Besides bringing in a cloud of smoke every weekend, the Hangar 9 occasionally brings in good music for the price you pay.

For the $3 cover charge to get into the joint, Radio Iodine, Cruces and Elizabeth Einstein brought forth an eventful evening last Friday. The energy produced inside had enough power to light up a small city (like Carbondale).

As the audience moved towards the stage to see the main attraction in Radio Iodine, the band tuned its equipment to prepare for a heart-filled welcome from the Carbondale crowd.

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Lead vocalist Ellen Persyn’s Annie Lennox-influenced voice is unmistakable in its feeling and intensity. In a song about regret, Never meant To, she sang:Everything I did was wrong/Everything I did was wrong/ I say I don’t mind the failure/ But I’m lying/ Everything I see is red/ Everything is blood dead/ And I don’t need to tell you I’m dying.

After a positive review in Billboard magazine, Radio Iodine still seems to keep in touch with its roots and the following they have developed throughout the Carbondale area.

I like the people in this town, Persyn said. The weird feeling of knowing people at shows makes us appreciate the personalities and faces we run into.

With bands giving their all to the crowd, it seems that the groups that appreciate their fans end up with the record deals.

In the mist of finding a record deal, Radio Iodine delivered more to Carbondale than what is usually a paid practice session for a show at the Hangar. The crowd and the music made a lot of fans remember what it was like to go out and get your money’s worth here in Little Egypt.

Opening for Radio Iodine was hard-edged local act, Cruces, followed by a mellow sway-sound of Elizabeth Einstein.

Cruces front man Derek Cook energized the jamming crowd by putting forth a great stage show. He bounced around the set like a couple of bad checks written by SIUC students while singing to Pinwheel.

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His lyrics pretty much says it all about the show Cruces put on to begin the night life off on the right foot.

I’m singing and laughing/ Like a delirious pinwheel/ Just spinning and laughing.

At the end of the set, a bloody-fingered Cook from overly abused guitar chords and Cruces brought forth absolute wild abandashment. Which in turn was followed by a raw-edged sound that developed a crowd scene that differed than the usual head bobbing, unsure beer drinking, sit-on-your-hands audience that frequents this local watering hole.

Following a raging performance by Cruces, there can be an intimidating factor in any band’s stage routine. From the looks of Elizabeth Einstein, there wasn’t a stomach butterfly in sight.

A cross between Bionica and the Sundays, Einstein’s lead singer Robin sported KISS-like high heels that put her mellow sound one above the rest.

In the end of it all, Elizabeth Einstein put together its good mellow-tinged rock with Robin boasting a cascade of vocality backed up by the group’s well-laid out harmony.