Special to The Appalachian

“The Calling”, left to right Alex Band, Billy Mohler, Sean Woolstenhulme, Nate Wood, and Aaron Kamin open for the band “Lifehouse” tonight at 7 p.m. in Varsity Gym.

‘Lifehouse’ to bring down the house
tonight at Varsity Gym

Dan Frazier - Contributing Writer

There was long line outside of Tremont Music Hall five weeks ago on a Thursday night in Charlotte. The people in line were patiently waiting to attend a sold-out show of three newly successful rock bands, including Michelle Branch, The Calling and Lifehouse. The line included several groups of Appalachian State University students that made the long drive from Boone for the show.

Inside, the venue was packed long before the first opening act, Michelle Branch, took the stage. As each band took the stage, the audience gave them attention and support by singing along to every song. The same can be expected as two of these bands tonight, Los Angeles’s The Calling and Lifehouse perform for Appalachian at Varsity Gymnasium.

“I always knew what I wanted to do, and I always knew that I would do it,” said Alex Band, lead singer for The Calling, as he was riding on a tour bus to Raleigh last Friday. The Calling’s first single, “Wherever You Will Go”, from their debut album “Camino Palmero,” has received major national radio airplay and the single’s video has been added to rotation on MTV, said Band.

The Calling, who consist of Aaron Kamin and Sean Woolstenhulme on guitar, Billy Mohler on bass, Nate Wood on drums and Band providing the vocals, was booked to open for Lifehouse on their tour along with Michelle Branch by Lifehouse’s agent, according to Lifehouse drummer Rick
Woolstenhulme.

“Sean [Woolstenhulme] was the link of the tour because his brother is in Lifehouse and he was dating Michelle [Branch],” said Band. “But she left the tour to go to Japan for a while, so I think their relationship has kind of ended.”

Headliner Lifehouse has been experiencing continuous success as their third single, “Breathing,” is now taking off on radio, according to Rick Woolstenhulme. Their prior two singles, “Hanging By A Moment” and “Sick Cycle Carousel,” both off their debut album “No Name Face,” received national radio airplay along with their video’s rotation on VH1, MTV and MTV2.

Lifehouse is “the brainchild of singer-songwriter guitarist Jason Wade,” according to a Lifehouse press release. Wade, 21, is also married and a black belt in the martial art of Du Ye Chi Tao, according to a Lifehouse fan web page.

“Jason only uses his martial arts on [Lifehouse bass player] Sergio [Andrade] every night in a wrestle mania fashion,” said Woolstenhulme, from a hotel room in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last Thursday. “I don’t participate with the wrestling between them. I’m the rag doll of the band.”

Wade formed the band, originally called Blyss, in 1996, with Andrade as a church youth group praise band, according to a Lifehouse fan web page. Rick Woolstenhulme later joined the band after they were introduced in a recording studio, according to a Lifehouse press release. For this tour, the band hired Jorg Kohring for an extra guitar and Paul Trudeau on keyboard to perform along on stage.

“We just got done making the video for ‘Breathing’,” said Woolstenhulme. “It was shot on the roof top of an old church in downtown L.A.”

Lifehouse’s future tour plans include performing solid radio shows throughout December and a tour in Europe with Live starting in 2002, according to Woolstenhulme. From there, the band will continue on its own to tour in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, according to Woolstenhulme. “We have three weeks off in March, so hopefully we will be able to record for our next record then,” said Woolstenhulme.

“We are all Christians,” says Woolstenhulme. “But we are not a secular band. I just feel like labeling ourselves that limits our range of audience. But since the [Sept. 11] tragedy, I feel like more people are coming to our concerts and relating to our music.” “People are looking at the lyrics more and seeing what our music is truly about,” said Band, discussing the same topic.

Watching the audience in Tremont as they concentrated on the bands on stage, it is obvious that this tour and these bands are what the youth of America may need now, music created by young people relating to life and the continuation of it.

Lifehouse and The Calling will perform tonight in Varsity Gymnasium. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance for Appalachian students or $15 for guests or at the door. For more information on these bands or the concert visit www.apps.appstate.edu, www.thecallingband.com, or www.lifehousemusic.com.

Paul Sherar - The Appalachian

Bullriding was just one of the attractions this past Saturday in the George M. Holmes Convocation Center.

Bullriding Classic big hit with the local color

Janelle Silverman - Entertainment Beat

The Cowboy Bullriding Classic, a North American Bullriding Association event hosted by the George M. Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, gave spectators a fascinating yet competitive look into rodeos and bullriding this past Friday and Saturday evenings.

Bullriders from all across the country came to Boone to compete in the event organized and announced by Craig Copeland and Donnie Gay, a world champion bullrider from Mesquite, Texas, and rodeo fans know him as the voice in rodeos shown on the cable network TNN.

Professional bullriders take the sport very seriously and set high goals for themselves before the start of the rodeo. Back in the dressing room where the cowboys prepared for the Saturday evening rodeo, laughter and joking filled the atmosphere. A group of young riders anxiously awaited the evening with nervousness and excitement.

Chris Derrick, 23, of Alabama, graduated from Auburn University in May. “It [bullriding] is fun, just like any other sport,” said Derrick. “You just try to ride the bull as best you can.” Derrick, who broke his wrist bullriding a couple weeks ago, performed on Saturday evening.

“If you ride bulls, you will get hurt,” said Joshua Scott, a young rider from New Mexico. He currently has two steel plates in one of his arms.

“The bulls were a little over-matched last night [Friday],” said Lamar Duren, 23, from Sikamore, Ga. Duren also participated in the Saturday evening rodeo.

There were two judges for the rodeo, each giving the rider 25 points for how difficult the bull is to ride and 25 points for how well the rider performs, explained Scott. “A good score is around 80 [points],” he said. Each night, 45 riders ride two bulls and the best average of the two bulls wins, said the riders.

In accordance to association rules, the top 10 of the earlier round ride again after intermission to find a winner. In order for the rider to even receive a score from the judges, they must stay on the bull for at least eight seconds, said announcer Craig Copeland.

Sometimes the bull will not buck, giving the rider an unfair turn. This will result in the judges issuing a re-ride and the rider getting another turn. Sam Galliher. a young bullrider who performed Saturday evening, said nothing is done to the bulls to get them to buck. “Either they want to or they don’t,” he said.

The one thing they do is tie a rope around the bull’s stomach, so it will kick out and back to try and kick the rope away from them while they are in the arena, said Galliher.

Galliher plans on participating in several other upcoming rodeos, based in Wyoming and Nebraska.

Along with the bullriders, the Paragon Specialty Riders from Dollywood provided entertainment for the audience. Jennifer Lefever and Lisa Reid, along with a fourth male rider, awed the audience with their dangerous tricks while on horseback.

They rode around the arena, hanging upside down on the horses, their heads only inches from the ground. They also rode hanging sideways off the horse, standing with one foot on top of the horse’s back and twisting around the horse’s back in a full 360-degree turn.

The audience’s favorite trick of the night was the last, with one of the girls standing on the back of the horse as it rode around the arena, an American flag proudly waving in her hand.

Also sending laughter throughout the arena were the three rodeo clowns who performed skits during the rodeo, lightening the mood. The clowns also have the job of keeping the bull away from riders who fall off and helping the riders get back to the side.

One clown brought out a white barrel, which he ducked down into when a bull came charging after him, after the rider had fallen off.
The bull began head-butting the barrel and rolling it along, providing a comical atmosphere for the crowd. “It [the barrel] just gives the funny man a safe place to be,” said Galliher.

Many of the riders knew each other before this weekend, and they get along very well, said Galliher. Durren said there is no age limit on who can participate in bullriding, as long as they can ride the bull.

The field is not limited to only men, however, and women are allowed to participate if they choose to do so, said Duren.

Appalachian State students who watched the rodeo this weekend were pleased with the evenings. “I really enjoyed it,” said Karen Blackwelder, a junior at Appalachian State. “It was neat that Dollywood was there.”