UMW Bands to Rock 18+ Release Show

By STEPHANIE BREIJO

Tonight, marking UMW band Grave-Robbing Extravaganza’s first CD release, the second event of music and mayhem in the Loft’s monthly 18+ nights will feature live performances from GRE, Tereu Tereu and Junk Science.

Thanks to The Loft’s new 18+ shows, UMW students can attend concerts at the bar just as they did in years of yore, when a burly bouncer would only mark your hand with Xs instead of turn you away for lacking years of wisdom and beer-buying power.

Tonight, all those of legal adult status can attend the spectacular lineup—beginning at 9:30, Tereu Tereu will take the stage with its dancey crowd favorites about lions, bears and farmers. Junk Science will funk it up at 10:30 in tight harmony and lush-sounding instrumentation.

Following the funk, GRE will rock out in a vast sea of Metal glory as they thrash their hair, wiggle their fingers in the air and build epic, melodic crescendos.

“Buzzard Feast,” GRE’s first album, will comprise all of the band’s hour-long set—attendees will hear the album in its entirety played live as the culmination of over two months of recording and over a year of songwriting collaboration.

“I’m really excited,” said GRE drummer Evan Henry. “It’s been a labor of love—kind of a love/hate relationship. I’m just happy it’s finally coming out.”

Their first album will sell alongside GRE t-shirts and memorabilia from all three bands, ensuring sweet, sweet hours of play long after the night is through.

After a successful win at 2006’s UMW Battle of the Bands competition, GRE began playing the ol’ Fredericksburg venue circuit, uniting metal heads and Indie kids alike with a brand of epicness all too surprising for a music crowd that had sadly existed sans a local metal band.

The Loft, which houses many GRE and area band shows, saw a loss of attendance as it instated a 21+ rule in 2007. Last month marked the beginning of a new collaboration, however, allowing the between-18-and-21 crowd in for shows one night a month.

“We’re just sort of testing it out,” said UMW senior Matt Bradshaw, member of both Tereu Tereu and Junk Science.

“I think it has potential to be really valuable to both the Mary Washington music scene and Fredericksburg culture. From the looks of the turnout just last month, I think it’s already starting to.”