In 1982, my senior year of high school, my big thing was photography. I was accomplished and a leader of the photography crew, -At times closer to a teaching assistant. The music department had my counterpart and he was a long time friend named John Cochran. One day in spring he walked up to me and informed me that he had formed the band, "The Two Stoned Kids" and was going to be forming a concert at school in the auditorium for a lower class, which was also having a dance in the cafeteria. I thought that this was great and congratulated him.

About two weeks later, John walked up to me and was in a state of anxiety and frustration as he was able to get the concert from off of the ground and everybody was being nothing but a pain in the ass. He asked if I would be the producer for him. I told him that I would agree, but I needed everyone to agree that I would be the final decision and word on all matters. I then talked to the teacher who was the class sponsor and got his agreement as well. With my autonomy, I went to the school's administration and let them know about the affair and my role in it. I immediately started getting things rolling... Even though I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

However, being in charge of a Boy Scout Troop for several years, I knew it involved using leadership and order; also delegating the work out and keeping things one track. I asked a lot of questions and now had a good idea. I knew since it was a full concert with lighting and sound, as that would have to be choreographed. I asked John to make me a tape of the performance in the order they would be playing.

I then made arrangements for two rehearsals and lighting made no bones about signing a contract for their commitment and paying them for their time. The next day I had to go the bank and withdraw the money that would be needed. At the first rehearsal, the band was there as well the lighting crew and the equipment was being brought in. I mentioned that I had a couple of things to do with photography and would be back by the time that the equipment is set up. I did my photo chores and returned about a half an hour later to find the last of the equipment being loaded with most of it already on the road. The lighting crew had left. It seemed the teacher in charge, despite his promise, decided that he just wanted to go home.

The next rehearsal was exactly the same, but I arrived just in time to keep the equipment from going out of the door. I immediately went to the principal and explained what has just happened; despite the agreement and I also mentioned that I am personally losing about $350.00. The principal agreed with me and arranged that an administrator will be immediately sitting in. By this time, the lighting crew once again left, despite I had paid them for the time and they should have stayed. The band rehearsed and throughout, we worked on the stage setup and various aspects. The administrator was most impressed and said I would be the top student if I did my homework.

The next day the principal called me into his office and said that he is very happy with the effort that I am putting forth as he felt it could be one of the greatest events that has been done at the school. He was aware of the problems and let the teacher know that indeed, I was in charge and I shouldn't have any further problems. I walked out of the office, down the hall and the teacher in charge was waiting. "Mr. Kohlman, let me tell you something... With all of this happy horse shit that you pulling, you better make my class another $500.00." Though knowing the reason for this and the fact that I was pissed; I agreed and promised to do exactly that.

Then it was off to rearrange for the lighting and this time, I made the rehearsal the day of the concert with a stage fully set. I signed a second lighting contract and paid out another $400.00 and said, no matter what, you are to remain in the auditorium. Next, my friend John was once again upset as he needed instruments and people didn't want to lend them out to him. I talked with each person and it turned out that all they wanted was to have their instruments replaced should something happen. I agreed and shook everybody's hand and promised. We now had a grand piano, Hammond organ, sound equipment and a state of the art synthesizer. Also, special- effects equipment. Now my stomach was in knots as knots as the price tag of $250,000 was guaranteed with the $13,000 in my bank account.

Now, to cede to the teachers demand, I had an idea. I called up the college radio stations and they agreed to promote the concert, John's Hopkins asked me questions about it and Towson State asked for a recording, the quality was good enough so I sent them the tape for the concert. I knew we would need more so I called the 98ROCK studios to see what could be done. They agreed to allow us to list, "The Two Stoned Kids;" concert information on their concert line.

Well it turned out that, "The Two Stoned Kids," was a perfect name for attention. The announcers couldn't say it without trip or getting tongue tied. One read it as, "The two, two sssstoonned kids?" Stopped reread it again and laughed. Even 98ROCK, the read the announcement and the other host said, "What?" After the concert line announcement, this prompted an on air conversation wondering what, "The Two Stone Kids," were all about and why would a high school be doing this concert. After a couple of minutes the hosts came to the conclusion that, "Two Stone Kids," came up with a great way to get free advertising. One female host said it in a crescendo.

I was happy that we got the word out there for the school. But the next time the sponsoring teacher saw me, he ran up and yelled, "I can't believe the horse shit that you pulled off. I'm going to tell something. We're expecting a riot and if you think your friends are going to cause trouble, you got it wrong. I am going to make sure that there are police and narcotics agents in the auditorium and we won't have any trouble happening..."

Though I was in a constantly irritated state of mind and frustration, the bigger picture seemed to be working out and I was even able to maintain my, sense of humor. Ah, too much so. John needed an opinion about his grand piano solo. He felt that the solo needed a visual counter point, but he didn't have even a foggiest of idea. I joked, "Why don't you have an old man, dressed like the Grim Reaper with a battle axe, put out the candles on the candelabra." Well wouldn't you know, he loved it and thanked me for the idea and said that I can figure out how to do that for the stage. Now I was not only the producer, I had a part of my own. I did remember that my photography teacher had a book on stage makeup. With no way to purchase stage makeup in time, I ended up having to work out a unique method.

Throughout this whole ordeal, both John and myself had we constantly being made fun of by our graduating class. If they attend, it will be to laugh at us failing up on stage. There was also the jeer of, "Better that class and not ours again!" Last year the class needed a band to play the prom and John was asked as the band he was in was called, "Driving Force." Well John said the right price, but the class didn't realize that he played only heavy metal music like AC-DC.

I remembered the ruckus that caused as our class sponsor was my geometry teacher. Class members were incensed. To my astonishment, my teacher defended John, "Why is everyone mad at him? I warned the class that this isn't the best choice for the prom. Well, they wanted to save money and should of booked a dance band. To me, John and his band played great, just it was nothing to dance to. I really don't like listening to that type of shit, but I rather enjoyed it myself." In fact, every teacher in the school was aware at the production and that geometry teacher let me know that he was glad that John was doing the concert and felt that it will yield much better results.

The next day...
The concert!