Late one January night, as Rob Arrol ’90 watched a video of Billy Idol singing “White Wedding,” he thought, “Why didn’t The Rift ever cover this song?” Arrol had performed with The Rift, an all-Millikin rock band, during his senior year. He hadn’t thought of the band in years, but seeing the video triggered a crazy idea. Why not celebrate the 20th reunion of the class of 1990 by getting the band back together for one more show? In the wee hours of that morning, he began planning the return of The Rift.

Though they are scattered across the country, tracking down former band mates was not hard. Over the years, Arrol, guitar, had kept in touch with Brad Boston ’90, bass; John Castino ’93, vocals; and Sean Caldwell ’89, manager. With a bit of online investigative work, they quickly located Jeff Kiermas ’90, drums; and Kelli Shrewsbury Lewis ’93, vocals.

Once reconnected, everyone enthusiastically committed to reuniting, Arrol says. Their first idea was to play at Lock Stock & Barrel (LSB) during MU’s 2010 Homecoming weekend, the site of past musical glories. Caldwell contacted LSB about the idea and the band was immediately booked for Saturday, Oct. 2. “There are other places in Decatur we could have approached, but it would not have been the same,” Arrol  says.

As the band members exchanged Facebook messages, the event slowly grew from just banging out a few songs to playing a full evening of 1980s college-radio rock, including R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs and U2 – the music that had originally inspired the group’s members.

“I think what set us apart from other local bands was we were playing the songs they were hearing on WJMU,” Arrol remembers. 

“The Rift was the first band I had the honor of performing with that played what I considered ‘cool music,’ ” says Castino. 

In spring 1989, Boston had joined Arrol and Kiermas to form the nucleus of what would become The Rift. They spent the summer considering what kind of band it would be and working up a song list. 

Upon returning to Millikin in the fall, the three musicians and their manager, Caldwell, put out a campus-wide call for a lead singer. They auditioned several female vocalists, but only Shrewsbury captured the alternative rock sound they sought. The final audition, and only male applicant, was Castino. After singing one of the required audition songs, Castino asked the band if they knew the U2 song “Bad.” Caldwell recalls, “I remember the response being something like, ‘Sure... if you can sing it!’ and boy did he ever!” It was then they decided the band would have two lead vocalists, Shrewsbury and Castino.

The Rift debuted Oct. 14, 1989, at a party in a house on Wood Street where Kiermas’ lab partners lived – thus lovingly referred to as “The Nerd House.” “It was a great time playing at parties in those old, rented-out houses,” Kiermas says. 

The band soon became a staple at house parties on campus as well as at live entertainment establishments around Decatur. 

The Rift’s first gig at LSB on Feb. 17, 1990, would be the most memorable of the band’s brief career. In spite of the bitter cold, the place was standing room only and people were lined up for a 45-minute wait at both entrances. “It was electric,” remembers Arrol, “…a feeling I’ll never forget.”

As the school year wound down, so did The Rift, playing one last show March 2 in Lower RTUC and winning the night’s Battle of the Bands competition.

After graduation, several members managed to keep music in their busy lives. Arrol played in bands through the 1990s. Shrewsbury performed in the New York City cabaret scene as well as with an a cappella jazz group. Castino established a career in radio. 

It has been 20 years since the members of The Rift last made music together. In anticipation, they have been practicing the old songs on their own, and the group rehearsals planned for this summer will be a sort of homecoming. 

“My fondest memories are really of the great friendships made during my years on campus … and though life has carried us to different places over the past 20 years, an obvious strong bond and kinship still exists – the same bond that sparked the initiative to get back together for one last performance on Oct. 2,” Caldwell says.

Check it out in person and join The Rift at Lock Stock & Barrel on Saturday, Oct. 2, as they rock Homecoming 2010. 

But come early, there may be a line.