Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Famous rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony. Dallas band The Big Red Rooster. LT Productions. What do these groups have in common?

All of these groups worked together Friday, April 14 creating an action packed night at M5, a new Dallas night club. LT productions, a networking agency, planned the concert and party which Pi Kappa Alpha sponsored to raise money for the Ryan Gibson Foundation for Leukemia.

This unusual philanthropic event included a concert with performances from The Big Red Rooster, Mr. Pookie and Mr. Lucci and Bone Thugs N’ Harmony.

The Big Red Rooster was the first act; a local band that projected a unique sound including rap and alternative influences. The group includes SMU students: guitarist Ted Lauk, vocalist Andrew Meals and bass player Phillip Griffin. Their high-energy performance was well received by the SMU crowd.

SMU sophomore Danielle Lipes went to M5 not sure what to expect. “The concert was so much fun. I really liked The Big Red Rooster. Their music was original, upbeat and easy to rock out to.”

Following the Big Red Rooster was Mr. Pookie and Mr. Lucci. An entourage of at least five others joined the duo on stage. Their hardcore rap kept the crowd energized.

The last performance was Grammy Award winning rap group Bone Thugs N’ Harmony. Bone Thugs N’ Harmony started their performance after midnight, playing a mix of some of its most famous songs, namely mid-90’s hits “Crossroad” and “1st Of Tha Month.”

SMU sophomore Elzie Odom said his favorite performance was Bone Thugs N’ Harmony.

“I really liked how they mixed everything together. They played old stuff and new stuff and kept the crowd involved.”

The event at M5 was dually a concert and theme party, “Phillies and 40s.” President of Pi Kappa Alpha Alex Roberto said the fraternity had the “Phillies and 40s” party last year too, but this year they decided to make it a philanthropy event, where any profits made would go to the Ryan Gibson Leukemia Foundation.

LT Productions worked with Pi Kappa Alpha to promote a party. They advertised the event on Facebook.com, as well as circulated flyers around SMU’s campus.

LT Productions, a networking agency that plans events including concerts and parties in Dallas, is a company run by Lance Thraikill, a senior accounting major at SMU.

Thraikill said he was excited about organizing the concert and working with Pi Kappa Alpha as a sponsor of the event.

“A lot of my best friends are Pikes,” Thraikill said. “I love bringing my friends together and seeing them have a good time.”

Buses paid for by Pi Kappa Alpha ran from 9 p.m. until 2a.m. and took SMU students from Moody Coliseum to M5 on McKinney Street. M5, which opened in March, is a double level nightclub with multiple bars and the capacity to hold up to 2,000 people. Thraikill explained that though busses took SMU students to M5 for the event, anyone could have attend.

“There was definitely a mix of people there,” Thraikill said. “One of my goals is to break down the fraternity and sorority barriers. There is so much to do in Dallas . . . and through our parties we want to encourage a lot of different groups of people to party together.”

Both Roberto and Thraikill viewed the concert-party as a success. “Everyone I talked to said they had a great time,” Roberto said.