For guest quartet, it’ll be a gas, gas, gas
These Rolling Stones imitators wear college sweaters and Converse shoes and like to comb their hair.
But while they dress more conservatively than Keith, Mick and the gang, they nonetheless are likely to get the same sort of satisfaction when they take the stage to perform songs made famous by the iconic band.
The four clean-cut students in the Corona del Mar High School string quartet will join Rolling Stones tribute band Jumping Jack Flash on stage during the touring show “Beatles vs. Stones: A Musical Shootout” for two songs Saturday night at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. Beatles tribute band Abbey Road will also engage in the musical throwdown.
The “shootout,” which has been touring since 2011 and made stops in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Australia, frequently invites local high school quartets to perform during the concert. Show officials contacted Corona del Mar High’s director of instrumental music, Val Jamora, in late November to add an orchestral element for the evening.
Jamora selected violist Robert Garrett, cellist Ellie Pietsch and violinists Wesley Davies and Alice Warden to perform with Jumping Jack Flash on the hits “As Tears Go By” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
So do the teenagers possess a hellraiser reputation like Keith Richards’? Hardly.
“They’re the musical leaders, and they’re the ones all the students look to,” Jamora said Monday afternoon.
Three of the quartet’s members also perform with the Four Seasons Youth Orchestra, a nonprofit based in Rancho Santa Margarita.
“I’m really excited, but I’m not exactly sure how we got contracted,” said Robert, a sophomore.
Eighth-grader Wesley agreed.
“I could not name you one song,” he said of the world’s arguably most enduring rock band. He can, however, name pieces by his favorite composer, Antonin Dvorak.
That is one thing the four share with the Stones, a passion for music.
Wesley, who has been playing the violin for 10 years, also plays the cello and guitar. He and fellow eighth-grader Alice are the school’s co-first chairs in the orchestra. Robert, who said he has been a fan of the Rolling Stones since elementary school, has played the viola for eight years and is the school orchestra’s first viola chair. And Ellie has been a cellist for five years.
“I like this because it puts them in a professional setting,” Jamora said. “They will be treated like professional musicians, and I think that is really valuable. They get to say they were onstage with a major rock band.”
They won’t replicate Mick Jagger’s over-the-top arm gestures, but after a few rehearsals at Alice’s house, the ensemble said they feel confident they’ll hold their own with a rock band in front of an audience. They’re up against El Toro High School’s string quartet, which will take the side of the Fab Four.
The duel is part of an 110-stop tour. The bands perform three sets each, trading places in quick set changes and ending the night with an encore involving both bands. Though no actual winner is chosen at the end of the night, the musicians ask the audience to vote by applause.
“Brutal bragging rights after the show,” said Andy Nagle, one of the show’s producers. Nagle said certain venues tend to be Beatles-oriented, but the Coach House favors the Stones since Jumping Jack Flash is a South County band and has a large following.
The high school quartet said they will leave the bandannas, threadbare tanks, eyeliner and flared velvet suits to the members of Jumping Jack Flash. Their goal for the night is to show the audience that string instruments can be used in different ways and are not reserved just for classical music.
And Robert has one more thing on his mind: His high school’s winter formal is the same night.
After orchestra rehearsal Saturday morning, he’ll have a 4:30 p.m. sound check, dress in a tuxedo, take photos, drive back to the Coach House for the concert and then attend the dance in Tustin.
His date, he said, won’t mind.
“She’s a violinist,” he said. “She’ll understand.”
Spoken like a true rock star.
If You Go
What: “Beatles vs. Stones: A Musical Shootout”
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano
Cost: $15 to $18
Information: (949) 496-8930 or visit thecoachhouse.com