Ruggers rock

The Rugger Band showed out at Poor David’s Pub Wednesday night. The all-SMU band played to a friendly crowd and displayed instrumental skills with ease.

The guys opened for Taylor Williams and enjoyed their first gig away from the Yale Boulevard scene.

The band includes Merritt Choate on drums, Jon “Rugger” Brager on bass, Matt “Beardo” Beard on guitar and Keenan Mayo on both banjo and guitar.

The set consisted of familiar covers blended with some fine-tuned covers. The set was also full of spontaneous jamming.

Cream’s “Cocaine” was arguably the crowd favorite and had many singing along. For the clueless, Clapton licks are exactly elementary and Beard did a great job of playing them.

Rugger Band’s chemistry was visible in its ability to shift quickly from tune to tune. This was well orchestrated with the combination of Beard’s guitar and Mayo’s banjo, which added a unique touch to many of the band’s songs.

Once the band warmed up, Williams was asked on stage for a session. Williams turned up the heat and the whole band responded. The first collaboration was a nice “Rollin’ in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.”

Mayo traded his banjo for a guitar and supported Beard and Williams as they rocked out freestyle.

By the height of the set, everyone was getting into it. The band played a couple more tunes after Williams left the stage: one, a recognizable cover of Moe’s “Mexico” and the other, “The Ride,” an original.

The Rugger Band is impressive – four full-time students, four practices a week, for the enjoyment of all.