By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

Pandora's Box is one of Fayette County's newest bands and they are making some noise both figuratively and literally.

The band opened up the Bidfest last Saturday night at the old Fayette County High School cafeteria and despite some adversity (their bassist had just had his wisdom teeth taken out and the drums were a little loud) they rocked the house.

The band is made up of five teenagers from Fayette County. Kevin Kane, the rhythm guitarist, Mike Dingler, the lead vocalist, and Rick Burgess, the lead guitarist, are all seniors that met in English class at Fayette County High School. Their drummer is Eric Taber, a senior at McIntosh High School, and their bassist is Ben Jerrell, a junior from Starr's Mill High School.

It is a welcome change from the attitude that the schools and the students are rivals. They are a laid back bunch that has set realistic goals and just looks to have fun and develop as musicians and as a band.

Pandora's Box formed in February, and in six short months have spread their name around a good bit. Playing mostly original music, band members describe their music as heavy metal. They liken their sound to Fear Factory or older Metallica, covering one of the latter's earlier songs during nearly every set.

At first, venues seemed a bit hard to come by. Sunshine Playland in Fayetteville stopped having band night, school functions are extremely hard to come by, and to play at most places in Atlanta, you need to have a demo tape.

They soon found some salvation, though, in a member of another local band, Chris Cannon of Phlox.

“Cannon is awesome,” said Burgess. “He is always putting shows together and more often than not, we're invited.” Cannon was the mastermind behind the Bidfest show, as well as several shows that have taken place at the Log Cabin in Fayetteville. Pandora's Box has even shelled out the cash to play at the Log Cabin and they consider it well worth the money to rent it out.

Some nights the boys would just rent out the space to practice all night and sleep there, but recently they have paid extra and brought in their loyal crowds.

Another venue that has opened its arms to local bands is Jitterbuggers in Peachtree City. While Pandora's Box is appreciative of the venue, the extremely young crowd seems to keep kids their own age out. “Jitterbuggers is open to 12-year-olds and as most people know, high school age kids don't typically spend time with kids still in middle school,” said one band member. Even Dingler's father echoed the sentiment after a Jitterbugger's show that the band was “a group of men among children.”

The parents of the members of Pandora's Box have been very supportive of the group's efforts. Burgess's parents have helped purchase some of the necessary equipment, Dingler's parents are donating a room in the new house to the band and soundproofing it for the benefit of both parties, and Kane's father is like the band's unofficial roadie, present at every show.

It hasn't all been easy for the band and they still have a long way to go. Like every group of musicians, there are struggles and arguments brought on by exhaustion and normal adolescent egos.

The band has played at least one show every week this summer. This weekend will be the first weekend off for the band, before their biggest gig yet, an opening slot at The Somber Reptile in Atlanta Aug. 28. Their biggest obstacle may come at the end of this year when four of the five members of the band graduate and start to be pulled in different directions.

“We'll just have to see what the situation is like then,” said Burgess. “If things are going well, we all plan to give it some more time and see what happens.”

The band plans to release a CD locally before the end of the year, producing it on Kane's computer. Until then, they look forward to rocking Fayette County with their friends in other local bands as much as possible and being an entertaining and inspiring act.

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