Heart of Rock n Roll

The Heart of Rock ’n’ Roll

A true story by Erick Sahler

There’s no music like the music when you were 18.

That’s a lesson I learned from “The Big Chill,” the 1983 film about a group of middle-aged adults who reunite for a friend’s funeral and still party to the songs they listened to in college — Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson, among others.

My coming-of-age soundtrack comprised mostly post-punk bands including REM, The Cure and Talking Heads, but also — now the secret can be revealed — Huey Lewis and The News. In fact, in high school I infamously traded Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Ocean Rain” LP for “Sports,” Huey’s 1983 megahit containing “The Heart of Rock ’n’ Roll.”

For my high school- and college-aged daughters, its bands like Vampire Weekend and Cage the Elephant, both of whom formed in 2006, among other current groups.

But also the classic sounds of The Mamas & The Papas and The Drifters (1960s), as well as Pat Benatar and Blondie (1980s).

That’s because of Rock ’n’ Roll Revival, their high school’s annual fund-raiser that kicks off Friday night, in which they have performed for the past six years.

Rock ’n’ Roll Revival has become a mid-winter tradition not just for James M. Bennett High School in Salisbury, but for the entire Lower Shore. Fans line up before the doors open for seven mostly sold-out shows over two weeks in an auditorium that seats 800. Tickets cost $20. You can do the math. Since 1999, the event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the school.

But here’s something even more impressive.

Starting last October, hundreds of students auditioned for roles singing, dancing and playing in the band. Rehearsals began before Thanksgiving and continued through the holidays into the cold, dark nights of January.

Meanwhile, other students painted scenery. As opening night neared, more students stepped up to work backstage, helping with props and costumes, or learning to run lights.

It literally takes a village to stage the high-energy three-hour show — a village of committed, motivated, hard-working teenage volunteers.

Imagine that.

For the performers, it is a chance to seize the spotlight — maybe for the first time ever — to shine and emerge a star.

Who can forget unknown freshman Jeremiah Copeland bringing down the house with “Summertime.”

Or Mini Addis’s incredibly choreographed step-by-step recreation of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video?

Or Tristan Lathbury’s haunting beautiful rendition of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody?”

Magical moments, yes, but the real magic is this: Rock ’n’ Roll Revival raises the expectations of everyone involved — the singers, the dancers, the musicians and the crew. Beyond the money raised, the community bonding and the creation of memories that will last a lifetime, each of those young people will emerge a better version of themselves.

It happens every year.

Rock ’n’ Roll Revival 2020 will be bittersweet for me. My girls dreamed of being involved when they were little — dressing up for the show, collecting autographs from high school “stars” during intermission and going on stage after the finale. Then Alison was a singer for four years, graduating in 2018. Now Molly, a senior, is in her final year as both a dancer and singer. The show will go on, of course, though for the Sahler family it is the end of an era.

But on Saturday night, I’ll be there in the front row. Around 7 p.m., the house lights will dim, “The Heart of Rock ’n’ Roll” will pump through the PA to let the cast know the show is about to begin, and a pulse of energy will race through the crowd and revive my soul.

And for the next three hours, I’ll feel like I’m 18 again.

As a freshman, Jay Copeland brought down the house with his “Rock ’n’ Roll Revival” rendition of “Summertime.” In 2022, he reached the finals of “American Idol.”