Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts sets its radio dial to 197.8
Huntington Beach High junior Jake Young may be Generation Z, but that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate the music of decades before he was born.
Young is playing drums on a pair of Steely Dan songs, “FM” and “Josie,” at the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts Retrofest 197.8 concert this weekend. He will enjoy rocking out by covering a band that was close to the peak of its powers as the 1970s drew to a close.
“It’s just really, really fun music to get into, lock into the pocket,” Young said. “It feels really good to play them on stage with other incredible musicians.”
The HBAPA Music, Media, Entertainment Technology students take on music from the year 1978 for their Retrofest 197.8 concert, which debuts Thursday night at the historic HBUHSD auditorium on the campus of Huntington Beach High.
The show is the third of the MMET season, following Playlist and the benefit concert, which highlighted Electric Light Orchestra.
It was a diverse time in popular music. The Bee Gees were vying to stay alive and Cheap Trick was telling kids to surrender but not give themselves away.
Styx, Journey, Donna Summer and the Doobie Brothers are just some of the other artists featured in the 150-minute show, which has an intermission.
“We landed on this year because we looked at our students and what they are into,” MMET vocal director Nicole Kubis said. “They really like difficult music to play, and we thought this year had a lot that can challenge them. Very versatile. We cater toward our hard rock kids, our fusion kids, our classic rock kids. There’s something for everybody.”
The MMET students each formed bands that will have sets sprinkled throughout the show, Kubis said. Radio drops also set the mood, serving as intermissions between the songs.
“It was the beginning of different stations starting to develop a style or genre within the rock idiom — KLOS, KMET, KROQ, KHJ,” MMET director Michael Simmons said. “There was rock, smooth jazz, tea cat rock, early punk, the beginnings of new wave and disco, plus country, all hitting and still crossing over. Genres and styles were emerging, but they weren’t yet kept in silos like they were a few years later.”
Each band has also created an interpretation or presentation of one of the songs it is playing, which will be featured in the lobby for concertgoers to enjoy.
“We have a better understanding of what we’re playing or singing, and everyone else does too,” Huntington Beach High junior Courtney Springer said. “We get the back story of how they produced it, how they recorded it, who was involved … it’s good for people who aren’t familiar with the songs.”
Springer is singing lead vocals on “I Need to Know,” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. She said the energy around the Retrofest show is typically unmatched.
“I feel like it’s the most important because it’s the last show with our seniors,” she said. “We all love this show. The songs, the energy and the fact that it’s the seniors’ last show, it just makes it the best.”
Retrofest 197.8 has shows Thursday and Friday nights at 7 p.m., and Saturday shows at 1 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors at hbapa.org/see.
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