Tired of the same old weekend nights? Like to support campus bands? Well, this Friday night at Reckers, Bebop and Rocksteady will premiere their talents.
Made up of men from Dillon Hall, they play covers, many of which are reminiscent of the middle school years.
Sophomore Matt Fantazier and freshman Andrew Zwers met in Glee Club. In middle September, they began to talk about starting a band. Since Fantazier plays the guitar and sings, while Zwers plays the bass guitars and sings, they had to search out a drummer.
"We heard about a guy that lived near the mailboxes who played the drums, so we went to find him," Fantazier said. "Justin was checking his mail and overheard us. He told us that he played the drums, so he had them mailed here. And then here we are."
It was then that freshman Justin Oppel became the drummer and the third member of Bebop and Rocksteady.
Since the guys typically practice in the basement of Dillon, people can hear them from outside the building when they walk by. Many times, people will just go down to the basement to check out what is going on.
"We get a lot of people we've never met before come listen," Fantazier said. "Random people come down because we play different songs that remind them of when they were younger."
Their set list is quite different and eclectic. It is definitely worth checking out. They play such songs as "Traveling Man," "Basketcase," "American Woman" and "Flagpole Sitta," among other songs by Green Day, Bush and other favorites.
One of the most redeeming qualities of Bebop is their originality in their renditions of many of the songs. They keep some in as original form as they can, while others sound completely different - and in some ways, better than how the songs were originally written. They personalize some of the lyrics to relate to being at school at Notre Dame and add humor.
While they cover songs, they also have some originals in the making. They won't premiere Friday night, but they will come out soon.
The band formed a description of themselves, which can be found on fliers across campus: "Alternative new wave garage country [music] at it's finest!" This fairly accurately describes the sound that comes from these three guys.
Fantazier and Zwers both sing and strum their guitars very well, while Oppel rocks out on his drum set, complete with a cow bell for added gusto.
Opening up for Bebop and Rocksteady is Tom Shrek, who also is a member of the Glee Club. He will join Bebop for a couple songs during their set as an added vocalist.
"It will be fun to play for our friends," Fantazier said. " We're excited. We're going to bebop and rocksteady all night long ... Reckers style."
You can listen to the sounds of Bebop and Rocksteady Friday night at Reckers beginning at 10:15 p.m.
