WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2003
STUDENT LIFE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9B
Students' time commitment to bands rivals academics
By Chris Brown
By Chris Brown
correspondence@kansan.com
Kansan correspondent
Balancing the rigors of academic deadlines with the discipline it takes to be in a band is no small feat.
The members of Electric Lettuce, Big Metal Rooster and Two Ta Tango all try to balance their time and focus where needed to make the music sound good.
It's not easy when you're a full-time student and being in a band is a substantial time commitment.
Some students are able to make the time commitment that comes with playing in a band work better with their schedule, while others find it a bit more challenging.
Ben Archer, Topeka junior, plays drums for Big Metal Rooster, a jam-band he assembled two years ago with other KU students.
Archer balances an economics major with band practices and semi-monthly gigs around Lawrence and Topeka.
"Sometimes we go out-of-town on the weekdays and there are school deadlines to work around," he said.
On the other hand, Connor Moore, Tulsa, Okla., sophomore who plays rhythm guitar in Electric Lettuce, a funk/soul/afro-beat band Moore formed five months ago with other students and an older Lawrence jazz drummer, said he doesn't find that playing in a band substantially affects his schedule.
ELECTRIC LETTUCE
Upcoming shows: 8 p.m., March 27 at The Bottleneck opening for Young Blood Brass Band
BIG METAL ROOSTER
Web site:
www.bigmetalrooster.com — has the band's music from a recent gig at the Jazzhaus available for download
"The singer and lead guitarist and I play Ultimate Frisbee together and it has affected our extracurricular time but overall not much."
The guys in Electric Lettuce play an average of six shows a month and have a regular gig at Bambino's Italian Café, 1801
Massachusetts St., every Friday night.
Luis Narñio, McPherson junior, who plays guitar in the Latin-funk-jazz band Two Ta Tango admits that the time-commitment with playing in a band is hard, and being a student at the same time makes schedules more challenging, but it has its perks.
"We confine our practices to once a week because we're all really busy," he said. "It fits right in because we're all music majors and we get a lot of good opportunities through school."
Capitalizing on opportunities gained through school, Narnio and Two Ta Tango play two to three gigs a weekend at places like The Paradise Café, 728 Massachusetts St., The Jazzhaus, 926-1/2 Massachusettse
St., and Henry T's Bar and Grill. 3250 W. Sixth St., where they make sure to play at least once a month.
As for the future of Big Metal Rooster, Electric Lettuce and Two Ta Tango, Archer, Moore and Narhio are all open to any possibilities playing in their bands might create for them.
Narnio said that focusing his time and efforts more seriously on his band is a definite consideration after graduation from the University.
"We're all pretty much classically trained and if that's a part of our future,we'd be open to it," he said.
The members of Electric Lettuce and Big Metal Rooster also see their bands blooming into more professional in the future.
"We're really trying to push it
a lot," said Moore. "We know we have potential and we just want to travel; ideally, we'd really like to hit the road and play places around the region in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma in addition to Kansas."
Archer and Big Metal Rooster have ambitious goals for the band in the near future, but in the meantime, Archer concurs that the band is just taking it one step at a time and having a good time playing for appreciative, bouncy crowds every time they play.
"We're looking at going on a small tour over the summer," he said. "Right now, though, we're just having fun playing around Lawrence because it's a good scene."
Edited by Jason Elliott
The KU Dance Team performs during a game at Allen Fieldhouse. Seniors on the team danced at their last home game on March 1.
Kansan file photo
Dance team keeps spirit alive
Seniors perform at last home game
By Bob Johnson
correspondent@kansan.com
Kansan correspondent
It was just before 10 a.m. on a blustery Saturday morning when Allison Mezger sat foot in the entryway of Allen Fieldhouse. This is it, she thought, the culmination of all the hard work and all the long hours.
Mezger, Overland Park senior is a second-year member of the KU Dance Team. On March 1, she and other members stepped on to the court at Allen Fieldhouse for the last time this season, capping off the 2003 home basketball season. It was a special day; an emotional day full of exciting basketball and tear-jerking farewells, and Mezger
As Mezger put it: "We create an image of school spirit. That's our job."
KU basketball fans have come to expect that certain things will never change including the dance team leading the Rock Chalk Chant.
"You can't find tradition like this anywhere else in the country." said Deanna Doyle, four-year member and current captain of the KU Dance Team. "When everybody yells 'woohoo!' during the alma mater it
That day, like every other home game day, the KU Dance Team arrived at Allen Fieldhouse two hours early and made their rounds through the crowd in uniform, passing out crimson and blue flowers and acting out their role as liaisons for the school and the team.
sends chills all through my body. Gets me every single time."
ATTENTION KU STUDENTS
"I had been thinking about it all game, you know, looking back on the last four years. At that point it all finally hit me — this was it," said Doyle.
For Doyle, Prairie Village senior, and her fellow senior KU DanceTeammembers, Senior Day was bittersweet. Doyle said that the fact that it was their last game at Allen Fieldhouse didn't sink in until one minute was left to play and the Rock Chalk chant started.
saw it all from the best seat in the house.
That Rock Chalk chant took on another meaning for Doyle and her companions on March 1. It served as a farewell, a final and figurative wave goodbye to the senior women of the KU Dance Team who have carved their own niche in University history and tradition.
Make sure you get home safely Call 864-SAFE!
Edited by Leah Shaffer
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