SHOUT! Arts

After months of careful planning, coordinating and promotion, "This Magic Moment" finally arrived in Los Baños, along with a few other oldies.

There was only standing room left for the stragglers who arrived Saturday as Kelvin Boyd's Drifters brought their doo-wop classics to Los Baños High School's multipurpose room.

The evening concert, which included "There Goes my Baby," "Under the Boardwalk," and "Save the Last Dance for me," capped off two and one half hours of performances from local groups, high school choirs and opening acts before the five-man show finished the evening.

Event coordinator Tom Faria said more than 350 people attended the concert, which was the climax of "50s Day With the Drifters." The fund-raising event included a car rally, dance marathon and 1950s costume contest at the Los Baños Fairgrounds.

"That concert went very well and I would count it as a success. It was also for a noble cause and well worth all the effort put into it," Faria said. "It was a great success to be able to have these kind of events for our children."

Co-sponsored by the high school's music department, S.H.O.U.T arts and Privacywear.com, the day's events began at 11 a.m. with the dance marathon. The four-hour marathon, broadcasted live from a local oldies radio station, included some 30 individual dancers, organizer Joyce Lee said.

The event also provided organizers with a chance to spread awareness about the concert's chief beneficiary, breast cancer research and prevention. Lee said proceeds from the events will go to fund various cancer-fighting agencies.

Among those at the event was Beverley Bass, who ran a cancer information booth at the fairgrounds. A seven-year cancer survivor, Bass participates in the yearly Making Strides for Breast Cancer event in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

"It's wonderful to see people here. As an activist, I tell people 'one deed won't do it all, we've got to keep on doing it. One step wont do it all, we've got to keep on walking it, and one word wont tell it all, we've got to keep on talking it.' My hope is that one day with help like this, breast cancer will be a thing of the past," she said.

Most of the crowd for the event didn't show up until it was concert time at the high school, when organizers sold more tickets at the door than they had seats.

It was a rocky start. Faria said The Drifters were forced to delay their appearance. A monitor problem caused several shake-ups in the scheduling as other performers went early while technicians worked on the problem, he said.

"We spoke with their sound people and thought their monitors would interface with ours and they didn't. So we had to interface with their system really quickly and we did," Faria said.

Before the main act, crowds were warmed up with performances from the high school's Chamber Singers and A Cappella choirs. Other numbers from individual performers and the S.H.O.U.T youth choir utilized 1950s classics before the Drifters took to the stage.

Lee called the concert an "exciting part" for the youth performers.

"The exciting part for the youth and our high schools is that they can perform along with this legendary group," Lee said. "They are just dynamite. They have traveled all over the world and they've been in operation since 1953. I just love them."

Drifters frontman Kelvin Boyd said Saturday's show was the second time the group has performed in Los Baños. The group is currently traveling to venues that include Alaska, Los Angeles and Chicago, he said.

"We just want everybody to have a good time because that's what rock 'n' roll is all about, people getting down and boogie-ing," Boyd said. "It's an old-fashioned show with lots of the old and the new. But we're mostly doing the classic songs."

Since its founding in 1953, the Drifters have become one of the longest performing groups in American history. Becoming Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductees in the 1990s, Boyd said the group was mentored by the last surviving original Drifter, Bill Pinkney.

Boyd said the group dedicated Saturday's concert to Pinkney, who died from a heart attack in July. And with funds going to breast cancer research, Lee said she hopes his memory will help save the lives of women.

"This concert will help the lives of others, I can't stress that enough," she said.

Enterprise staff writer Andrew Green can be reached at 388-6564 or agreen@losbanosenterprise.com