School Spirit to Lift Curtain on Rock Bands

The performance Sunday night will begin with old-fashioned school spirit and end with the heavyweight hilarity of Drew Carey and Bruce Baum. But in between, two groups of scruffy teenagers will break ground at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Andromeda, whose sound tilts toward 311 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Urban Outrage, punk rockers known primarily for heating up raucous Isla Vista street parties, will be the first hard rock bands to play in the 1,800-seat Charles E. Probst Center since the arts plaza opened in October 1994.

They are on the bill of “Lancerpalooza,” a fund-raiser for Thousand Oaks High School sports programs, because all four Andromeda members (Dave Perry, Jorel Miller, Ian Hendrickson and Brian Hendrix) and three Urban Outrage members (Eleo Cuadra, Shaun Cooksey and Louis Angeles) are students at the school.

Both groups have played the Roxy and other Hollywood clubs, but never could have ponied up the several thousand dollars needed to rent the arts plaza theater, a hurdle that has discouraged other local bands.

“We didn’t realize we’d be the first, but now that we know, it’s pretty [cool],” said Perry, guitar player and pitcher on the Lancer baseball team.

The Steve Miller Band performed in the theater a year ago. But that doesn’t qualify as hard rock to these musicians, who point out that Perry’s father is a lifelong friend of Steve Miller Band guitar player Kenny Lewis and that Miller himself is 53 years old.

A few hard rock acts, including majority DOG and the Fearless Vampire Killers, have played the arts plaza’s smaller Forum Theatre, which holds 400.

Fears that a rowdy audience might trash the posh facility have kept the arts plaza from booking hard rock acts. But the gathering of teachers, parents and athletes expected for the high school fund-raiser isn’t likely to start a mosh pit.

“We aren’t a dance hall, and the obvious concern is public safety and appropriateness,” said Tom Mitze, executive theater director. “But this is different than just bringing in a rock group.”

Comedian Baum, a regular on “America’s Funniest People,” VH-I and Comedy Central, was instrumental in putting together the eclectic bill, which also includes the comedy troupe Tangent; blues band Tim Casey and the Bluescats; comedian Bill Engvall; the school marching band; and cheerleader Jenna Allen and football player Richard Teague singing a duet.

“This will not look like a high school talent show; it will be a real professional show at a professional venue,” said Baum, whose daughter and son are Thousand Oaks High athletes. “We want to make it an annual deal.”

Most agree that “Lancerpalooza” is the type of ambitious fund-raiser the arts plaza makes possible.

“This kind of event is very much part of what this place is built to do,” Mitze said.

But it is not without risk: More than 400 tickets must be sold for the sports programs to make money.

“The people involved in the cause have to get out and peddle tickets,” Mitze continued. “The success depends on kids and parents getting behind it.”

* LANCERPALOOZA ‘96: At the Civic Arts Plaza Auditorium, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $15-$35. Call 449-2787.