NonCompliant Rocks Hyannis

I may have mentioned before (once or twice) that my kids are in rock bands. There's a great studio in Hyannis called Mode4Music where they not only take regular guitar lessons, but also "rock band class" - my son has been in the same band for 4 years now, and he's just 13.

Over Father's Day weekend, the studio took over the stage at the Hyannis Green, and put on a free concert on a sunny Saturday afternoon. My daughter's band, Blonde Persuasion, performed two songs in the first set and my son's band, NonCompliant played four songs in the second set and dominated the show (okay, I know I'm the mom but really, they did!)


It was great to see so many kids on stage performing in groups or doing their solo thing. Kind of like a live American Idol thing but much more real. NonCompliant had a few technical difficulties with my favorite Lifehouse song, All In, but they worked through it like the seasoned pros that they already are, not missing a beat.

Afterward, we went out with my parents for a lobster dinner - first lobsters of the season! - and toasted both Father's Day and my talented kids for a great performance.

If you missed this show, you still have another chance to catch NonCompliant this summer when they play at the annual Barnstable Kids Day, sponsored by the police and fire departments. I blogged about last year's event which you can read by clicking here.

Did you do anything special for Father's Day weekend?

NonCompliant Plays Kids Day

For those who don't know, my 12-year-old is in a Rock Band. Their name is NonCompliant, and he's the oldest kid in the band. My son's been taking guitar lessons at Mode4Music since he turned 8, and the band first formed when he was 9.

For the last three summers, NonCompliant has been playing one of the band sets at Barnstable Kids Day, a free day of fun sponsored by the Barnstable Police and Fire Departments and held at Barnstable High School. This year, they were the only band to play, and performed both sets themselves.
It was a steamy, muggy hot Saturday. The studio director and roadie dads were there at 7 a.m. to haul the equipment. The band members started arriving at 9 a.m. for the sound check. The gates opened at quarter after 10, following the parade of fire and rescue vehicles onto the field. The sun blazed through the fog just as people started streaming through the gates.

By 11 a.m. when the band was introduced by Suzanne from Dunes 102 radio, it was sunny and sweltering on the field. It was hot.

My son's solo (in IronMan) didn't go well. He pulled through it, and finished the rest of the set, but didn't smile again. Luckily, they had an hour between sets to cool down, have some of the free ice cream, watch the K-9 unit demonstrations and try to dunk the police officer in the dunk tank.

Despite the heat, the second set rocked. Everyone on the field was bouncing along to the Blitzkreig Bop, and my son nailed his solo on Smoke on the Water. The 6 band members and their teacher, Tony, were all smiles when they got off stage to sign autographs.
And then the real fun of the day. The biggest draw at Kids Day is not the band, or the Jaws of Life, or the cute puppy members of the K-9 unit. It's the Foam Blower. The firemen hook up the hoses and blow gallons of foam using the airport blower unit for the kids to romp in.

And then to clean off the foam, a giant fire hose is attached to one of the ladder trucks to create a gigantic shower for all to wash off under.
It was a great way to end a hot and sweaty day. A great time was had by all, band members and new fans alike.