Rollin' with Rockit's Woodstock Tonight

When we last saw and heard the kids from Middetown resident Bruce Gallipani's Rockit group, they were marching through the classic 1971 Who album, Who's Next.

Now, Gallipani's rock apostles are tripping back in time a bit more and paying homage to the music of Woodstock, the historic 1969 music festival. Rockit, A Woodstock Tribute opens tonight.

The mission of Rockit is to give kids an opportunity to play rock 'n' roll with their peers, bringing them together to perform live as a band.

The program is designed around the process of taking the individual musician or singer, matching them up with mates to make a band to take their magic to the stage. The endpoint of the six, 90 minute rehearsals (note they do not refer to them as classes) is rocking on the Count Basie stage.

Recently, Gallipani and his collection of shaggy haired charges loaded in some equipment and set decorations to the school's headquarters on Monmouth Street as they prepared to stage their own Woodstock.

True to the period they're capturing in prerformance, teen girl rockers Allison LaRochelle and Shannon Corsi danced hand-in-hand on the sidewalk signing I Wanna Hold Your Hand, while the boys in the band muscled Marshall half-stacks up the curb and inside. And inside, Come Together was still coming together, being rehearsed by another Rockit foursome. 

And despite the fact that heavy rain did not stop the show on Yasgur's farm some 42 years ago, Hurricane Irene did, in fact, force the Basie and Gallipani to shift the show from its original premier to tonight.

For the record, Gallipani was overheard instructing the kids on the need for a rain chant.

If you didn't get tickets to the show, you can take a sneak peek here. Check out the photo gallery above.