OK.
So they weren’t the Beatles—though they did do a Beatles cover.
And, no, maybe Pink Floyd’s admonition, “Teachers, leave the kids alone”, made a few in the audience arch an eyebrow, but hey, it’s Christmas—and it was Flame.
In what’s become a Sharon Springs Central School tradition, Flame, the Fulton Country ARC cover band, put on an hour-and-a-half show for kids, faculty, and staff Thursday.
Based in Johnstown, Flame has just released a CD of holiday classics; the success of its first, “All For A Reason”, helped the band buy the tour bus it arrived in Thursday.
All of Flame’s members have physical or developmental disabilities; among them: Autism, blindness, and Down Syndrome.
But that doesn’t mean much once vocalist Michelle King and her crew take the stage, and if you ignored the kindergartners screaming and waving their hands in the front row, it could have been any other rock concert.
“It’s a Christmas gift for the kids, but the fact that these are fantastic performers who happen to have disabilities also figures into it,” said SSCS Principal Pat Green afterward.
“We probably wouldn’t bring in a rock band that was just a rock band, but Flame is pretty inspirational.”
This was Flame’s third appearance at SSCS.
The first year, Mr. Green said, the kids sat in their seats applauding politely.
The second year, they started a conga line about halfway through.
Thursday, they waited until the second song before they were on their feet and the excitement never faltered.