York-area teens gear up for biggest gig of their lives: the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Tina LocurtoIn a peaceful York Township suburb, as rain gently splashed on hard concrete, it was anything but quiet at the Goldman house.
As Gilad Goldman tuned his white Fender Stratocaster, Teagan Tatcher belted out "Stacy’s Mom" by Fountains of Wayne. While Alyssa Colon warmed up on keyboard, Cole Saylor strummed on his bass. Amani Weary sat behind her sticker-clad drum set and bobbed her head to the familiar melodies coming from her friends.
It was like a scene out of an '80s high school music comedy: five teens in the basement of a friend's house jamming out — but in this case, remove the classic movie trope of annoyed parents asking them to turn down the music.
Instead, three parents zipped around helping the five young musicians prepare for another intense, thundering band practice Wednesday night.
Though alternative rock band Before The End only formed two years ago, their undeniable energy and chemistry led them to booking gigs at venues including King Street Jam and the Hard Rock Café.
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Now, the five York County teenagers will be hitting the biggest stage of their young careers: the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
The group will be up against 10 other high school bands this Saturday, all vying for the coveted Best Band in the Land award presented by music and entertainment industry judges.
Ten bands per week will battle in the annual High School Rock Off for three weeks, with the top three bands from each week moving to the finals on Feb. 25.
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As part of the contest, each band will be permitted 15 minutes to play the setlist of their dreams while being judged on crowd interaction, vocals and musical performance, said Alyssa's mom, Christie Colon.
For the five high schoolers, their setlist will consist of all original songs written by band members. The list includes their personal favorites, "Domino" and "Butter Death."
"I think the easiest part of it is that we all love music, and so when you put a bunch of people that love music in the same room as each other, there's this sort of chemistry that happens and it just, poof, music just comes out of it," 17-year-old Amani said. "Because we all love it so much, there's a lot of passion."
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The group formed at the encouragement of their mentor, Rod Goelz, who runs a student rock band program in Mechanicsburg.
"He kind of brought us all together and gave us the opportunity to be in a band," Amani said.
Although each band member has their designated instrument of choice, they can be flexible. Gilad, for instance, steps in on drums while Amani heads centerstage to get lost in the lyrics of a song.
As part of the contest, the first-place band will be awarded $3,000 and the opportunity to perform at a Live Nation or House of Blues Cleveland concert as an opening act.
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Additionally, $250 will be awarded to the first-place winner’s high school music program.
All of the finalists will have the chance to record one original song at Tri-C’s Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts, which will be produced by Jim Stewart Recording and students from Tri-C’s Recording Arts program.
