Prepare to Have Your Socks Rocked Off
The "Sleeping with Giants" Fall tour, with
headliner The Academy is, will arrive
at Ferris next Wednesday.
By Jen Becker, Ferris State
Torch
This year
five bands will take the stage at Wink
Arena, on Wednesday, Nov. 14, courtesy
of Ferris’ Music Industry Management
Association’s (MIMA) 7th annual Autumn
Alive concert.
The “Sleeping
With Giants” fall tour consists of The
Academy Is, Armor For Sleep, The Rocket
Summer, Sherwood, and the recently added,
Cobra Starship.
The tour got
its name from The Academy Is’ fourth single
off its most recent album “Santi”. You may
recall The Academy Is from some of their hit
songs, “Attention,” “Everything We Had,” or
“Checkmarks.”
The Chicago
native band, includes William Beckett with
vocals, Adam Siska on bass, Michael Chislett
and Mike Carden on guitars, and Andy “The
Butcher” Mrotek on drums.
According to
the “Rolling Stone,” The Academy Is has been
listed as one of its top ten artists to
watch.
Casey
Bridges, a student at Hollins University,
recently attended the “Sleeping With Giants”
tour show at Amos’ Southend in North
Carolina.
“The Academy
Is played like I’ve never seen them play
before,” said Bridges. “They had an
incredible light show and front man,
Beckett, strode around the stage like he
owned the place.”
The second
band is Armor For Sleep. You may recall its
songs featured on the “Snakes on a Plane”
and “Transformers” soundtracks.
The New
Jersey native band includes Ben Jorgensen on
guitar and vocals, PJ DeCicco on guitar,
Anthony DiIonno on bass, and Nash Breen on
drums.
Another act
to take the stage is The Rocket Summer,
known for its power pop. Bryce Avary, a
Texas native, plays and performs all
instruments and vocals. This past summer
Avary toured with the Vans Warped Tour.
“There
was one point where he left the front of the
stage to go play drums to intro a song,”
said Bridges. “It’s cool to see him practice
all his skills while bouncing back and forth
between guitar and keys effortlessly.”
Sherwood, a
Calif. native band, is comprised of Dan Koch
on guitar and vocals, Nate Henry on bass
guitar and vocals, Joe Greenetz on drums,
and Mike Leibovich on keys and percussion.
After
Sherwood’s success with their debut CD
“Sing, But Keep Going,” the band, which
specializes in dance rock, signed to Myspace
Records.
“Sherwood was
really into the show,” exclaimed Bridges,
“They had their mic stands wrapped in fall
leaves and the keyboard decked out with
sunflowers.”
Cobra
Starship will be the first band to hit the
stage, at 6:15 p.m. This band is well-known
for its song “Bring It,” which was included
on the soundtrack for “Snakes on a Plane”.
The band has
also been featured on the soundtrack for the
recent “TMNT” movie. Members for Cobra
Starship include vocalist Gabe Saporta,
Victoria Asher on keytar, Ryland Blackinton
on guitar, Alex Suarez on bass, and Nate
Novarro on drums.
Tickets for
Ferris students are $8 (limit one per
student ID), and general admission is $15.
They are
available at Rankin Student Center, the
Athletic Box Office or off campus at any
Star Tickets Plus outlet and
starticketsplus.com. Doors will open at 6
p.m.
The show is
sponsored by MIMA with funding from Big
Rapids’ radio station Y102 “Today’s Hits”
and the Student Activity Fee as allocated by
the Finance Division of Student Government.
Anyone
needing special accommodations to attend
this event should contact 590-6236 at least
72 hours in advance.
Biographical
information found for each band was courtesy
of myspace.com. If you want any additional
information on each act, or want to hear
their music, visit myspace.com, and enter
the name of the band you’re interested in.
Rock Band Remakes "The Wreck of the Edmund
Fitzgerald" Cost of Desire will perform its
version of Gordon Lightfoot's song on the
anniversary of the ship's sinking.
By Jen Becker, Ferris State
Torch
This Saturday, Nov. 10, will
mark the 32nd anniversary of the S.S. Edmund
Fitzgerald’s sinking. To honor the memory of
the 29 men who lost their lives, the
Michigan born band, Cost of Desire, has
remade Gordon Lightfoot’s tribute song and
will perform it at The Gate.
Cost of Desire is a four
piece band comprised of Bryan Zabel, Austin
Barocio, Andrew LaTorre, and Michael Sandula.
Zabel, a Ferris student, plays lead guitar
and sings back-up.
LaTorre and Sandula, Oakland
University students, play bass and drums,
respectively, while Barocio sings lead and
plays rhythm guitar.
According to Zabel, the band
has been together for about two and a half
years. The idea to recreate Lightfoot’s song
came earlier this summer.
A close friend to the
members, Nick Pfropper, inspired the band’s
to remake the song after he enrolled in the
Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse
City.
The academy is a school
where students train to become cruise boat
captains or deckhands on a bulk carrier like
the one similar to the Edmund Fitzgerald.
“We weren’t really sure of
how we were going to do it,” said Zabel,
“but ideas were flowing.”
Soon word had gotten around
the band’s hometown of Dryden that they were
going to do a remake of the song, so there
was no turning back.
That summer, Zabel also
learned that his girlfriend’s mom’s cousin,
Terry Clements, played guitar in Lightfoot’s
band. This sparked the band’s interest even
more and drove them to meet Lightfoot this
past September.
Zabel and Barocio met the
songwriter backstage after a show in
Meadowbrook. They shook his hand, told him
about their rock version of his song and
made sure he knew they had kept as true to
it as they could.
“He was pleased to hear
about it and seemed pretty interested about
the whole thing,” said Zabel. “We also
mentioned to him that we were getting great
feedback from people who heard the song at
our shows.”
Lightfoot told the guys that
when they had something to send him, he
would like to listen to the song. The band
then planned to record the song during a
live performance and turn it into a DVD.
Jeremy Dulac, broadcasting
major at Ferris, stated, “Their remake of
Gordon Lightfoot’s song is absolutely one of
a kind, they have completely turned it into
their own. The way they have altered the
song brings so much more emotion into it."
That is where this
Saturday’s show will come into play. The
band feels that by playing the song on the
night the ship sank in respect to the 29
sailors who lost their lives, the song will
reach out to a new generation.
They also hope that by
making a DVD of the show, Lightfoot will see
the younger generation getting into the song
and might then consider allowing them to
record their version.
“Every time we play the song
live I just kind of get chills,” exclaimed
Zabel. “Fans of our age love the song and
even the generation that came from the
original song loves it. They tell us it
gives them chills too."
The members credit much of
their musical inspiration to bands such as
the Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains,
Soundgarden, and Rage Against the Machine.
Last February, the band got
the chance to open up for Papa Roach at
Harpo’s in Detroit. If you’re interested in
checking out Cost of Desire, you can visit
their webpage at myspace.com/costofdesire.
Doors for the show will open
around 9 p.m. and cover charge will be $2.
Local Ferris bands, Saraph and Serrated
Dream, will also take the stage that night.
Family Fun with Lazer Vaudeville Theatre
Company
The Lazer Vaudeville Theatre Company offers
a variety of performing arts.
By Thomas Wilson, Opinions
Editors
Lazer
Vaudeville: “A Family Theater Production,”
is coming to Ferris this Friday, Nov. 9 at 7
p.m. at the Williams Auditorium. Lazer
Vaudeville offers a family friendly variety
show that includes the use of lasers, black
lights, illusions, acrobatics, and zany
comedy. The cost is $3 for students and $5
for general admission. Tickets can be
purchased at the Williams Auditorium Box
Office.
Lazer
Vaudeville was formed in 1987 by Carter
Brown. Brown started out studying theater
and art at the University of Vermont. During
that time, their website said, he began
touring as a clown with the Ringling
Brothers, the Barnum and Bailey Circus, and
as a solo juggler for the Carden
International Circus. It was shortly after
all this that he formed his own theater
company.
His company
started out touring colleges and quickly
grew into a much bigger tour. During that
first tour, the company went everywhere from
Montreal, Canada to Santiago, Chili. Since
its inception, the company has performed all
over the world. They were one of the first
American Vaudeville troupes to perform for
the Saudi Arabian public. According to their
website, they were so well received that the
Saudi Royal Family requested a show.
The Lazer
Vaudeville Company specializes in variety
shows, which is what Vaudeville means.
During their shows they perform laser light
shows, juggling acts, acrobatics, dancing,
and much more. The show is emceed by a seven
foot tall fluorescent fire breathing dragon
named Alfonzo.
“He’s got a
bigger chin than Jay Leno, and he’s funnier
too,” the website said.
Alfonzo will
open of the show by laying down some ground
rules and lightening up the crowd. The show
then moves on into some “Geospheres.” These
are a combination of black lights, sewer
pipes, and sound effects that make up a
visual art. After that, the group performs
what is called “the beat.” This includes
South American style Bolas with black
lights.
Cindy Marvell
was the first woman to ever win the
International Juggling Association’s
Championship. Marvell does some “Yo-Yo”
juggling tricks that are said to be almost
poetic.
“The kind of
juggling we do blows away everybody’s
concept of what juggling is about,” Brown
said on the website.
Following
that routine, there is a variety of other
events that include more juggling, lasers,
dance, and acrobatics. The show is brought
into intermission with Alfonzo the Dragon
singing a silly love song. After that,
there’s still more crowd pleasing acts.
For more
information about this event, or if special
accommodations are needed to attend the
event, please contact the Williams
Auditorium at 591-5600.
It's Time to Experience the Love of Your
Life
Alpha Omega's sizzling hit stage play to be
performed at Ferris.
By Kala Willette, Ferris State
Torch
“What can
you offer my daughter?”
“I can
offer her the future that she couldn’t get
from her past.”
These are
lines from “The Love of My Life,” the hit
stage play that is being brought to Ferris
by the Alpha Omega Co-Ed Christian
Fraternity Inc.
This Friday,
Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Rankin Center
Dome Room, this play, written by Richard
Bass, will be performed, for any and
all Ferris students free of charge.
According to Alpha Omega Co-Ed Christian
Fraternity, this Chosen One production “will
be something you won’t want to miss.”
The story
line of this theatrical production is about
a young woman in the process of finding
herself and dealing with the hardships of
life, which is a relative and familiar idea
to many students.
On her road
to growth and self-discovery, a passionate
relationship emerges and grows out of the
crevices of her broken being, which is
looked down upon by her family. One could
say that this is somewhat reminiscent of
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and “will
make you both laugh and cry.”
This dramatic
piece also comes fully equipped with an
electrifying soundtrack of live gospel
music, which will be performed by actual
recording gospel artists. In addition,
students will also have the chance to see
former Ferris bulldogs that will be taking
significant parts in the play.
For more
information on the event or if any special
accommodations are needed in order to
attend, please contact Melissa Holman by
e-mail at bsabundance@yahoo.com, or by phone
at 591-6629.
Planned Soapbox Derby Event Heads Downhill
Contest hosted by the Ferris Formula
organization postponed
By Josh Wyzgoski, Ferris State
Torch
Soapbox
derby racing isn't necessarily just for
kids.
“We would
like to hold this event at a later time
where we may be able to drum up some more
interest. We are confident this event will
be a huge hit once it happens,” said Erik
Olsen, president of Ferris’ Formula team
Scheduled for
Nov. 10 the race was going to be starting
out in lot 47 behind Wink arena at 10 a.m.
For those that have never heard of a soapbox
derby, it’s a race where the vehicles
involved are only powered by gravity
When the
event does happen there will be several
facets to the competition. Creativity will
count for almost as much as winning the
race. Showmanship or the way you act during
the race and when you introduce your car
will also play an important part. So for any
interested, act weird enough to embarrass
your girlfriend and you should do well.
In order to
enter you will need to have a team of at
least three, pass a safety inspection, and
pay $25 to register your vehicle.
But don’t
think that these homemade racers are rolling
deathtraps, there is a safety inspection
before the race.
Drivers are
required to wear full face helmets,
closed-toe shoes, full-body coverage, and
safety glasses. The formula team will
inspect each car to make sure wheels don’t
fall off and that it is solid. For anyone
thinking this is a demolition derby, any
contact will result in immediate
disqualification.
For car ideas
and designs those interested can head to
either redbullsoapboxusa.com or
soapboxracer.com and for the contest’s rules
and regulations, visit the formula site at
ferrisformula.com for the rules and
regulations. As soon as a new date is
decided it will be posted.
Rocking out with Guitar Hero III
The latest installment of Guitar Hero series
takes some steps in the right direction and
some in the wrong direction.
By Paul Jarema, Production
Manager
I’ve been a Guitar Hero
fanatic ever since the first game came out
for Playstation a few years ago. I was the
guy at the store at midnight to pick up
Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero: Encore and I
played them until five in the morning, if
all of my homework was done. I wasn’t at the
store at midnight for this release but did
pick it up two Sundays ago when it was
released.
I don’t mean to start this
review off on the wrong foot, but where do
the makers of the game get off bundling the
game with a wireless guitar? Yes, I know
wireless is the way to go these days, but
this raised the price of the bundle to a
staggering $90 for Playstation 2 and $100
for Xbox 360. Normally, all that is
available at stores the release date is the
bundle, but I was lucky to snag a copy of
just the game for a mere $50.
The first thing you’ll
notice when you start playing is that the
entire game has been given a facelift. Menu
art is more impressive and intricate. The
fret board on the game screen looks a little
cleaner along with the scoreboard and star
power meter. Furthermore, the graphics have
lost that cartoon-like feel.
In the game the characters
and stages look more realistic and new
animations have been added for the other
members in your band. The drummer utilizes
the entire drum set and the lead singer has
more than five or six generic moves. Lead
singer of Poison, Bret Michaels, provides
some motion capture moves for the lead
singer.
There are two new modes of
play in GH3 including co-op career and
battle mode. Co-op career is pretty self
explanatory: you go through career mode with
two players, which yields some songs not
un-lockable in single player mode.
Battle mode is a two player
mode in which you both play a song but
instead of getting star power, you get
power-ups to deploy against your opponent to
make them fail the song before it’s over.
These power ups included locking the fret
board until the player hits the whammy bar
so many times or forcing the other play to
play two notes where there would normally be
one. There are also some battles involved in
single player career mode against Tom
Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, and
Slash, from Guns N’ Roses.
But you can’t have any
review of this series without talking about
the new song list. In my opinion, this is
what makes or breaks an installment of this
game. Overall, I would give this playlist
about a ‘B’. You’ll find a selection of
music that spans a broad time span, with
songs from every decade since the 60’s. Some
more well-known songs include “Hit me With
Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar, “Sunshine of
Your Love” by Cream and “Barracuda” by
Heart. My personal favorites include “Cliffs
of Dover” by Eric Johnson and “Paint It,
Black” by the Rolling Stones.
But what lowers the overall
grade is the fact that there are too many
death metal songs like “Before I Forget” by
Slipknot and “Raining Blood” by Slayer. I
just don’t like the death metal and they
kind of bring down the game. I liked the
last playlist better.
Overall, the third game is
the hardest in the series. I’d like to think
that I’m a pretty good player on the expert
level and I’m stuck on two songs at the end.
And, trust me; it takes a lot for me to
admit that. I yearn to get to the final
song, “Devil Went Down to Georgia.” I think
it’s going to be great.
Here’s the bottom line. If
you have been keeping up with this series,
pick it up now. If you haven’t beaten Guitar
Hero 2, get through that first or you might
get frustrated quickly.
