Reuniting and Reminiscing

The Invictas jammed for an hour and a half at the RIT Alumni Fest on Saturday with three of the four original members from RIT; local cover band, 50/50, opened the show.

Herb Gross originally formed the band, The Invictas, when he started going to RIT 47 years ago. “It was great growing up playing in a rock ‘n roll band,” said Gross, RIT alumnus of 1967 who earned two BAs from RIT, one in business administration and the other in graphic arts.

When Gross arrived at RIT, he was looking for new people on campus to form a band with him. He put an advertisement in the student newspaper and started auditioning those who responded. The Invictas began playing fraternity parties and local clubs around Rochester. They grew in popularity and eventually received national recognition with their hit song "The Hump" and shared the stage with The Beach Boys. They have also been featured on the "Today Show."

After graduating, Gross went into television production because, "[It was] the closest thing I could find to being in a Rock 'n' Roll band," he said. Nowadays, he is busy with his new project, Rock Till Ya Drop TV (www.rocktillyadrop.com). This was his first visit back to Brick City since his graduation and he reconnected with old friends.

One of Gross’s friends was Trisha Morris-Kopinski, who graduated in 1983 from the College of Fine Arts and Science with a degree in Printing Tech and Management. This was her first time back in 25 years and she had a good time reuniting with old friends during the RIT alumni fest. “We all hung out together back in the day,” reminisced Kopinski.

John Rodibaugh, the staff captain in charge of the event, said the goal of the event was to throw a “good old Rock ‘n’ Roll party.” Mission accomplished.