Rock Band of Lemont Teachers & Alums to Play Forge September 23rd

It goes without saying that teachers rock, but a few Lemont teachers are taking their rockstar status to a whole new level by playing in a band with former students and a parent. They will perform together at a charity concert to raise money for both the Old Quarry Middle School and Lemont High School band programs on Thursday, September 23rd from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at The Forge: Lemont Quarries.

Bottle Rocket is a local band whose members include Old Quarry Middle School Band Director Frank Alongi, Lemont High School Band Director Matt Doherty, LHS English Teacher Phil Lazzari, school alums Alex Bacon and Justin Doebert, and Forge Co-Founder Jeremie Bacon. For the charity concert, Bottle Rocket will cover songs from the Foo Fighters. “We're hoping to make Dave, Taylor, Pat, Chris, Nate, and Rami proud,” says Bacon, lead singer for the group.

Opening for Bottle Rocket is another Chicago area band, John Condron & The Old Gang Orchestra, who describes their fare as, “Music with an old-world soul and a new word sense of urgency.” Tickets for this family-friendly local event benefitting both of the Lemont schools’ band programs are $15 and can be purchased at https://www.theforge.gives/concerts

Bottle Rocket was formed in 2017 as the result of Jeremie Bacon getting to know the band directors at both schools as his four children participated in the band programs. Those three then reached out to Lazzari, Doebert, and the younger Bacon. Since then, the group has played various venues, including Metro in Chicago, where they opened for the internationally known punk rock band, PUP. “We mostly play eighties, nineties and early two-thousand rock, grunge, and punk music like Weezer, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Radiohead, etc.,” notes Bacon.

About the band’s name, Doherty says, “We were looking for a name, and I mentioned Bottle Rocket mostly because of the 1996 Wes Anderson film that was panned by critics but launched the careers of all kinds of people involved with it. There's something in the name, too, about short-lived hype, selfish fun, and instant gratification - that is, we thought it wouldn't be a long-term thing, yet here we are playing another show! I think we'll probably keep this kind of thing going.”

All of the band members perform with other bands and write and record original music. Alongi plays 100+ gigs a year and has performed with Bruno Mars, the Jersey Boys, and Doc Severinson, to name just a few. Doherty plays in and co-directs the New Lenox Community Band, which rehearses and performs during the summer at the New Lenox Commons. He is also currently a member of the group, Player B, in which he plays bass and synths with a couple of close high school friends. The group also writes and records original music and just finished recording their first LP.

Doherty notes, “I'm grateful for the chance to make music with friends and particularly grateful that the decision was made to let this be a fundraiser for our local music programs. Shows like this are a perfect way to demonstrate to students and the community how entertainment and education are connected, and that a formative experience in a band program opens creative outlets down the road.”

Lazzari, who teaches English at LHS, plays with the widely followed surf rock band, The Real Gone. Doebert and the younger Bacon (Alex) have both played in various bands since high school while attending college and working, and Alex has also produced and recorded several albums. The senior Bacon (Jeremie) has been singing and performing for years, and most recently starred in a local production of Godspell the musical with Little Mountain Community Theatre.

Bacon adds, “An event like this demonstrates to students and adults alike that playing music is a skill they can improve on and enjoy for their entire lives. It also shows that you can be a professional musician/performer while still having a ‘normal’ career path, like teaching.”

The concert is being hosted by The Forge Charitable Adventures (TFCA), whose mission is to provide access to outdoor education and recreation opportunities to people of all ages, abilities, and socio-economic circumstances, and to restore, protect and reinvigorate natural ecosystems that have been degraded by overuse or under-investment.

“Supporting music and the arts for young people is important because those programs are too often underfunded and overlooked by traditional school funding sources,” adds Bacon. Now that Summer Soirees have wrapped for the season, this is a great event to continue the enjoyment of outdoor music in Lemont. For more information, visit https://www.theforge.gives/