Blessid Union of Souls, popular for its music in the '90s, will bring its soulful tunes back to State College with a free concert tonight in HUB Heritage Hall.

"We've played at Penn State before in '95 or '96, and it was a legendary show in our memories," Eliot Sloan, lead singer of the band, said. "The crowd was great. We do a lot of college towns."

The pop-rock band gained acclaim with chart-topping hits like "I Believe", "Let Me Be the One", and "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)".

The popular 1995 ballad "I Believe" was the song that put the band on the musical map of the '90s.

"[The song] just struck a chord with a lot of people and got a lot of airplay," Sloan said.

"It was really humbling just to hear a lot of our songs on the radio, and it just picked up from there. We've been touring, writing and recording ever since."

The group will perform an "energetic show" with both old and new material, Sloan said.

"Our music has always been really positive and uplifting. We just try to take what we did in the studio and kind of turn it up a couple of notches while we're playing live. I think it goes over well."

The event is sponsored by the Student Programming Association (SPA). The organization discussed bringing in a band that was prevalent in the '90s, SPA marketing director Jason Jahn said.

"We were going through old NOW CDs, and we decided on [Blessid Union of Souls] because we felt that they had a really good group of songs that everyone remembers from the '90s," Jahn (freshman-business administration) said. "They weren't just a one-hit wonder. We really liked how they sounded."

Garrett Bogden, member of SPA and drummer for the band Cloverleaf, was in charge of booking Blessid Union of Souls for the event. Cloverleaf will open tonight's concert.

"I think my band and their band are a good fit together," Bogden said. "We both use the piano a lot, and we're both pop rock bands."

Sima Patel (senior-psychology, neuroscience and biology) has been a Blessid Union of Souls fan since she was in high school.

"I've been listening to them for a long time. They're really low key; if you like them you like them for who they are and not for how popular they are," Patel said.

Patel said this is the first time she will be in a place where the band is touring.

"The band was based on the reaction of the fans," Sloan said.

"They've been the blood of the band. There wouldn't be a band without our fans."