EVE6

A few years ago I was introduced to a band called EVE6. Their debut album totally rocked my world. Their lyrics really blew me away. Now, their genuineness has, too. I followed a link from their site and it led me to this story:

Dear all,

Something funny happened on the way to school a few weeks ago. I thought I’d maybe write you all a letter about what was perhaps the coolest experience of my reality career, however fleeting or inconsequential you may perceive it to be. Sure, I’ve gotten to cover many concerts and interview the likes of DMB, John Mayer and Guster, but it has usually stopped there. This situation was a little different.

Max Collins, the lead singer of multi-platinum rock band Eve 6, was sitting next to me in the front seat of my mom’s minivan and we were singing along to “Promise,” his band’s hit song off their second album, “Horrorscope.” But, we weren’t the only ones in the car who were having fun as we chugged along I-95 toward my high school, Pennsbury High in Fairless Hills.

Tony Fagenson, Eve 6’s drummer, was sitting in the middle seat of the van beating his thighs along to the beat with his eyes closed while backing up Max on vocals. Keith Danforth, the band’s tour manager, was content with his cheesesteak that I had picked up earlier at Pat’s with my friend and fellow Eve 6 aficionado Meghan Potkay, who sat in the back with guitarist Jon Siebels and his girlfriend Tonya. I felt like I was tripping on some type of rock ‘n’ roll dream. Here I was, in my mom’s car, on my way to my high school, singing along (like most of us do in the car — at least when alone) while the band playing on the stereo was singing with me in the car. Let me tell you, it is an awesome, awesome experience.

All that was on mind were two words, DON’T CRASH. Still, I just turned up the volume, winked at Meghan in the back, and kept moving down the highway.

The guys in Eve 6 had thrown their three acoustic guitars in the back of the van minutes earlier when I picked them up at their Philly hotel. They were going to play the Theater of Living Arts later that night and I had called their management to see if we could arrange for the guys to stop by Pennsbury High School, for free. It was on a whim, really, but I had a feeling that the band would at least be cool with the concept. I had interviewed Tony a few months earlier and it had gone really well. Tony, as with band mates Max and Jon, are great guys, a rare thing in the music industry.

I had been listening to their new album, “It’s All In Your Head,” which rocks, a few weeks earlier, and thought that if there were one band that could lift the spirits of students lost in the doldrums of a mundane Bucks County winter, then Eve 6 was it. The band, which was signed by RCA Records out of their high school in Southern California at the age of 17, had never played a high school since their own. They were pumped.

What was so cool of the band was that they were doing this acoustic gig at Pennsbury simply because they believed in the idea that rock ‘n’ roll is something to be shared by everyone, as perhaps the grooviest American institution. Eve 6 was convinced that although playing a public high school outside Philadelphia may be a bit different, risky (relying on my driving skills to navigate down 95), and of no financial value, it was the right thing to do, and fun.

I had brought my other SoCal buddies, and now top rockers Maroon 5, to Pennsbury earlier in 2003 (strange how PHS had Maroon 5 then Eve 6, isn’t it?) and they had a fantastic time just jamming with students and cavorting about Pennsbury football. Eve 6 heard about that and felt like playing Pennsbury was something interesting to be a part of.

At our school, we have created a music culture out of almost nothing in just a few short years. As Student Council president, I’ve pushed to hold rock concerts for school bands just for the sake of having rock concerts. You see, Eve 6 grasped, as many others have, that suburban teen life can suck if left stagnant and that sometimes some random rock can have a positive impact. At Pennsbury, we have a large community of musicians. This community of music lovers, which is united more in spirit than in actual association, ranges from the marching band members to those bands in every unfinished basement from Tullytown to Yardley.

Tony said it best in the car by remarking that “even the most cynical of kids couldn’t be cynical about just having some fun for free after school on a Monday.” He was right.

Once we finally made it to PHS, the band set up pretty fast and about 500 students piled into the B Auditorium at Pennsbury High School’s West Campus. The band played two songs off their new album, “Think Twice” and “At Least We’re Dreaming,” then segued into a sublime acoustic rendition of their fan favorite “Here’s to the Night,” which is featured every year at almost every prom in this country. They then decided to jam for one final song, their first hit single, “Inside Out,” off their eponymous debut album. They could have played more, but the guys decided to use their time to take pictures, sign autographs and chat with the students.

During the performance, about 100 students sat around the stage on the floor, ala MTV Unplugged. According to Mark Sinkiewicz, a Pennsbury senior, the performance was “amazing.” Kara Covello, a PHS freshman, gushed that “The band was so nice,” and that “the show was the best thing to happen to Pennsbury.”

I hope she was right. On the way back to the TLA, Eve 6 was a bit taken aback at the experience. They not only had a good time, but they were touched at the realness and friendship shown by all the students at the show. According to them, even the PHS West principal, Ms. Lisa Becker, “was super.” I didn’t play the band’s CD on the car stereo on the way back to Philly, because the band was fine just talking with each other. Max remarked to his band mates that “We don’t do this (talking casually) enough.”

When I pulled up behind their bus at the TLA on South Street, we all piled out of the car and exchanged handshakes and hugs. For just a few hours, Eve 6 had had an experience that they would never forget, as did Pennsbury.

In a world where corporate radio, Clear Channel, and Ticketmaster dominate music, Eve 6 and Pennsbury High School fought for the opportunity to share pure music — acoustic, free, raw and exciting. We succeeded, and it wasn’t in a movie like “School of Rock” or on the pages of Rolling Stone. It was in a dusty and old auditorium in an ancient high school residing deep within a Fairless Hills neighborhood. I think it’s better like that.

Rock on. Always,

Jam B

and Bob Costa</P