Despite its title of being a city, Harrisonburg still manages to retain close community most small towns would have, such as the events that take place downtown. Concerts in particular, such as the Teen Band Night that took place Nov. 30 at Court Square Music, end up with quite impressive turnouts.

The night consisted of sets from three bands formed by local teenagers and organized and by local musician Bob Adamek. Opening the event were ‘The Tapes’, featuring Owen Martin on guitar and vocals, and Dryden Labarge playing drums. Following were ‘The Walls of Teal’, featuring Help Wanted members Abe Nouri on keyboard and Jack Adamek on drums, along with bass player Neal Perrine and vocalist Alex Hunter-Nickels. The most anticipated band however, was Help Wanted, who closed the night with an energetic set featuring jazz songs with a slight reggae influence. Songs played included ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, ‘All Mixed Up’, ‘Pourin’ (a Help Wanted original) and a mashup of ‘Saints Go Marching In’ and ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’. Help Wanted was formed by juniors Abe Nouri (vocals) and Jack Adamek (drums), as well as Turner Ashby students Ellen Atwood (keyboard, saxophone, vocals) and Sean Newman (bass). The group were also pleased to announce their newly added three-piece horn section, consisting of sophomores Stuart Baker and Evan Dotas, and junior Michael Knapp. The event was clearly only given the label ‘Teen’ band night in reference to the musicians, as the crowd of roughly 120 was made up not only of local students, but also parents and other members of the community. Adamek hopes to arrange another Teen Band Night sometime in January.

Those interested in booking either Help Wanted or The Walls of Teal can contact Abe Nouri at 540-236-8732 for further information. You can read more about Help Wanted in the latest issue of Newsstreak, out Dec. 19!

[nggallery id=129]

Photos courtesy of Bob Adamek