The Maintenance Shop and the ISU community will lose a dear friend when You’re Pretty plays its final show Friday.

The Wisconsin-based band, known best for a distinctive blend of haunting vocals and hard-hitting rock, has decided to bring its five-year run to an end.

Stacey Olson, the band’s manager, said the decision was made by lead singer Beth Musolff for personal reasons.

“Beth decided that she didn’t want to do this anymore, and it did come as quite a shock to everyone,” Olson says. Musolff and the other members of the band were unavailable for comment.

Despite the rather unexpected ending, You’re Pretty has had many successes throughout its history. Following the release of both a successful debut album and an EP that received some radio play for the single “Worst of Me,” the band dropped its third album, “Beautiful Accident.” The title was an understatement, proving that rock music could be both beautiful and chaotic all at once. The album even garnered some mainstream attention when the members of Staind requested six copies to be delivered to them on the Family Values tour.

The sudden conclusion of the band may have cut short any current hopes for stardom, but Olson says the three remaining members of the band — guitarist Steven Kern, bassist Chris Stenger and drummer Dave Keckeisen — may not be done with this project quite yet.

“As I understand it, the guys are going to be looking for another singer, male or female. Whether they’ll keep the name ‘You’re Pretty,’ I don’t know,” Olson says. “Everyone’s just trying to close out this chapter, and then we’ll go from there.”

M-Shop Coordinator Eric Yarwood says he doesn’t believe this will be the last of the band.

“At some point in time, who knows, we might see them back in a different incarnation,” Yarwood says. “It happens with other bands, and it could very easily happen with them.”

You’re Pretty’s presence in Ames is nothing new. The upcoming show will mark the band’s seventh performance at the M-Shop. After the success of the first appearance as an opening act in the fall of 1999, the band was invited back for a headlining set, which Yarwood says cemented it as an M-Shop legend.

“When they came to play as the headlining set, the weather was kind of bad, but we still managed to pull in around seventy people,” Yarwood says. “As time has gone on, they have been able to build up to a sold-out crowd pretty much every time.”

A packed house at a You’re Pretty show is anything but rare, and one glance at the stage can explain why. Tight drum beats, blues-inspired bass backgrounds, thrashing guitar riffs and soaring vocals come together to produce a sound that is both mind-numbing and heart-wrenching at the same time.

Yarwood says the band’s unique concept has influenced him in ways he never expected.

“My musical tastes are all over the map, and if you would’ve told me that I was going to fall in love with their music the way I have, I would’ve thought you were nuts,” Yarwood says. “To have had friendships with all of them, and to have them be so good to [the M-Shop] has been wonderful.”

The M-Shop’s fondness for the band is not a one-way street, however.

Olson says the band members decided to play their final show in Ames because of the great reaction they get every time they are in town.

“Throughout the past few years, the fans are the ones that have kept them going,” Olson says. “The M-Shop has been very gracious to the band. They took a chance on them a few years ago, and just kept the support going.”

The band’s appreciation for their fans has truly set it apart from the crowd, says Shaunna Ulrick, sophomore in English. Ulrick says she has been a You’re Pretty fan since the first show, and even had the opportunity to sing on stage during the band’s March 2002 appearance at the M-Shop, when she was pulled onstage by several of the band members.

“It was really funny, because before the show, I told my boyfriend that if they played my favorite song, I was going up there to sing it, but I wasn’t serious,” Ulrick says. “Then out of nowhere, Chris [Stenger] pulls me up onstage and says ‘Go sing it.’ “

A statement from the band members on their Web site also expresses appreciation for Ames and the M-Shop, giving “a big thanks to Eric Yarwood … who is now, and always will be, considered to be the band’s collective best friend. He’s been a big part of us being so successful in Ames.”

Yarwood says You’re Pretty was the first band to perform after he took over at the M-Shop in 1999, and that he has mixed emotions about the groups final show.

“I am very pleased that they’re going to end it here,” Yarwood says. “It’s going to be an interesting evening, and I know there’s going to be some tension — some good tension and some bad tension. But all in all it’s going to be a wonderful night. It always is with these guys.”