Performing tunes from the ’60s through the ’80s is the standard approach of many rock bands, but rock act Plan B takes a different attack to provide audiences with a more unique show.

Joe Wright, lead male vocalist, said the opportunity to produce alternative songs by familiar artists is important to furthering the band’s higher goals.

Instead of playing a band’s popular singles that are heard over and over at live shows, Plan B, which performs 9:30 tonight and Saturday at PK’s, 308 S. Illinois Ave., will play the songs more unfamiliar to radio.

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Our focus is on the material and the music other bands don’t play, Wright said. We try to play the bands versus just their overplayed songs such as Three Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

We try to play music and songs by the band and not just the one song that people are familiar with.

And with its raw sounds streaming from one guitar, a set of drums, one bass, and female and male vocalists, bassist Mike Fish Mifflin said they have a sound that will put any crowd into a musical frenzy.

Feeding fuel to the fan frenzy also includes calling members of the crowd on stage to assist with the music.

We try to get the crowd involved, he said. We have a song we play and ask the audience to get up on the stage and sing with us.

Depending on how many people we can fit on the stage is usually how many we get to come up there.

Plan B introduces a classic and eclectic take on the songs of popular musical acts such as The Beatles, Melissa Etheridge and The Who. The members of Plan B take pride in the unique renditions of their favorite groups and will support numerous tastes in music that any patron requests if they do it the right way.

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Write your request down on a $1 and we will play it, guitarist Leroy Hill said. Write it on a $5 bill, and even if we don’t know it we’ll play it for you anyway.

Plan B entertains with a rare and domesticated style, but the members said that a local band has many difficulties to contend with in order to survive in the Carbondale area.

[Local establishments] tend to judge all the local bands in the area by one bad band that has passed by, Wright said. They are missing the boat. David Lee Murphy came from Herrin, which proves we have talent right here.

Everyone seems to think you have to play at the Landing in St. Louis to succeed, and that’s not the case. If you’re not a good band, you just won’t make it in Carbondale.

Drummer Chris McGregor agrees that area bands are not given a fair opportunity to survive and questions the booking procedures of the area’s taverns.

We’re not knocking other bands, but establishments need to be more open with bands when they hire, he said. There is good talent that is just overlooked all because they say that the University gets new students every year.

But do they really expect them to listen to the same stuff and the same people for four years in a row?

Despite the struggles of surviving in a competitive music scene, Plan B is grateful for the opportunities it has received from businesses such as PK’s.

PK’s is gracious enough to give anyone a chance. It is very hard to get your foot in the door [in Carbondale], McGregor said. It is tough just to get started, and PK’s is willing give you that chance.

Unity is an important element in Plan B’s survival as well. The group consists of close-knit friends who have a genuine bond with one another.

We have a lot of personality and charisma on stage together, Wright said. We spend so much time together that it is a family for us.

FACTOID:There will be no cover charge. For information, call 529-1124.