Bemidji State News Reporting S'11

THIS IS IT books shows around local area

The Suit plays Bemidji Elks Club

By Taylor Klinke
Word Count 759

Bemidji is a town with a lot of high school and college students – many looking for something cheap or free to do in their free time. Brandon Scherf, who lives in Grand Rapids, decided to start a booking company with friends Sara Oak and Alex Orozco. They call their booking company “This Is It”. They gather bands from around Minnesota and North Dakota for shows around the Grand Rapids/Bemidji area.

“First we make a list of bands and what they charge to play a show. Then we figure out which bands people in this area want to see most,” said Brandon Scherf, “After that I email the bands and give them a guarantee for the pay, and they guarantee to show up.”

However, it doesn’t always work out that smoothly – Sara Oak used to book shows but soon realized it was difficult to actually get people to come out to the shows. So Brandon stepped in and started booking and now they both work together inviting people and hanging up fliers around town.

On March 18, This Is It set up a show at the Elks Club in Bemidji – with local acts Lethal Interjections & Boi Pollo, Foundations, Summoned to Rest, If I Ran The Zoo, Tribes, and The Suit.

The show was set to start at 6:00 p.m. and with 206 “attending” on the Facebook event – Brandon and Sara were hopeful there would be a good turnout. People lingered into the Elks Club at different times, but in the end there was a total paid attendance of 122 – which is considered good for a Bemidji show.

The headlining band for this show was The Suit – a band from Fargo that formed in 2005. Paul, Dustin, Joel, Richie, and Greg have been working their way up the ladder and have found recent success. Last spring they entered an online voting contest, sponsored by Ernie Ball, for a chance to win a spot on the 2010 Warped Tour. With votes casted by fans, The Suit ended up being a selected band and got to play at the Warped Tour location in Shakopee on August 1, 2010.

Grateful for the opportunity to play one date on Warped Tour, The Suit went back home to their jobs, families, friends, and continued playing shows wherever they could – until this past fall when they received an unexpected phone call from Ernie Ball – informing them that they had been chosen as one of four finalists to compete in the annual Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands held in Los Angeles.

At the beginning of December the members of The Suit were flown down to Hollywood where they performed at the famous Key Club on Sunset Boulevard. They ended up winning the grand prize – two weeks on the 2011 Warped Tour, $15,000 shopping spree at Guitar Center, three songs produced by multi-platinum producer Matt Squire, a full Ernie Ball endorsement, and an Atticus clothing sponsorship.

“Every decision revolves around the band,” said Suit guitarist Joel Knipple, “I give up all my free time for this band but I have gained a great feeling of accomplishment.”

The Suit took the stage around 9:45 p.m. on Friday; following Grand Forks band Tribes.

Tribes, who have played Bemidji shows several times before, played a solid seven song set followed by chants for an encore. But with time running short, they decided against playing another song because The Suit needed to start setting up all their equipment.

"We had a really fun time," said Tribes guitarist Josh Gessler, "Kids were moving and digging the music and we got to hang out with our friends in The Suit. Bemidji is awesome and has great people."

Paul, Dustin, Joel, Richie, and Greg from The Suit entertained the crowd with their comedy while setting up their instruments and doing sound check.

The Suit followed with the five songs from their latest album The Way That We Fall. When they announced their last song and thanked everyone for coming out – A chant started requesting one more song. Not just any song, but fan favorite Just Dance.

After the show, all the bands spent about thirty minutes talking to friends, signing autographs, and taking pictures.

“My favorite part about playing shows is talking to people that care about what I’m doing with my life,” said Joel Knipple, “I love seeing their faces and the way they react when they appreciate a good show.”

The next show This Is It has set up is on April 1^st – with bands Sons of Levi, Six Feet of Silence, Scarleta, I Apparatus, Summoned to Rest, and A Day of Plague. That will also be held at the Elks Club on fourth street with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and show starting at 6:00 p.m.