The Antibodies with the Pulse will be playing at Rogers Park Friday, September 17. The Antibodies first started playing together in 1996 or 1997. At the time Tom Conder, one of the groups founders, was involved with theater in the area, Spartanburgs Little Theater and USCSs Shoestring Players.

Conder recalls the beginning of the Antibodies and the Pulse: I was friends with Peggy Magarahan with whom Id done a show with in 97. Peggy is a dancer and has contributed to many of the musical shows that the theaters in this area have produced. Thru the years Id often talk to Peggy about choreographing one of the songs but we were all busy and it would just pass.

In 2008 I called her and said, Do you want to really try it? I told her that I was sure we could find a way to perform it. It still took a year to work schedules where she and her dance buddies could choreograph the number.

Peggy and the rest of the Pulse, Jennifer Latto, Lisa De Freitas, Terri Burch and Rodney Bogan, our sole male, (and unfortunately he will not be available to dance at Rogers Park) choreographed 30 songs for the Hub Bub show which we did in November 2009. (Excerpts from that show are available at myspace.com/antibodiestheband.)

They just dont stand there and do a generic go-go routine. Peggy studied the music and the lyrics to find inspiration for many of the movements. I think she and the rest of the girls know the songs better than we do.

According to Conder, Magarahan broke the songs down into heavy, light, duet and freestyle. Mark Branyon, who writes the music for the Antibodies and arranges the song set lists for shows, arranged the sets with input from Magarahan from the dancers point of view in a manner to best space the songs according to their degree of difficulty.

Sounds complicated but after a few beers and 12 years of playing, it was easy, says Conder.

This will be their fourth performance together and their second as a full two set show. The groups have played two shows this year at the Music Camp in Cowpens for the Green Earth Party and the Love valley 40 Year Remembering Show.