Red, green, and yellow lights blare. Will Lubaroff ’13 greets the crowd before opening his set with a cover of “The Gambler” by Fun. A group of City High students, including Gabriel Basile ’13, Nat Alder ’13, Will Lubaroff ’13 and Mike Gloer ’13, got together to play music last Friday to support United Action for Youth. United Action for Youth or UAY is a local youth center that supplies a recording studio and music equipment to teens, as well a hangout area and counseling.
“We wanted to play our music in front of an audience, and we knew that UAY would be a great place to do it,” Nat Alder ’13 said. “Plus we know they’re non-profit, and we love what they do, so we decided to do a benefit for them.” Alder and Basile’s band Bass/Drum headlined the show, but that was only after Will Lubaroff, and Basile’s family band, the Firesigns had played.
“The firesigns is my mom, dad, and I’s band. We cover alternative and rock songs, it’s a good time,” Gabriel Basile ’13 said. They followed Lubaroff, whose set included other City High students as well.
“I wanted to display the talent of some of my friends that maybe weren’t getting the chance to perform,” Lubaroff ’13 said. He invited Sylvia Dean ’14, Mike Gloer ’13, Alder, and Basile to help him perform. He covered songs by Coldplay, Leonard Cohen and Radiohead among others.
At the end of the show, Bass/Drum invited Lubaroff, Gloer and Max Friedman’13 on stage at the end of the show to play a few songs. They covered “Where is my mind?” by the Pixies, “Say it ain’t so” by Weezer, and “Tighten up” by the Black Keys.
“The whole experience was awesome, and we hope to do it again soon,” Basile ’13 said. The students raised $119 dollars for UAY, gathering roughly 40 students and adults.