Jamming for a Cause at New Hyde Park High School

held its seventh annual student band showcase on Thursday to benefit relief efforts in Japan. Students and faculty alike gathered for performances from local bands and a collection of faculty for a cause.

David Sime, advisor for The Stage Crew, helped organized the annual event with the goal of raising money for the victims of the catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tsunami that left Japan in ruins. For seven years, the annual event has served as a fundraiser with money raised going toward areas ranging from relief efforts to buying new equipment for the music program at the high school.

Entrants to the student showcase were subject to demo tests before being able to perform in front of the audience at the high school

“The bands playing tonight are all different styles and of all different levels of ability,” Sime said. “The bands are either entirely comprised of students from New Hyde Park Memorial High School or at least one member of each band is a student from the high school.”

The lineup for the evening was as follows: student band “Backfire” kicked off the evening with covers from popular punk rock artists, Blink-182 and Good Charlotte. “Breaking Point” followed that act up with original punk rock compositions. “Ready For Nothing” got the crowd involved with a chorus of clapping to the strings courtesy of players from the Stage Crew. “Jam Session” rocked the audience with covers from heavy metal favorite, Black Sabbath and punk rock heroes The Ramones. “Rome” was the last of the student performances with a blend of contemporary and classic tunes from Enrique Iglesias to the Beatles. “The Wrecking Crew,” a student-faculty band, ended the evening with a special performance for their students.

Math teacher and musician Brian Basil thought it was a tremendous event for students to express themselves musically.

“The idea of giving kids a chance to express themselves musically is a fundamental part of the American experience,” Basil said. “David Sime encourages kids to express themselves in every way and he’s the total package of what a public school teacher should be all about.”

Basil and Sime, both math teachers at New Hyde Park High School, performed an acoustic session for their students.  Basil said it was a fun experience to play in front of his students along with playing with his friend and fellow math teacher, David Sime.

“It’s always interesting to perform in front of my students,” Sime said . “I like it best when students are involved with the performance. This is more about to promote the students themselves. It was a great success.”

Student band members echoed Sime’s sentiment and enjoyed performing in front of their peers and faculty.

“It was a great show,” said lead vocalist of “Rome”, Vincent Illuzzi. “All the bands were awesome.”

As for the best performance of the night, student guitarist Nico Agrusa thought the teachers’ performance was the best of the evening.

“I have to give it to the teachers,” Agrusa said. “They rocked it out tonight."

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