Wednesday nights at the Scottish Rite are not usually so loud.

But last Wednesday, the walls pulsated during the Mighty Mighty BossTones concert. Citizen King opened for the ska-rock band at 9 p.m. and played for about an hour. Saint Louis University students mingled on the floor and sat scattered throughout the auditorium.

“I stayed right by the speaker the whole time, and I couldn’t hear out of my left ear for two days,” said junior Kenny Kraft. “It was outstanding.”

By the time the BossTones took the stage at 10:30 p.m., most of the crowd-estimated at 1,200-had arrived. Assistant Director of Student Life Chris Grabau said that he would have liked to have seen higher ticket sales, but that he was generally pleased with the attendance.

Senior Emily Nilges came to hear both Citizen King and the BossTones. “I thought the bands were great,” Nilges said. “I was excited to see so much support for a SLU-sponsored event.”

The concert committee had hoped to sell 2,000 tickets to students, but they had to compete with a Cardinals baseball game, hockey playoffs and students going home early for Easter break.

Grabau said that there were no problems during the show and added,

“As long as there’s an interest to do the concerts, we’ll keep doing them.”

The BossTones played for about an hour and a half, occasionally pulling audience members up on the stage to dance.

Lead singer Dicky Barrett peppered the band’s songs with dialogue, saying how much he enjoyed playing in St. Louis and inviting the audience to see them again at Mississippi Nights.

Barrett also invigorated the crowd when he thrust the microphone among the group of fans closest to the stage, allowing them to sing along.

KSLU General Manager Jason Sengheiser, a member of the concert committee, was pleased with the show.

“Both bands put on a good show,” Sengheiser said.

“This is a good start for the concert series. Hopefully, we’ll have more in the future.”