For Gates Tomorrow guitarist Michael Broda, the chance to play at the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon with his band was an especially important opportunity.
“It’s my way of giving back to the dancers. They do so much for kids like me. This is my way of thanking them,” he said.
Broda, a Four Diamonds child himself, is currently enrolled in Letters, Arts and Sciences at the Penn State World Campus.
Gates Tomorrow took the stage for the second year in a row as part of THON on Saturday. With a set of cover songs, including “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, Goo Goo Dolls smash hit “Slide” and “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes, the Hershey-based rock group started the crowd off singing and dancing early in the morning.
Gates Tomorrow guitarist Chris Weidensaul, a student at Lebanon Valley College, said the band prepared a set that would keep audiences entertained.
“We try to do as much as we can, and we tried to pick songs that everyone would enjoy,” he said.
He said that Gates Tomorrow has been together since 2011, when band members all graduated together from the same high school in Hershey.
Rebecca Kolstrom, who attends Penn State, said she was glad to be joining the group on the keyboard for the THON performance. While Kolstrom is not a full-time band member, she said she went to high school with them and played with Gates Tomorrow before.
Drummer Cameron Steiger, who attends Penn State Harrisburg, began the show with a boisterous “We Are” chant from behind his drum set in order to pump up the crowd.
Steiger couldn’t help but echo Broda’s sentiments about the opportunity for Gates Tomorrow to play THON.
“It’s a great honor for us,” Steiger (sophomore-electrical engineering) said.
