Prank Is a Sign of Band’s Ambition

The perpetrators of a New Year’s Day revision of the HOLLYWOOD sign revealed themselves to the world Sunday afternoon in Venice.

Charles Arack, a member of the rock ‘n’ roll group called The Raffeys, admitted at an open-air concert on Ocean Front Walk that the band used bed sheets to alter the famed 50-foot-high sign to read RAFFEYSOD.

Arack, 25, said the New Orleans-based group is laying claim to new turf. “We are here to conquer Hollywood,” he said. “And we definitely want to let people know.”

The band drove from New Orleans to Southern California in a panel truck three months ago and is still looking for club dates and a recording contract, according to group leader Raff Raffey, 26.

The four-member group has since removed the sheets to return the famous sign to its normal state, he said.

Officials of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce filed a vandalism complaint last week for the damage done to the sign, but a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said he is not sure if the band will be prosecuted.