JAY — “I think you’ll be impressed, pleased and ‘wowed'” said teacher Dianne Fenlason to an audience eagerly anticipating the performance by the Spruce Mountain High School Rock of Ages class. “I’ve put a lot of pressure on them to do an excellent job because I know they can.”

The audience was most certainly blown away as the students put on a musical performance for the ages on May 22. Despite it being their 9th show in six days, the students still summoned their best effort to present a historical tour of rock music.

In the 1950’s Rock and Roll emerged as a musical genre and began transforming the music scene. The Rock of Ages students performed Rock Around the Clock, written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952 and released in 1954. Then the class switched gears to perform “That’ll Be The Day” by Buddy Holly.

The 1960’s were a decade of revolution, and the songs written during that era reflected that. The Beatles rocked the American music scene with their stateside appearances, surf rock was introduced through the Beach Boys in the early 1960s, and MoTown music started in Detroit with talented singers and funky baselines. To pay tribute to the creatively tumultuous decade, the Rock of Ages students performed “Down on the Corner” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Help” by the Beatles, “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, and “My Girl” by The Temptations.

The 1970s saw the introduction of hard rock, from bands and performers such as Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen. The students performed “Cold as Ice” by Foreigner, taking many of the older audience members back to their childhood through the music.

Money, personal appearance, and obsession with all things material dominated the 1980’s. One of the most famous of the “hair metal” bands was Bon Jovi, which the Rock of Ages students recognized by putting on an enthusiastic rendition of “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

The 1990’s, on the other hand, was a decade of ripped pants, angry young adults, and grunge. The rap genre also expanded. In their look back at the decade, the Rock of Ages class performed an acoustic version of “No Rain” by Blind Melon.

In the 2000’s, war, financial crisis, and protest were on the minds of many Americans. The rebirth of heavy metal also occurred. The class performed “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes to capture the mood. Finally, they paid homage to contemporary rock by performing “Wherever She Walks” by My Chemical Romance.

In addition to the songs played by the Rock of Ages students, a local band, Forbidden Covenant, took the stage to play a song they had written themselves, “Heartbeat Melody”.

In an e-mail, Fenlason said that “a tremendous amount of work from everyone involved in Rock of Ages goes into presenting this performance.” She said that preparation consists of the students selecting the set list, deciding who will play or sing on each song, each band member learning their part for each song and then rehearsing each song starting from the 1950s and moving through the set list.

“Some songs don’t work out and a second choice is used as an alternative,” she said. Rehearsals take place for 80 minutes every other week starting at the end of January.

“Some students love the spotlight, others are extremely scared,” said Fenlason. “My advice is to enjoy the experience. By the third performance this starts to happen for the more reserved kids.”

She said the class concept is to have students experience the previous decades of music so they can see the progression to the current styles.

“Many of the students that take ROA have a wide listening experience,” said Fenlason. “I think some of the enthusiasm comes from the role the class takes in selecting the songs.

“I tell the students this class has nothing to do with music, it is all about life lessons,” she added. “If students complete an assignment, then they have learned to take direction, if a student learns their part then they have learned to work independently, etc. We just shadow the learning of life lessons by using the medium of music and making the hard work look like fun.”

Students that sang and played included Kyle Melcher, Matthew Dyke, Miles Hebert, Jillian Buote, Austin Paine, Liz St. Pierre, Ryan Small, Rylee Delaney, and Skyler Lewis. Amanda Laverdiere provided the introduction of songs and commentary on the eras the songs were performed in. Fenlason thanked Dan Labonte and Joel Gilbert for helping out with the sound system, and Mrs. Weatherbee’s class for helping with the lights.

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