It's a Wednesday night at Theta Delta Chi fraternity, 305 E. Prospect Ave., and Mo Green Special rips through Gin Blossoms' "Hey Jealousy." Sound bounces back and forth between the wooden walls and concrete floors with an intense reverberation. All of the members shout along to the catchy hit.

The dartboard on the far corner wall shakes with each thump from drummer Chris Dunne (junior-landscape contracting) and lead singer Mike Willis (sophomore-crime, law and justice) shakes his rock-star hair from his eyes as the band finishes the tune.

The only problem, there is no applause.

The Mo Green Special is rehearsing for its first official bar gig, which is only 2 weeks away. The band is playing at 10 p.m. April 8 at The Darkhorse Tavern, 128 E. College Ave.

Guitarist Pat Dunne (junior-journalism) is used to playing dingy frat-house basements, it's something he and the rest of The Mo Green Special know all too well. At the band's first gig, a water pipe broke, causing slight problems.

"It kind of cut our set list short," Pat said. "A puddle was creeping towards [Guitarist John Wendel], we stopped before it got to anyone else. I guess you could say we're kind of cursed."

Ever since Pat stopped playing bass with local act Furious Styles and joined The Mo Green Special with his twin brother Chris, Wendel (sophomore-Information Science Technology), Willis and bassist Brian Miller (junior-information science technology), things have been looking up.

"The guitar player [in Furious Styles] wanted to kick me out for awhile," Pat said. "But I was the only one with a van."

The Mo Green Special formed initially as Bar Code, without Willis or Pat. That line-up played Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., The Brewery, 233 E. Beaver Ave., and Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave. However, no one could seem to get the band's name right. For the gig at Crowbar, the flyer listed the band as Bad Core, which became a running joke in the band.

"Yeah, we were ripping heads off chickens that night," Miller joked.

The band decided to change its name when Pat and Willis joined the band -- the first name the band had was Liquor Box. Getting together every Sunday to watch the HBO series The Sopranos was a ritual for the members, so they decided to change its name as homage to the mob drama. Mo Green is the man who supposedly built Las Vegas, and the hit show mentions him at times throughout episodes.

The Mo Green Special loves playing a great party, and its repertoire proves this. From beer-soaked sing-a-longs (Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Under the Bridge"), to '80s hair metal (Bon Jovi), to pop-punk ("My Friends Over You"), the band plays fun rock 'n' roll.

"We love rocking it old-school," Miller said. "We play rock, '80s music and all the songs you listened to in high school."

The band's set also includes those songs that people remember but they don't, such as a dead-on cover of Superdrag's "Sucked Out," a pop-punk version of Eddie Money's "Take Me Tonight," and the elusive "Banditos," by the Refreshments.

"They're the songs when you first hooked up with a girl," Chris said. "We're the ones who will refresh your mind."

The band's energetic live show sends people into a frenzy. When the band played Pearl Jam's "Even Flow" at the girl's Lacrosse House, it literally sent people through the windows.

"People were diving Superman-style out the first floor window," Miller said. "Somebody even did it without anybody catching them."

Of course, this was a good thing; the fans were not trying to get away from the band.

"I don't know if it was legal or not ... but it sure was fun," Chris said.

And this is exactly what the band's goal is: to have fun, play live shows and keep the party going.

"We just like playing parties," Chris said. "The money comes when you do what you love."