Corporeal returns for benefit after YouTube success

Members of the band Corporeal wanted to do something memorable to end their four years at Libertyville High School -- and gave a memorable performance at the school talent show in 2006.

Following success after a YouTube video, a performance for Microsoft and a new CD, the band returns to Libertyville Saturday for a benefit concert, performing at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium, 708 W. Park Ave., Libertyville.

Playing what band member Dave VerLee calls "progressive rock," the band features LHS graduates VerLee on electric guitar, Rob Leu on bass guitar, Hanah Stuart on electric violin, Dave Bedell on drums and Marty Gierczyk on keyboard and saxophone.

Their performance will raise money for the school's Fine Arts Foundation.

VerLee said he and other band members return to the high school all the time to visit teachers, so this is not a defining moment for them.

But they are excited to come back to play.

He added, "Right now, we're stressed out to get everything together. We only have a couple days to practice before the show."

Since graduating, all five members attend different colleges -- which makes band practice difficult.

VerLee, a sophomore at the University of Illinois, said band members practice on their own, and that improves their sound when they do get the chance to come together to rehearse.

"It's cool it works out that way," he said.

As part of Corporeal's 2006 performance, VerLee arranged a rocking rendition of the theme song from the Halo video game series.

The clip gained popularity when it was posted on YouTube and Digg.com.

The popularity of their video also attracted Microsoft Corp., which asked the band to open its E3 Media and Business Summit in Santa Monica, Calif.

But VerLee adds the band does not immediately plan to play the popular Halo song Saturday night. Instead, they hope to highlight songs from their first CD, which the band started working on last summer.

"We're trying to pull ourselves away from the Halo theme thing," he said. "We have it in our arsenal if the audience wants us to play it for an encore. But we plan to get our CD out and play original songs."

General admission to Saturday's concert is $10. Tickets will be available at the door.

Corporeal on the Web

To buy the band's CD: www.cdbaby.com/corporeal

Web site: www.corporealmusic.net

MySpace page: www.myspace.com/corporealmusic

YouTube video: http://youtube.com;

search for "Corporeal"

Band's YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/profile? user=corporeal