Carolyne Mas

“ROCK SINGER TO TESTIFY IN BEHALF OF AVID FANS By JIM BOHEN Staff Writer MADISON -- Three Drew University students will go to court in Manhattan today to face charges of disorderly conduct at a concert at a Greenwich Village club last month.

And Carolyne Mas, the rock and roll singer who inspired them to such fervor that they broke several tables in the club, plans to testify in their behalf.

Kevin Marino of Fanwood, Keith Martin of Philadelphia and Ian Byorkman of New York City went to see Mas at the Other End on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village on Oct. 17. Marino said the three were pounding on two tables during a Mas song when the tables collapsed.

The following night the three were back in the club and they broke another table 'during the same song, 'Sadie Says,'' Marino said. This time they were arrested.

According to Marino, pounding on a table until it breaks is only a natural response to a singer he called 'definitely the most energetic performer to emerge in years.'

Mas herself, who performed in concert at Drew last night, said she agreed with Marino. She added that the Other End's tables weren't meant to stand up to the abuse of a rock and roll show.

'It's definitely a folk-rock table,' she said. 'It has one leg in the middle and it's nailed to the floor. If you can't walk on them, you can't do anything with them.'

Marino said he and his companions were handcuffed and taken to a police station. On the way one officer told them, 'Wait till you see the guys you're going to spend the night with,' he said.

They didn't have to spend the night in jail, Marino said, but they were told to appear in court today on charges of disorderly conduct.

Mas said she would testify that the three students should be allowed to settle privately with the club owner. She said she also planned to say that the students' actions 'are not unusual behavior for rock and roll. It's not disorderly conduct.'

She said she played clubs where patrons regularly broke 10 or 12 tables a night. 'If you're not expecting that kind of thing you shouldn't put on rock and roll,' she said.

The Other End is better known for the low-key musicians it usually presents than for rock and roll acts such as Mas'.

Last night at Drew's Bowne Theater, Mas asked Marino, Martin and Byorkman (all members of the university social committee, which sponsored the concert) to come up on stage with her to dance and sing along during her encore. And when she sang 'Sadie Says,' she changed the line 'I like to raise a little hell' to 'I like to break a few tables.'” - Jim Bohen