Burlington-based blues-rock band Triptonic performed at West End Station March 6 in an effort to raise money for the Periclean Scholars' service learning program. The band, which recently changed its name from The Pikeys, offered its first seven-track sampler at the concert, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the Scholars. Triptonic has promoted itself throughout the spring semester by performing not only on Elon's campus, but throughout North Carolina. The band most recently opened for Elon-based metal group Wake Leviathan, when Elon alumnus and Triptonic guitarist Ryan Swanzey played acoustic arrangements of Bad Brains and Radiohead songs, as well as original songs.
Members of both Triptonic and Wake Leviathan said they acknowledge how difficult it can be to break the mold of what many students consider mainstream music, especially as they try to make a name for themselves across the state. But Swanzey said he refuses to compromise his musical ideals for the audience's sake.
“I’m not trying to play something that I know is a safe choice,” Swanzey said in a previous interview with The Pendulum. “I want to challenge the audience, and if they’re not on board with it, they’re not on board with it.”