Musicians band together for children at concert

Chances are members of the band The Foes aren’t going to get out of cleaning their rooms anytime soon.

But for an hour Saturday at the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls, they were huge rock stars, complete with spiked hairdos, a loud punk sound and adoring fans.

Adoring.

A crowd of screaming, bouncing, sign-waving elementary school girls cheered the three-man rock band of Ramsey Elementary School fifth-graders.

The Foes were one of about two dozen mostly high school bands performing Saturday at the Kids in Need Concert.

Trevor Dawson, The Foes’ lead guitarist, paused near the stage to sign autographs as his mother, Heather Dawson, looked on in a band T-shirt.

“It’s quite a process,” she said of the work involved in solidifying her son’s elaborate mohawk.

Money raised at the Kids in Need Concert will be donated to three children’s charities – Specialized Needs Recreation, Project Safe Place and Court Appointed Special Advocates. Greyhound Park donated its space, and other businesses donated services.

The afternoon crowd ebbed and flowed as groups of teenagers and their parents came and went with the appearance of different bands. About 75 to 100 people were there at any given time.

The event was conceived by the band Iron Fanboy and their parents.

Many of the acts favored a fast, loud punk sound, appreciated by careening moshers in front of the stage but also prompting several young boys in the crowd to place their hands over their ears.

For some bands, it was a first effort.

“We’ve been a band for less than eight days,” shouted Aesthetica lead singer Brett Calkins just before he lifted his shirt to expose a bare chest over skinny jeans and black-and-white checkered sneakers as a precursor to a rapid-fire set of punk songs.

Other groups had already been perfecting their acts at talent shows, birthday parties and (in The Foes’ case) tattoo parlor grand openings.

“I had a blast. It was a lot of fun,” said Chris Dehlbom, a Coeur d’Alene High School student and lead guitarist of the band Borderline.

“It was probably the best time we ever played.”

Dehlbom’s mother, Lynelle Dehlbom, was on hand to help with raffle ticket and concession sales.

“I think it’s a great idea. It gives the kids a chance to experience being onstage and being involved with the audience as well as helping other kids,” she said.