Rites of Spring Press and Pics!!

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H-Beam at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring
Avery Spofford, Versus Entertainment

H-Beam's performance at Rites of Spring was not for the faint of heart … or the sober. The psychedelic rockers opened up Alumni Lawn on Saturday to a whole new world where giant panda suits, frog masks and homosexual rock opera reigned supreme.

The band performed a rock opera titled "Jane," which details a Nashville coed's quest for self-understanding. The story journeys through a Nashville bar (which H-Beam hinted at being Vanderbilt favorite Fuel), to Cancun, Mexico, and back again, eventually leading Jane to discover and embrace her sexuality as a lesbian.

Characters featured in the opera included Jane's father (Admiral Doc Hop-a-long, a bass saxophonist crowned with a giant frog mask) and "The Love Panda," a mascot-sized panda dressed up in a Lil Jon costume complete with bling and dreadlocks.

Vanderbilt Music Group member Lauren Richman said she felt that H-Beam's performance was "new for the Vanderbilt crowd but well-received." Festival attendees enjoyed the opera, laughing along with the humor of the Love Panda while sympathizing with Jane's struggle with her sexual identity. If onstage theatrics and an epic throwback to the psychedelia and experimentation of the 1960s are your style, check out H-Beam's MySpace at www.myspace.com/hbeamlive