All screaming aside, Escape From Earth, Blackout and Dysception seemed to enjoy themselves last Thursday at Otto’s Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway.

After a few minor setbacks, Dysception managed to come out on top, even paying tribute to Sept. 11, 2001, attack victims on the way.

Escape From Earth, originally slated to open up for Dysception, altered its set at the last minute when drummer Paul Castelli found himself stuck in Los Angeles.

Instead of copping out, Escape From Earth played with two acoustic guitars, one electric bass and a soft-handed drummer.

The band’s set was unique; it combined musical genres (nu-metal, folk rock, ‘80s hair metal). The group even covered Bon Jovi as a tribute to one of singer/guitarist Chris Sern’s idols.

“I saw [Bon Jovi] in L.A. and took a pee next to him. It was the best moment in my life,” Sern said.

Blackout took the stage next, wearing black, sleeveless T-shirts. They opened with a repetitive, effect-heavy riff that was evocative of a louder, darker “Baba O’Riley.”

Humble blue lights cast dark shadows on the band. Before long, bright lights blew up the stage, and people were jumping up and down.

One audience member enjoyed Blackout at first but soon grew weary of the heavy-handed rock.

“I enjoyed them at first. But after a while, [I] lost interest,” freshman undecided major Tami Marsiglio said.

Several Dysception fans wore black T-shirts that bore white, jagged, metallic-looking encryptions. The encryption begged the question, “Are you a victim?” A victim of Dysception, as I later was told by a fan.

One mohawked supporter, sporting boots and camouflaged pants, wore his Dysception T-shirt proudly and spoke amicably of the band.

“They’re the future of metal. It’s very well-controlled anger,” DeKalb resident Raven Segundo said.

Dysception took the stage to various edited sound bites of Rob Zombie’s critically reviled “House Of 1,000 Corpses.” Soon, the audience was swimming in a sea of heavy rock.

Midway through Dysception’s set, during a Deftones cover, a circular mosh pit formed.

A wave of participants pushed and pulled others into the hungry pit, feeding it fresh life.

“It shows the band a sign of support. As a band, it shows that people feel the music that you play,” said Mark Sujak, a freshman undecided major and mosh pit participant.

Near the end of the night, Dysception staged its own memorial, a memorial of noise for those who died on Sept. 11, 2001. The band planned to donate $1 for every $6 earned to the American Red Cross Association.

After a long set, Dysception left the stage, only to encore with Drowning Pool’s “Bodies.”

“One, nothing’s wrong with me!” yelled Dysception’s lead vocalist and senior communication major Steve Luebbers to a sparse pit of teenagers. Two hundred four people showed up at Otto’s for the concert. Seemingly, many left either during or before Dysception, which was the headlining act.

Not to be discouraged, Luebbers concentrated on the live performance and the feelings generated from that.

“The energy [of a live show] is unstoppable. The time you have onstage is the best,” Luebbers said happily after the performance.