‘Man Band’ Rocks Pfoho, Lip-Syncs

It happened for Backstreet, it happened for *NSync, and it happened for O-Town in front of millions on ABC’s “Making The Band” every Friday.

But for Peace Love Unity Respect (PLUR), Pforzheimer House’s very own “man band, not boy band,” last night was their turn to shine.

Last night, the boys of PLUR officially became men, spreading their positive message to a packed Pfoho Dining Hall at the house’s Thursdayfest, affectionately rechristened “Plursdayfest” for the night.

As O-Town has shown, the road to pop glory is a trying one, wrought with heartbreak, sweat, and toil.

It’s a tough game, but they are ready: For 25 rehearsals, the group has toiled in the Cabot dance studio, according to Albert J. “Kaptain Korea” Lim ’04, and they’ve perfected their turns, jumps and sways in pursuit of bubble gum greatness.

For PLUR, which also includes David B. “Jay-Dee” Adelman ’04 and Ryan G. “Arnold Schwarzenpecker” White ’04, the dream of greatness began while recovering from a Friday night party during their Yard days, when a passing remark was made about starting a boy band.

The next weekend, while watching a movie, the boys were struck with a flash of inspiration that solidified the deal.

“Ryan made us watch Groove,” he says, referring to a film which explores the San Francisco rave scene, “and they say ‘PLUR,’ which stands for peace, love, unity and respect.”

“We thought it would be the perfect name for the boy band we talked about starting the weekend before,” he recalls.

With White taking the helm of the choreography duties, the boys decided to make the dream a reality.

Sue Chang ’04 recalls hearing “lots of thuds” living under Adelman’s Canaday suite.

“When I finally went to go see what they were doing, I was captivated,” says Chang, the self-proclaimed “original PLUR fan.”

The next year, Chang and her blocking group, living in Pfoho along with the PLUR boys, were determined to make the dream a reality.

They begged the boys to enter their live act in Pfoho’s charity Dutch Auction. At the last minute, Adelman gave in and a single PLUR Thursdayfest performance was put up for auction.

Unfortunately for the girls, however, PLUR, which also included Seth N. “Fatboy” Kisch ’04 at the time, was sold for $90 to another blocking group. In the same auction, PLUR bought the naming rights to their Thursdayfest for $65.

Hence, the original Plursdayfest was born.

The boys began a rigorous string of rehearsals, crafting precise choreography that no one expected.

“Last year, the bar was at zero. They didn’t think we would have anything,” Adelman says. “We did.”

Though none of the boys had actual experience in dancing, nothing could stop them from carefully scrutinizing their favorite pop videos, taking each move and it making it their own.

According to Adelman, the crucial ingredient to their package is a mix of sex appeal, crafty dance moves and lip-syncing.

“That’s the novelty,” he said. “Boy bands don’t sing.”

Singing or not, the group left its first Pfoho audience begging for more, until they were purchased again in this year’s auction—by Chang’s blocking group, for $110.

“We bought them for their bodies,” Rebecca C. Stump ’04, who helped finance the purchase, said. “My biggest regret in life is missing last year’s show. To make up for it, I’ve become an obsessive groupie and haven’t looked back since.”

Seeking to live up to the previous years’ glory, PLUR and their buyers launched a large-scale poster campaign involving such enticing slogans as “Blow Jobbins, I’m legal” and t-shirts with the boys’ facebook pictures.

Last night’s performance was opened by two Harvard cheerleaders and an A&E Biography-inspired video—hosted by Pfoho Resident Tutor Rick Bell and featuring a cameo by Annenberg icon Domna Antoniou.

After the video, PLUR launched into nearly-perfect renditions of *NSync’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “Bye Bye Bye,” which, according to Jobbins, is the song that made PLUR “famous.”

After the first half of the set, a video paying homage to and chronicling the humorous search for a replacement for departed member Kisch played, after which PLUR returned to the stage for an rendition of Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You.”

To create a target for their affections, PLUR enlisted the aid of Mike S. Goggin ’04, who danced with the boys in full drag. Part of the choreography involved the boys sailing Goggin around the stage and then dropping him during the lyrics, “I will not let you go ‘till you tell me to.”

The boys closed the set with a artistically ambitious interpretation of DJ Funk’s “Ass and Titties,” for which Kisch joined them for a reunion. During one part of the verse, White leap-frogged over his suggestively hunched bandmates.

After the show, the crowd left with a new inspiration.

“They were so hot,” Theresa M. House ’04 said. “I...I can’t put it into words.”

And the boys, too, seemed pleased.

“In ten years, we’re going to be washed up and cracked out, just like Rick James,” Jobbins said.

White said the fulfillment that comes from entertaining makes the many tribulations along the way well worth it.

“Working with [PLUR], at times, is like teaching paraplegic monkeys in straightjackets to dance,” White says. “But, other times, it can be like teaching a delicate flower to dance...in the wind."