Clockwise from top left, Heron House members Michael Steinbrück, Jerry Lardieri, Rich Bochkay, William Homeyer and Chris Poppe.
In April and May 1985, R.E.M. did a tour that concentrated on college campuses in the Northeast and the Midwest. The band had a rapidly growing fan base at the time, though it had not yet had a mainstream (i.e., Top 40) hit single. In June of that year, they would release their third full-length album, Fables of the Reconstruction.
In New Jersey, on that tour, they hit Drew University in Madison on April 30, and Princeton University on May 3. And on April 28, they presented a free concert on the lawn of the Busch Campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway.
In honor of the Rutgers appearance, and as part of Rutgers’ annual Rutgers Day extravaganza, the band Heron House will perform material from R.E.M.’s 1981-’87 era, including many of the songs played at Rutgers in 1985, April 26 at 12:30 p.m. at The Cove at The Busch Student Center. (The set was originally scheduled to take place outside but was moved inside because of the threat of bad weather.)
Heron House takes its name from “Disturbance at the Heron House,” a song from R.E.M.’s 1987 Document album. All of its members graduated from Rutgers and/or have worked there. Singer and bandleader Michael Steinbrück, who graduated in 1989 and has worked at Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School since 2001, said in a press release that the show represents “a true labor of love for each of us, and a life-long dream of mine to perform beloved songs from high school and college.”
Steinbrück will be joined on April 26 by guitarists Rich Bochkay and Jerry Lardieri, bassist Chris Poppe, and drummer Bill Homeyer. Another musician, Laurence Hart, originally suggested the idea for the show, but is not available to perform at it.
According to the press release, “All band members are good friends and long-time area musicians who have shared stages together for decades.”
Rutgers describes Rutgers Day — which will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on its College Avenue and Cook/Douglass campuses in New Brunswick as well as the Busch campus — as “the ultimate celebration of everything Rutgers … with live performances, exhibits, plenty of kids’ activities, educational demonstrations, and so much more to see and do … and it’s all free.”
Rutgers estimates that there will be more than 400 programs, educational demonstrations and exhibits, more than 25 live performances, and 30 food vendors, with 200 student organizations represented.
For information, visit newbrunswick.rutgers.edu/rutgers-day.
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