Roustabout! veterans will make their return to State College tonight after several years away.
The Safes from Chicago and Baby Aspirin from Baltimore are playing Roustabout! at 10 tonight at Bar Bleu. The show will follow the normal Roustabout! format, with DJ sets before and after the bands. Cover charge for the over-21 show is $3. However, tonight's show differs slightly from the Roustabout! format established at the beginning of the semester in that it features two bands instead of one.
Promoter Jesse Ruegg said The Safes played Roustabout! several times in the past, but haven't been to State College for a few years.
"They haven't been touring out here a lot recently," Ruegg said. "They're one of my favorite Roustabout!
bands, so I'm excited for this show."
Ruegg said the group's garage rock-influenced music is perfect for the Roustabout! style, adding The Safes would appeal to fans of The Kinks, The Rolling Stones or Oasis.
"They're three brothers," Ruegg said. "They play power pop with loud guitars and huge hooks."
Jenn Partyka, State College resident and City Lights Records employee, said she's been a fan of The Safes since the first time the band played at Roustabout! She will also be DJing tonight at the show.
"I've seen them every time they've come," Partyka said. "I ended up buying three of their albums."
Partyka said Roustabout! introduced her to The Safes, and hearing the band in State College led to her becoming a fan.
"I'm really excited about the show," Partyka said. "Roustabout! gets some great bands, but I feel that The Safes are a step above. I think they deserve to make it."
Baby Aspirin, the opening act, is the new musical project of Yuri Zeitz, former member of Roustabout! veteran band The ShakeDowns.
That group was a Roustabout!
mainstay during the concert series' formative years, and Ruegg said Roustabout! regulars were disap-pointed when the band dissolved.
"They were a great band and a really popular Roustabout! band," Ruegg said. "We've known them for a long time."
Ruegg compared Baby Aspirin's music to The Gun Club, saying the group incorporates elements of raw, hard-edged blues.
"They have a female singer and a male singer," Ruegg said. "They play stripped down, punky garage rock."
Ruegg said the two-band format for tonight's show was a result of both groups' complementary styles. Both bands play raw garage rock, so it was a logical decision to book both at the same time, he said.
