Ludo (band): Difference between revisions

Ludo is a power-pop rock band from St. Louis, Missouri that is known for harmony-driven tunes with strong lyrics and an extensive touring schedule that has developed a solid fan base (known as Ninjas).

Ludo (the name was inspired by the giant muppet in the movie Labryinth) has gone through a number of changes as it has developed over the years. It started as a duo of lead vocalist and guitarist Andrew Volpe and guitarist Tim Ferrell, but has expanded to a five-piece group with keyboardist Tim Convy, bassist Marshall Fanciullo and drummer Matt Palermo.

The band started out "armed with a van, two ferrets and a DIY three-song demo"[1] in 2003, and released its debut self-titled album that summer on St. Louis independent label Redbird Records. In the run up to their second recording, Broken Bride (a rock opera EP released in 2005 that tells the story of a man who travels back in time to save his dead wife), Ludo began to make its mark on the music scene outside of St. Louis. The band, still touring constantly, won contests to play at South by Southwest and to have a video produced by Fuse, played at the Winter X Games[2], appeared as part of the Warped Tour and were named "The Next Big Thing" by Fuse.[3]

Ludo is known to its fans for being extremely interactive, with bandmembers contributing to web forum discussions and swiftly answering fan questions.

Several of the songs on Ludo's debut album were originally written and performed by Volpe's previous band, Karate Lunchbox. Recently, the band has signed with Island Records, according to a bulletin posted by the band on their webpage.

This album is in the form of a rock opera with five tracks.

The songs on the EP are not necessarily in the order in which they occur in the story.

Template:Spoiler Broken Bride is the story of a man known as the Traveler, whose wife died in a car crash in the year 1989. Devastated, he spends the next fifteen years of his life building a time machine that will allow him to return to the morning in May when she died, hopefully to save her from her fate. At long last, the machine is complete, and the Traveler successfully goes back in time. Unfortunately, the time machine's circuits fail, and the Traveler is sent hurtling far past 1989 - all the way back to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Attacked by pterodactyls, he seeks refuge in a cave, and despairs that all his effort has been in vain. (Part I: Broken Bride)

Meanwhile, in the far future, the world is in chaos. The dead have risen from their graves to attack the living, and people watch in horror as their city is beset by zombies. A little boy pleads with the city's mayor (the False Prophet) to defend their town. Instead, the mayor panics, and with a salute to the king Simius, puts a gun to his mouth and commits suicide. Soldiers fall before the undead, only to rise as zombies themselves and march on the city in service of an evil creature called the Dragon. Even as the end looks near, the boy goes to the window of city hall and cries out to the people to take up arms and defend themselves against the zombies and the Dragon. (Save Our City)

Back in prehistoric times, the Traveler has been hiding in the cave for some time. Unable to think of anything but his beloved and the times they shared, he resolves to make a run for the time machine that very night. (Part II: Tonight's The Night)

After narrowly escaping a pack of velociraptors, the Traveler reclaims his machine. This time, however, he shoots too far forward and finds himself at Armageddon. King Simius (possibly the Antichrist) survives his throat being slit, and now leads the Dragon's forces from Babylon. Eventually, the Dragon himself comes to destroy the world. Faced with the decision of saving the world or saving his wife, the Traveler chooses the former. He uses the time machine to open a portal, through which comes a swarm of pterodactyls ("I've got dragons of my own.") He destroys the Dragon, but in the process, the machine is destroyed. Having stranded himself in the future, the Traveler is approached by angels, who wonder why he is still heartbroken despite having saved the souls of the world. In return for his selfless act, they bring him back to that morning in May when his wife was still alive. (Part III: The Lamb And The Dragon)

The Traveler enters his home in the year of 1989 (again), and finds his wife alive in their bed. Moved beyond words, he can scarcely believe it. His happiness is short-lived, however, when he realizes she is just about to leave on the very car trip that will kill her. Catching her just in time, he makes a fateful decision . . . (Part IV: Morning In May)

Template:Endspoiler

In November of 2006, Broken Bride will be produced for the first time ever as a fully staged theater piece by University Theater at the University of Chicago[4]. It will be directed by University of Chicago student Paul Bruton, with music direction and arrangement by Tristan Cosino, and starring Delta Upsilon brothers and second-year College students Lee August Praley and William Heinz Altorfer.

The "Ludo Ninjas," a unit over 300 strong, span all across the country. These fans contribute with grassroots promotion, online activity, radio campaigns and other activities.

Ludo (2003)

1. Saturday Night Thunderbolt
2. Roxy
3. Hum Along
4. Ode to Kevin Arnold
5. Sara's Song
6. Summertime
7. Hello, My Name Is Your T.V
8. Good Will Hunting By Myself
9. Laundry Girl
10. Air-Conitioned Love
11. Girls On Trampolines

Broken Bride (2005)

1. Part 1: Broken Bride
2. Save Our City
3. Part 2: Tonights the Night
4. Part 3: The Lamb and the Dragon
5. Part 4: Morning in May

Unreleased Tracks

1. Please
2. Japan It
3. The Horror of Our Love
4. Come Home
5. Elektra's Complex
6. Scream Scream Scream
7. Topeka
8. Lake Pontchartrain
9. Love Me Dead

• Review by Ernie Ball
• Official Web Site
• MySpace account
• University Theater at the University of Chicago
• Review of the stage production of Broken Bride

This article on a United States rock music band is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e