Last night the Schine Underground turned into a traditional game of ‘Simon Says’ amid a rock show. The leader of this game was Tim Rogner, the charming lead singer of Allister. The queues he gave summed up to being as follows: Tim says sing along. Tim says clap your hands. Tim says hold your middle finger high. Tim says circle pit. The players and audience followed along excitingly and accordingly to these commands.

Allister visited Syracuse University last night and performed for a half-filled audience in the Schine Underground. Allister has been on tour for about four weeks, promoting their new album ‘Before the Blackout,’ and at last minute added SU to their schedule.

The band’s show began around 9:30 p.m. and never lost the audience’s attention until it was over.

‘I was really surprised they were coming because they aren’t that well-known,’ said Jennifer Lavita, a freshman advertising major. ‘I hope the album’s style is like their older stuff, because I know they have matured.’

The show was filled with humor from members of the band. During one song, Rogner stopped before the chorus of the song to see if the audience was ready for it. Throughout the entire show, members of the band made commands or witty remarks to the audience.

A memorable moment for a few lucky fans was when the band dedicated a song to a group of three girls who wore handmade Allister shirts. And the surprises were yet to be stopped when halfway through the show, Rogner asked the audience what they wanted to hear. Audience members screamed their favorite Allister songs in hope one of theirs would be chosen.

‘I came here to give them moral support, because there’s barely a punk scene in Syracuse,’ said Jay Goldberg, a graduate television, radio and film major. ‘I met the guys in the band when they came onto my radio show when I was an undergrad at BU, and they were really nice guys.’

Out of all commands Rogner asked, the circle pit was the best. Allister began playing their notorious 30-second song ‘None of my Friends are Punks,’ and the room suddenly turned into a swarm of people running and colliding with each other. It was truly magical.

Even though the show happened on a weeknight, it had weekend spirit. Rogner told the students it had been one of the band’s best shows in weeks. Toward the end, the room had a comfortable atmosphere, with dancing bodies and arms rocking to the beats of the songs.

‘It’s really weird playing college shows because they are such a hit or miss,’ Rogner said. ‘It’s because we don’t know if any of the kids have heard us or not. It’s interesting when we play to college fans, because some have known our songs for years and others are, like, 21, and are just getting into us.’

After Allister had finished their set, the crowd began the chant of ‘one more song.’ The band happily obliged and gave the crowd two more songs. After the show, band members met with their fans, taking pictures and signing autographs. All in all, Allister provided a fun filled evening and the fans, both old and new, seemed pleased with the entertainment.

Published on April 19, 2006 at 12:00 pm