they train many months in advance.  Most riders don't even drink for most of second semester, which is one of the reasons being a rider never appealed to me.  Anyway, it's awesome.  I'm pretty sure it's the largest intramural event in the world, drawing about 20,000 spectators each year.  Hell, an Academy Award-winning film has been made about it (Breaking Away).

And then there is Little 5 week.  It's a shit show.  Greeks and non-Greeks alike pretty much have parties and/or go out every night of the week starting the Monday night before Little 500, although it's actually slightly tamer Friday night, out of respect for the riders -- and to gear up for Saturday, which usually starts at 8 a.m. and includes a solid 6 hours of drinking before the race.  Damn, I miss college.

But I digress.  This afternoon, I got a text from Wee Wee, a fraternity brother of mine, showing a picture of what appears to be a computer screen playing Rich Hardesty's "Never Wanna Fuckin' See You Again," followed by the comment "Little 5 week."  It was sent to several of us, which started a nice little conversation and brought back some pleasant memories (or lack thereof) of my seven years in Bloomington (calm down, I went there for grad school, too). 

I was thinking about what I'd be doing tonight if it was 1997-2000, and it would probably involve a party and a band.  That got me thinking about my favorite college bands from my time at IU, and that prompted me to make this week's Tuesday Top Ten about that topic.  These bands are true "college bands," meaning that they were never signed to anything resembling a major label (if any label), most just played covers, and most played mainly at bars and/or fraternity parties at colleges in or around Indiana, although the members of the band are not necessarily in college.  The rules aren't hard and fast, but this list does not include:  (1) O.A.R., which played at my fraternity my senior year, before they got big; (2) The Why Store, which played at IU several times when I was there, but also appeared on Letterman and toured with Mellencamp; or (3) Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, who played at a party at ZBT on Saturday of Little 5 week my freshman year (a few years before ZBT made national news and got kicked off campus for their offensive pledge scavenger hunt), but they had a major-label contract.

I realize this probably has little relevance for those of you who (1) did not go to IU (or, for some of these bands, other Midwestern schools) in the mid 90s to early 00s or (2) were not in one of these bands.  But it was a fun list to compile and brought back some fantastic memories.  God, I miss college.

Honorable mention (i.e., any other bands I could think of):  Cervical Implosion (to the extent you can consider a band that played one improvised set on one random Tuesday night in a fraternity room to an audience of between zero and six a "college band"), Chloe's Diner, Danger Will Robinson, Epic, The Menus, Ribs and Bone, Shaffer Street.

10.  Angel's Ride

I'm pretty sure they played at my fraternity only once, either my sophomore or junior year, and I don't think I ever saw them again.  However, I will never forget that one performance because, after the first set, the lead singer got so hammered that he couldn't perform the second set.  I just remember him sitting on the side of the stage with his head in his hands, and his band mates apologizing.  I also remember everyone in the audience being totally understanding.  I mean, we've all been there at some point, right?

9.  Elysian Fields

Not to be confused with an indie rock/experimental New York band of the same name, the Elysian Fields that I knew and loved were around my freshman and sophomore year, and they were a great cover band, fronted by an extremely hot blonde.

8.  Mike & Joe/Michelangelo

Mike & Joe (if it was just the two of them) or Michelangelo (if they had a full band behind them) were a staple on the frat party/bar scene at IU and many other Midwestern college campuses in the mid-to-late '90s.  They were kind of the perfect '90s college band, covering Pearl Jam, U2, Dave Matthews Band (although I did and still do hate them), Bo Deans, Freddy Jones Band, and the like.  Unfortunately, their set list was kind of predictable, so they were one of those bands that you were super excited to see as a freshman or sophomore, but less so as a junior or senior.  That said, the ladies liked the band, so there were always plenty of women at their shows, even if you knew that "Better Man" was going to be followed by "In a Daydream."

7.  Some Led Zeppelin cover band

As I mentioned earlier, the Saturday night of Little 5 week my freshman year, ZBT had Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise playing in the main party room at their house, which was a big deal because the band was definitely a big "get" for a fraternity.  My fraternity got in on their party, as was common back then (often, two fraternities and two sororities would split costs for a party).  To demonstrate for you the size and scope of fraternity parties back in the salad days, ZBT had another band in a separate part of their house.  It was a Led Zeppelin cover band, and they were fucking awesome.  My buddies Jamie and Spawn joined me at the front of the stage, where we rocked out for several hours.  After the show, I was talking to the bassist, who told me to follow my dreams, which inspired me to buy a bass about a year later.  And to top it off, after that, my fraternity was having a late-night party from 2-6 a.m., where I made out with a girl who sat next to me in my History of Rock and Roll class.  Then she puked, and couldn't understand why I didn't want to keep making out with her.  Class that next Tuesday was especially awkward because I had given her my notebook to copy my notes the class before, so I had to get the notebook back and, therefore, could not avoid her at all costs, as I was wont to do as a 19-year-old.

6.  Dave and Rae

This male-and-female duo was a regular part of my graduate years in B-town.  They were (and presumably still are) a formidable cover band, and I can't hear "Jack and Diane" without hearing Dave saying "trill" instead of "thrill."  From their website, it appears that they still play regularly in Indy and throughout Indiana.

5.  Pfreakshow

If you were looking for a multimedia experience to go with your cover band, then Pfreakshow was for you.  Almost harkening back to the days of psychedelia, they would put on weird movies or videos in the background while they kicked ass on stage, occasionally wearing football helmets.  Their set lists tended to be a little harder rocking than other cover bands, and I particularly enjoyed their cover of Rob Zombie's "Dragula."

4.  Rich Hardesty

Rich Hardesty was a singer-songwriter who wrote often tongue-in-cheek songs, often about drinking or weed.  He played at my fraternity's big annual party called Swampwater, an outdoor bash that was before the Women's Little 500 every year.  The aforementioned "Never Wanna Fucking See You Again" is probably his most famous song, and it's fantastic.  Not only did it rightfully make my list of Top Ten "Fuck You" Songs, I don't think there's any song that makes me think of college (or green drinks or 20 tons of sand poured onto a fraternity party patio) more than that one. Here it is. Enjoy.

3.  Hairbangers Ball

This Chicago-based hair band cover band came to Bloomington my second year of grad school.  Their first show was a Monday or Tuesday night, and the fact that it was advertised as a hair band cover band was enough to get me there.  The crowd was sparse, but by about the third song, everyone was at the stage, devil horns in air, rocking out.  Word of mouth (mind you, this is before Facebook, Twitter, or even text messaging) was so powerful that, after that, every time they came to Bloomington, they played to a packed house.  That classic line-up of Vic Voxx, Polly Pantz, Jefferson Jackson, Zeke Zildjian, and Chris Crotch was as good a cover band as I've ever heard, across all genres.

2.  The Dynamics

The Dynamics were unique among college bands because, while they played at bars and occasional frat parties in Bloomington, they were mostly in their 40s and 50s.  Not that anyone cared.  They were (and still are) a soul/funk/R&B cover band, complete with a horn section, so you know I loved them.  One of my favorite collegiate memories must have been sometime in grad school.  A few of us were at Kilroy's Sports, waiting to see The Dynamics and sitting at a table near the stage.  We ordered a round of Jager shots.  As people often do, we all clinked our shot glasses together to cheers before we took the shot, then took our shots in unison, and all put the shot glasses on the table in unison.  Literally at the exact instant the glasses touched the table, the horn section of The Dynamics burst into their first song.  Hollywood couldn't have written a better shot.

1.  King Konga

When I think of the perfect college party, it would be Saturday night of Little 5 week in my fraternity's basement with King Konga playing a show.  Hailing from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, some of my fraternity brothers discovered these guys in Panama City while on spring break one year, and asked them to come to Bloomington to play at our house.  They agreed, and soon they were a regular at Bloomington bars and fraternities.  I'm not sure how to describe their sound -- perhaps pop rock, with some Latin influences, blue-eyed soul vocals, and phenomenal percussion.  But I tell you this:  their live show was second to none.  If you saw King Konga, you immediately became a fan.  Unfortunately, they parted ways in the early 2000s, after it looked like they were on their way to busting out of the college circuit.  Here's a compilation video with some clips of performances (the audio is good on some and not so good on others), I think posted by their old manager:

I'm sure I'm forgetting some bands, as college was often a blur (especially 14-18 years later), so let me know of any other college bands you can think of from IU from the late '90s.