NE Rocks, a Manchester-based, top-40 rock band, whose drummer lost his brother in a drinking-and-driving accident, plays a fundraiser for The Arrive Alive Foundation tonight at 8 p.m. at Classics, 1 Highlander Way.

Fundraiser's like tonight's make it possible for the band to perform at area high schools. The band members' goal is to convince teens not to drink and drive.

Donna Packer, whose daughter, Lacey, was killed by a drunk driver a year ago as she rode on her father's motorcycle in the breakdown lane of the Everett Turnpike in Nashua, NH, will speak at an NE Rocks performance Nov. 10 in Manchester Central High School Auditorium.

Packer will tell students about the consequences of Peter Dushame's drinking and driving on her family. Dushame is serving a 15- to 30-year sentence for manslaughter in Lacey's deathmake it possible for the band to perform at area high schools. The band members' goal is to convince teens not to drink and drive.

Donna Packer, whose daughter, Lacey, was killed by a drunk driver a year ago as she rode on her father's motorcycle in the breakdown lane of the Everett Turnpike in Nashua, NH, will speak at an NE Rocks performance Nov. 10 in Manchester Central High School Auditorium.

Packer will tell students about the consequences of Peter Dushame's drinking and driving on her family. Dushame is serving a 15- to 30-year sentence for manslaughter in Lacey's death.

Testimony at his trial indicated his blood alcohol level was .33 - three times the legal measure for drunken driving. Dushame had a history of DWI convictions

But while the testimony - of people like Packer, band member Ted Chappel, or survivors of DWI accidents - is aimed at convincing young people not to drink and drive, the concert also is intended to entertain.

Promoter Ron Bellanti says, "We use the MTV approach. This is a real concert, not just another high school dance."

Bellanti said the Arrive Alive Foundation, a teenage anti-drinking-and-driving organization, is sponsoring the concert with Central's Students Against Driving Drunk chapter.

Bellanti says the show is an intricate special-effects package, with a professional sound and light show by a group that regularly performs in Boston-area clubs.

"We're not an anti-alcohol group," Bellanti said. "We don't say 'drink' either." What the foundation does, he said, is try to convince young people not to drive if they've been drinking, or not to ride with a drinking driver.

Bellanti says Arrive Alive tries to reach students who wouldn't normally be part of the SADD chapter, or any other organization. The idea is to treat the young people as adults.

"We say 'think what you're doing,'" Bellanti said.

Drummer Chappel, who was only eight when his teenage brother was killed in a DWI accident, says, "What happened was foolish, a foolish waste. That's why we are doing this, to try and reach all the kids, even the ones who don't usually listen to anybody. There has to be a way."

Tickets to tonight's performance at Classics are $5 for adults, $6 for those under 21.

Tickets for the concert at Central High School Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. are $5 in advance, $6 at the door.