Page 8
Third Degree wins
Stevie Ray Revisited: Third Degree frontman
Gregg Krupa leads his band through a rousing
blues cover of the late bluesman's "Pride and
Joy."
Keeping the beat: Quattro drummer Brad Quattro sets the pace for his
band's rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic "Rock and Roll."
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Mark Owem/The Collegian
The Collegian
by Greg Ceibel
The Collegian
Pittsburgh's Third Degree captured the $3OO
prize Saturday in the 1990 Battle of the Bands. The
event, sponsored by SPC, JRC, and the Resident
Assistants, kicked off at noon and rocked music
fans until 7:30 p.m.
On a dreary Saturday morning, the Behrend
Apartments were treated to a 10,000 watt bone
crushing Raven Sound Company wakeup call.
Although rain was threatening the day's activities,
everyone remained positive.
Starting off the day's festivities was an Erie
thrash band called Morbid Prophecy. Although the
band has only been playing together for two
months, their musical abilities were highlighted on
songs by Testament and Sacred Reich. Morbid
Prophecy is comprised of drummer Bill Dailey,
bassist Dave Sinn, guitarists Jim Cooper and Mark
Collins, and vocalist John Kress. "We are the only
thrash band in Erie," said Kress.
Following Morbid Prophecy was a Top
40/Hard Rock band called Felony. Made up of
Craig Schertzer and John Schultz on guitar, Tony
Scire on bass, Tom Reeping on vocals, and Mike
Reeping on drums, Felony covered songs by Skid
Row such as "Rattlesnake Shake” and "Sweet Little
Sister" as well as doing their own original
numbers.
Third in the show was Oil City's Quattro.
Instead of heavily playing the bar and club scene
like most bands, Quattro is primarily a studio band,
where they concentrate on writing and recording
their original material.
When a cover tune is needed, Quattro does their
version of the song, as shown on Saturday. With
Jeff Brown on vocals, Jeff Quattro on keyboards,
Brad Quattro on drums, and Jason Quattro on
guitar, the band got a serious groove with their
version of "Play That Funky Music."
Quattro also covered Zeppelin's "Rock-n-Roll"
and performed several original numbers.
Up next was the all instrumental Sweet Logical
(continued on page 9)
Mark Owens/The Collegian
Thursday, October 4,1990
For Third Degree,
has been long a
ii,
Before the Rain: Third Degree members Stev
Gregg Krupa begin the set that won Saturday's
by Robb Frederick
The Collegian
"Before we begin, we’d like to dedicate
this set and this entire day to the late, great
Stevie Ray Vaughan."
So began Third Degree's set in Saturday's
Battle of the Bands. The set, a homage to
Vaughan and the improvisationai blues-rock
style he personified, would send the group
homewith a $3OO prt*fc‘ and some long
awaited recognition.
"Ifs nice not being second best for once,"
explains Cheek Jones, Third Degree's ihythm
Jones formed die band two years ago with
guitarist Gregg Krapa, who remains the
driving force behind Third Degree.
"Gregg is influenced by legends, and we're
influenced by Gregg," Jones said. Krupa's
legends include bluesmen Roy Buchanan,
Freddie Kirn, and B. B. King.
Krupa, who looks far beyond his 21 years,
is the impetus behind Third Degree. His
scarred vocals are frighteningly similar to
those of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and his guitar
techniques include playing behind his head
and back and sliding a baseball bat across his
guitar frets.
Taking their name from a Johnny Winter
album, the group began to define its sound
and build a musical repertoire.
After numerous line-up changes, drummer
Tim Bartels joined the band. The current unit
was completed when bassist Steve Breman
joined in August
For Breman, the introduction to Third
Degree was a difficult one.
"When Steve started with die band, I told
him we had a gig the Friday before we actually
did,” explained Chuck Lowe, the band's
manager.
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