THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407140174
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
National recording artists Sea of Souls and two other area rock 'n' roll bands hope to help Elizabeth City teenagers find their voice.
All three acts will perform July 23 at Hobbs Park to raise money for Project Voice, a local organization out to prove that a good time can be had by young adults without the use of drugs and alcoholic beverages.
Saturday's six-hour benefit is the biggest in a summer-long Project Voice concert series supported by local governments, private organizations and hundreds of teenagers who turn out weekends for the free shows near Elizabeth City's waterfront.
``The purpose of the series is not to promote music but to provide positive youth alternatives so that our youth aren't hanging out on the street and parking lots, drinking and using drugs,'' said Terry Blucker, vice chairman of the board of Project Voice.
Last year the Elizabeth City Council established a midnight curfew for anyone under 16. Prior to the curfew, an anti-loitering ordinance was created to keep kids from standing all evening on street corners or in parking lots.
``If you're wanting them to stop activities that are detrimental to them, you have to give them an alternative that's positive,'' Blucker said.
Hence, the Project Voice summer concert series, which kicked off in June and is scheduled to continue through August. The Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County governments each pitched in $2,500 to help the cause.
Most events are on Friday evenings and feature two-hour performances by regional bands. But Saturday's show is different. It's still free, like the others, but it will last from noon to 6 p.m. and center around what promoters hope is a festival-like atmosphere.
Vendors will set up booths near the concert stage and donate 10 percent of profits to Project Voice, the nickname for the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Task Force.
Funds raised will go toward purchasing concert series equipment, Blucker said.
Dubbed ``EC Rockfest '94,'' the festival will include two-hour sets by Sea of Souls, Vendetta and ManDe Huge. All three are past Project Voice concert performers.
Virginia Beach-based Sea of Souls recently released its debut album, ``Titanic,'' to rave reviews. Produced by Norfolk's Trumpeter Records, this band's maiden voyage, unlike the title's namesake, isn't about to sink.
The June 13 issue of College Music Journal ranked ``Titanic'' No. 12 on one of its ``Loud 100'' charts, which also includes MTV mainstays Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and Suicidal Tendencies.
When Sea of Souls volunteered to take a break from their promotional tour to revisit Elizabeth City, concert promoter Bill McCoy couldn't have been happier.
``Their lyrics are very positive. Some of their songs have an anti-drug theme, and others deal with anger, hatred and bigotry,'' McCoy said.
Playing that same day will be Vendetta, a heavy metal band out of Hampton, and ManDe Huge, a Nags Head act frequently playing Outer Banks nightclubs.
ManDe Huge, formerly known as Funkamongus, specializes in a musical hybrid called funk rock. ``If you like a lot of bass in your rock 'n' roll, this is something you definitely want to see,'' McCoy said.
Elizabeth City's Brad Payne, whose American Entertainers' Assistance Foundation is helping put on the rock festival, is also hoping the bands draw a large crowd.
``I'd like the kids to see an attraction with a drug- and alcohol-free atmosphere and with no violence,'' said Payne, a guitarist, singer and songwriter now performing regularly at Water Street Cafe.
``I'm a musician, and I've seen what drugs have done to my friends because it's really screwed up their lives,'' he said.
Rockfest '94 also is being presented by Rock 102.4 WERX in Edenton and the National Musicians Employee Assistance Program and Referral Agency.
Payne and the others promise that Project Voice concerts will not be preaching and instead will promote a drug-free world by providing the proper environment.
``If we're going to save one person from getting caught up in that circle, then I think we'll have done our job,'' Payne said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Sea of Souls headlines a six-hour benefit concert July 23 at Hobbs
Park.
by CNB