By Seth Gorenstein
GateHouse News Service
Jun 13, 2007

Needham - Under the heat of flashing stage lights, Adam Ozer, lead singer of the band The Dispute, was ready to rock. Upon the count-off of drummer Nate Sobeck, 15, The Dispute ripped through a furious cover of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen," with Ozer embracing the screaming vocals of lead singer Johnny Rotten as his own.

scene did not unfold in a punk rock club, but in the Massachusetts Bay Community College auditorium last Saturday, June 9. And it wasn't put on to satisfy rock star egos and wallets, but to give young musicians a chance to perform for a charitable cause.

The Dispute was one of 19 bands that performed for the Rock the Cradle of Love benefit concert which was put on by the Plugged In teen band program. The professional Zimbabwean band, Bongo Love, also played. Proceeds from the concert went to the CJ Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

"[With the concert], we wanted kids to be able to do something positive with music," said Tom Pugh, co-founder and musical director of Plugged In. "I don't want them to think about fame and stardom; instead, think a little more outwardly. Think what you can do for the world."

Plugged In is a Needham-based nonprofit program that aims to teach teenagers how to form and perform in a rock band. Sandra Rizkallah, co-founder and administrative director of Plugged In, also sees the program as a means of instilling a sense of charity.

"Basically, twice a year we put on a benefit concert that raises money for charitable organization," she said. "Each concert is titled differently. This is first concert for the CJ Foundation."

The CJ Foundation for SIDS is a national organization that raises research funds and awareness of the condition. According to the concert's program, proceeds from Saturday's concert will be donated to funding research at the Kinney Laboratory at Children's Hospital in Boston, a leading research center on SIDS.

Sessions at Plugged In run for 14 weeks, and bands rehearse approximately two hours a week at rehearsal space on 146 Warren St. Within the first month of a session, participants in the program convene one night to decide upon a charity for the upcoming concert. On March 10, the current session's enrollees met at the First Parish Unitarian Church of Needham for a potluck dinner and to decide the spring concert's organization.

"This year, kids got up in front of each other and presented causes that were important to them," Rizkallah said. "Whoever gets the most votes is [the organization of choice]."

.J. Pettiglio, 15, a guitarist and vocalist for the band One Size Fits Most, recalled how Jake Boynton, a Plugged In instructor and Boston University student who is filming a documentary of the program, presented the CJ Foundation at the potluck dinner.

"He thought of this fund, which is not really that recognized," Pettiglio said. "[SIDS] is really upsetting and it's very important to recognize, and he drew our attention towards that and we voted for that."

After choosing the CJ Foundation as the focal point of the concert, the Plugged In students learned more about SIDS and the foundation's research in a workshop on May 27 and 28. Richard Belliveau, a research specialist and manager of the Kinney Lab, educated the students about current research his lab is conducting. Afterwards, with the guidance of Boston and New York musicians, the students broke off into groups and wrote songs focusing on SIDS. The songs have since been recorded on a CD with proceeds going towards the CJ Foundation.

Pettiglio speaks with modest pride in regards to his recorded track, titled "A Life Unlived." "I think it's pretty inspirational," he said. "We didn't make it too, too dark. We went for a really melodic sound, and it kinda comes from the parent's perspective a lot."

Though emcee Bruce Lynch, a member of the Plugged In Board of Directors, frequently emphasized the CJ Foundation last Saturday, the stage was primarily reserved for rock 'n roll. Throughout the concert, teenagers of different size, talent levels and hair length transformed into rock stars in front of family and friends in attendance.

On stage, rock 'n roll attitude was abundant. Chesley Carter, lead singer of the group HELLRazor, prowled the stage with a swagger comparable to Janis Joplin's. Hunter Fellman-Greene, guitarist, and lead vocalist for Four More Years, grinned from ear-to-ear and bobbed to the rhythm as he shredded to 311's "Down." Four More Years' drummer Sam Gragg, 15, hammered his drum kit with similar intensity.

Gragg, whose band opened the concert, was proud of his band's performance. "It all came together. [It was] kind of the climax of the year," he said. Four More Years had been practicing for their performance once a week since February.

Backstage, band mates loitered in true rock star fashion. Last-minute set-lists were debated and revised. The sound of drumsticks tapping tables and strummed guitar chords filtered throughout the air. Guitar cases, drumsticks and a cowbell lay about.

Also performing twice on Saturday was the Zimbabwean percussive outfit, Bongo Love. Last year, Plugged In held a concert for the Elias Fund, which donates money for Zimbabwean students. Rizkallah began looking for a group in the country to perform stateside. Through Musical Crossroads, a subgroup of Jeunesses Musicales International, a global musical events coordinator, Rizkallah was introduced to the "Afrocoustic" music of Bongo Love. The group played last year's concert dedicated to the Keep a Child Alive Foundation.

John Mambira, percussionist and lead vocalist of Bongo Love, was thrilled to return to Plugged In again while amid its first U.S. tour. Besides respecting the students' dedication to the CJ Foundation, Mambira said, "To see young guys play ... music shows that they got a future if they want to do music professionally."

Backstage, minutes before The Dispute's performance, Ozer, 15, smirked when asked about rock career aspirations. "Ten years from now, I'll be sitting in Malibu, surrounded by babes, with double platinum albums. I have this all planned out," he said. Kidding aside, Ozer modestly identified writing original music with his band mates as his most pressing goal.

When Ozer and his backing trio took the stage minutes later, however, "modesty" swiftly vanished as he launched into one of many face-melting guitar solos.