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Classic Rockers Burn Unit Say Good Morning To THON 2019

Consisting of multiple members of different State College bands, Burn Unit brought a hard-rocking sound to the BJC to keep up the energy early Sunday morning. This Central PA supergroup played THON last year and took a lot of cues from their previous set at THON 2018.

Lenny Kravitz should always be welcome in any THON cover band’s arsenal, and Burn Unit started things off right with a rocking performance of “Fly Away.”

Next, taking a page out of Brass Cadillac’s playbook, Burn Unit did their own fast-paced and guitar heavy rendition of “99 Luftballons.”

THON was definitely lacking some Journey and Burn Unit was happy to oblige, and it wasn’t even “Don’t Stop Believing!” It’s always a nice sign when a cover band decides to go the way of “Any Way You Want It” instead.

Another danceable hit came next — The Bangles’ ’80s smash “Walk Like An Egyptian.” Things got crazy after this, with a creative mashup of “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Fresh Prince rap to get the crowd into the performance.

Asking the BJC to “sing with us, not just dance with us,” Burn Unit got running with “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This got all of THON singing along as the group channeled the spirit of Freddie Mercury for a crowd-pleasing performance.

After a take on “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)” by Eurythmics, the band members had themselves a quick water social on stage before diving right back in for “Ballroom Blitz.” The hits kept on coming as the band went into “Heartbreaker” and, after promising “guitar that’ll melt your face off,” a real mood booster in “Jump” by Van Halen.

Lead singer Emily Felice’s pipes were tested with back to back performances of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” and “Thunderstruck,” but the rock and roll siren kept her singing fresh and clear.

More covers kept coming from the State College bar scene favorites, with “Rock and Roll All Nite,” which got the quieted crowd back into it.

The band suddenly took things in a more modern direction, going for “Ex’s And Oh’s” before, almost in a puff of smoke, the hard rockers left the THON stage as suddenly as they had appeared.

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About the Author

Matt Paolizzi

Since graduating from Penn State in 2021, Matt is (hopefully) manning a successful job and (hopefully) living a happy life by now. In a past life, he was a writer for Onward State and remains a proud alumnus of the best student publication in the country. Check out Podward State too, Onward State's official podcast, that he co-founded alongside Matt Ogden and Mitch Stewart in 2019. It's his baby, give it a wave and make sure it's doing okay. Thanks to da king Sam Brungo and everyone who follows, it most definitely is.

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