The Weight Band kept the spirit and musical taste of the 1960s alive during a rousing performance at UIS Oct. 6.

Members of The Weight Band are all directly connected to The Band, a rock group best known for its long collaboration with folk star Bob Dylan. The Weight Band features Jim Weider, a former member of The Band; Marty Grebb, a writer for The Band; Brian Mitchell, a current member of the Levon Helm Band; Al-bert Rogers, who shared the stage with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson in The Jim Weider Band; and the newest member, Micheal Bram, who toured with Jason Mraz for seven years.

“Take a load off Fanny/ take a load for free,” the group sang, its harmony vocals ringing out with joyful passion. “Take a load off Fanny, and you put the load right on me,” The Weight Band continued their per-fect performance of the popular song, “The Weight”, that night at Sangamon Auditorium.

“The Weight” was one of The Band’s best songs, released as Capitol Records Single 2269 in 1968 on the group’s debut album, Music from Big Pink. The song was influenced by a visit to the town of Nazareth. It was a mainstream hit in Canada and the UK, and it had a significant influence on American popular music.

Apart from “The Weight”, the group preformed many other timeless hits, such as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “Ophelia,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Rag Mama Rag,” and “Life is A Carnival”.

As the most authentic presentation of The Band’s music performed on stage, the Chicago Sun Times proclaimed, “The Weight Band carries on where The Band left off.”

Zilin Nong, a UIS student, loves The Band, and said she was impressed with how The Weight Band reemerges the spirit of its predecessor.

“I’ve listened to the songs by The Band with my father since I was a child,” she said. “The Weight Band’s performance not only recurred the refulgence of The Band, but also arose people’s memory of the old times.”