On April 18th, 2013, students of all kinds gathered into the Commons at 7:00 pm to view the finest musical acts our school has to offer. Because so many musicians from other high schools and college wanted to perform at the Benefit Concert, the Eagles Helping the Community (EHTC) club required every act to have at least one South student participating in it.
By charging five dollars per ticket in advance and seven dollars per ticket at the door of the Commons, the EHTC was able to end the night making approximately $400. With this money, the club plans to assist the struggling families whose children attend Middletown South. The EHTC will pay utility bills of families who cannot afford to do so themselves with their current living situations. Furthermore, a fair portion of the money made from the Benefit Concert ticket sales will go to the victims of Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged the Northeastern Coast during early November of last year.
This year’s EHTC Benefit Concert had a wide variety of individual singers, bands, and duets—some of the acts are known by the Middletown South student community and some made their debut during the event. The acts included: The Fifth Down, The Euphoric Tones, The Zephyr, Nicole Valente, Ashlee Driscoll and John Sheehy. The Fifth Down—which featured South sophomores Elias Kotsis, Bobby Lussier, and Kyle Murphy—kicked off the concert with songs such as “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy and “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World . South junior Nicole Valente followed the Fifth Down with her own rendition of “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars—“When You Were My Man”—and won over the crowd with her marvelous vocal performance. The Euphoric Tones, featuring South junior Kenny Iselhart, entertained the crowd with their rock version of “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” South seniors Ashlee Driscoll (on vocals) and John Sheehy (on piano) played their own rendition of the recent dance hit “Titanium” by David Guetta. And finally, The Zephyr took the stage as the final act of the Benefit Concert. The band consisting of senior Jon Dougherty and a few MHSS alumni performed original songs as well as a cover of a song by progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria.
At the conclusion of the night, audience members were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite acts of the night. Winning Favorite Band, the Fifth Down was awarded fifty dollars by the EHTC, though they generously gave back their award money in order for it to be added to the Benefit Concert fund. Second place winners, The Euphoric Tones, won an award of twenty-five dollars to be split among the members. Ultimately, the concert proved to be a successful fundraiser for the EHTC, as well as an entertaining night for those who paid to view the performers. Impressed with this year’s show, many underclassmen are excited to see what the 2014 EHTC Benefit Concert has in store next year.