The House Rocked!

An enthusiastic crowd gathered in the Castle Theater on October 12^th to join Music is the Medicine to “Rock the House for Habitat.”  The performers matched the energy of the crowd who were treated to three and half hours of music. 

Eli Chastain of the Weakenders 

The tone for the night was established by the evening’s first performers, Modern Mod – an up start band from Madison, Wisconsin.  Led by the relentless and inspired drum work of Emma Witmer, each of the five members of the band commanded the stage with a seasoned presence far beyond their years (note that the oldest members of the group are only 17!). 

Local songwriter and one-man-band, Peter Adriel was the next to take the stage.  Peter’s crisp guitar work, clever lyrical prose and crooning vocals filled the theater.  Debuting many songs from his latest CD release – “Hail” – Peter won over many new fans during his fifty-minute set.

Next up was the Young Loves, a group from southern Illinois.  Fitting for a band formed on the campus of Southern Illinois University, the Young Loves gave the crowd all original music that brought many back to the memories of younger days.  With sounds reminiscent of the Violent Femmes and mid-90s REM, the band inspired many to move from the balcony to the front row by the second song of their set.  Capitalized by anthem-like chorus of “Wake Up Teenager”, the band left a very satisfied audience commenting on this relatively unknown quintet. 

The Weakenders closed out the night giving the crowd a classic rock meets progressive rock sound.  Performing original tunes including most of their forthcoming album – “Super Major”, the band from Nashville treated the evening’s faithful to the most polished performance of the night.  Fronted by Eli Chastain, who is also a music producer, the Weakenders had the type of refined sound you expect from a veteran rock band.  Having only been together for the past eighteen months, followers of the band will certainly be treated  to more quality recordings and performances in the days to come.  The band’s only cover song of the night was a brilliant and haunting version of Def Leopard’s “Hysteria” that featured a duet between       

Eli and keyboardist Katie Trotta.   

A great night of music for a great cause! More information on our website at www.musicisthemedicine.org