Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 31, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - The folks who produced the youth rock concert "A Night in the Johnsons' Living Room" are back at the Multiplex tonight for a back to school special.

Though many of the musicians who will perform tonight have recently graduated from high school, the show will go on as a means to inspire talented youth who will be hitting the books next week.

"They wanted to do it just as school was starting so we could stimulate all the other kids who want to be in bands," said Brian Herbert, organizer of the concert and father of Colm and Bryn, two of the show's featured musicians.

This isn't Herbert's first time organizing one of these shows, and judging by the five shows he has already booked for the year, it certainly won't be his last.

He said he wants "to keep this up so that the youth in town have got a place to play that doesn't involve being in a bar or anything."

Four youth bands will be playing at this show, including Sweet Pea, a three-man band which was practising Wednesday in the Herberts' garage.

Colm Herbert, the band's guitarist, said of the shows "it provides something for teens in Yellowknife to do."

His brother Bryn, on bass, said it gives youth a sense of a musical community.

"It gives the kids a way to explore new kinds of music," he said.

The brothers, along with drummer Brad Choquette, have a set of loud and heavy tunes prepared for tonight. This will likely be Choquette's last show in town. He, along with a bandmate, will be leaving town in a few months to pursue a career in music, starting in Kelowna.

Bryn is also planning a move to Edmonton, where he plans to further his education.

The three other bands that will play tonight at the Multiplex are Fish Be?, Fightface #_* and A Frayed Reality.

"Generally they all do original music," said Herbert. "They write their own music, they write their own lyrics and I think that's just fantastic."

One of Herbert's goals with the shows he produces is to showcase the talent that young musicians in town have by providing a venue to shine in.

He said he is hoping for a better turnout at this show than at "A Night in the Johnsons' Living Room," which drew a small crowd. The doors will open at 7 p.m. tonight.