Band is battle-tested at Lake County Fair

Crete, a band with Carmel Catholic High School roots, rocked the Lake County Fair's Battle of the Bands contest Saturday.

Open to Lake County bands with members under 21 years of age, six bands battled for four hours in the second annual event. In the end, the five-man band took home $300 and another Battle-of-the-Band win.

"We started the band three years ago, but we've really put a lot of work into it this year," said Joe Kopecky, 18, of Lake Villa.

The group also took first in Battle-of-the-Bands competitions at Carmel High School in Mundelein and the Brickhouse in Antioch. Their win at the Brickhouse earned them a gig playing at the Gate 3 stage at Cellular Field when the White Sox take on the Kansas City Royals August 13.

Kopecky and Socrates Kaitson, 18, of Lindenhurst, got their start playing at festivals in the Long Grove retail area. Both sing vocals and play a wide range of instruments. The Carmel graduates will attend DePaul University, where they already have gigs lined up this fall.

"We plan to keep playing and see how far it takes us," Kaitson said.

Other band members include drummer Jonathan Newton, 18, of Ingleside, rhythm guitarist Neal Anderson, 17, of Winthrop Harbor, and keyboardist Steve McCarthy, 18, of Lake Villa. Newton will attend the College of Lake County in the fall, and Anderson is a senior at Carmel.

Focusing on classic rock and original tunes has been instrumental to their success. The group has cut three albums and written 35 original songs.

They played a selection of Ray Charles, Beatles, Journey, Rolling Stones and Monkees tunes, as well as original songs.

"I thought the music would be good," said Jackie Patanella of Wadsworth, who was attending the fair for the first time.