Every week, SEAL presents a fun alternative to Thursday nights by holding bingo nights, hosting comedians and bands or by showing the latest movie.

At 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27, SEAL will be presenting two local bands for a showcase in the University Center Down Under.

The two bands performing will be The Friend Zone and The Way Back.

The local showcase is different from most concerts that SEAL puts on because both bands have members who are students at UW-Whitewater.

The bands both fall into the pop-punk or bubble gum pop genre, which is targeted to pre-teens and teenagers with it’s upbeat sound.

The Way Back is comprised of UW-Whitewater students and an alumnus.

The members of The Way Back have been playing together since last December, but guitarist Alex Shanahan said they didn’t officially become the band they are today until this past April.

“Right now we are playing all originals,” Shanahan said. “A majority of the songs are off of our self-titled EP.”

They are also working on a couple of releases, which they will perform on Thursday.

“We always have fun when we play and enjoy when the crowd has fun too,” Shanahan said.

All members of The Friend Zone are UW-Whitewater students except Dalton Scolman.

The Friend Zone has only been a band for three weeks and will perform live together for the first time on Thursday.

“We’re a collective group of souls brought together by music,” Scolam said.

The Friend Zone has a few originals they will be performing, courtesy of Mindham who has been writing lyrics since last December.

“I write a ton of songs, and that’s how I express myself,” Mindham said.

The band will also perform hit songs from bands like Flo Rida, Fall Out Boy and Blink-182.

Both bands expressed their excitement for performing on campus.