When you’re on the way to a library for a rock concert, your imagination might get the better of you.
“I was wondering if they were going to be shushing us,” said Robbie Kellogg, leaning back and laughing.
He was in a good mood Monday night. He had just heard about 45 minutes of what he called excellent surf music in the auditorium of the Northbrook Public Library. He plays the rock ‘n’ roll subgenre, too, and says it’s hard to find.
“And the price was right,” interjected Dan Cloud, another aficionado. Cloud, having heard the Dragstrip Vipers recently in Skokie, said he was happy to hear them again, free of charge.
The Vipers band was the first offering in Rock Music Month, a festival Northbrook library leaders say is rare in their business.
Like most libraries, Northbrook’s doesn’t charge anything for its entertainment, including the Vipers, a five-month-old band specializing in the fast-paced, guitar-heavy brand of instrumental music pioneered in California 60 years ago by Dick Dale.
Unfamiliar with surf? It’s the genre behind Dale’s “Miserlou,” the blood-stirring song that drives the movie “Pulp Fiction.”
Dale himself, now 79, is booked to play it Aug. 13 on Chicago’s South Side. But he’s charging $30, and Reggie’s Rock Club is warning fans to buy tickets before they’re gone. The Vipers played “Miserlou” in the library show, and about 40 people walked in right-on-time, paid nothing, and applauded and whistled their approval when the five-piece band finished the tune.
“We’re reaching out to the 20-to-40 age group,” library Executive Director Kate Hall said Friday of Rock Music Month, the library’s first foray into the musical category that’s been around for decades, but, she added, is nearly unheard of in similar institutions. “This could expose us to a whole new group of people.”
One patron was Northbrook amateur ukulele player Carol Weimer, who explained her attendance at the concert this way: “I like all kinds of music. Especially the old stuff.”
The band won the crowd over, in part likely due to the lead guitarist, Bill Pekara. Several remarked at his speed on the instrument. Pekara, 34, is not only a longtime musician, he’s a librarian who’s worked in the Northbrook library 15 years, mostly in multimedia.
“Give a big hand to Bill Pekara,” Guitarist Roger Underwood told the crowd. “He got the band here.”
Rock Music Month is Pekara’s idea, Hall said. He also brought blues to the library last fall, with Bill Specter and his band.
He’s got two more rock bands coming to Northbrook this month. Adam Fitz and his quartet play at 7 p.m., Saturday.
Bailey Dee plays at the same time Aug. 20.
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“I’ve seen all the bands at clubs around town,” Pekara said, who predicts they’ll find an audience in the Northbrook library, which has tended toward classical music.
Twitter: @IrvLeavitt