“Are you ready to raise the roof and rock the house?” Emcee Chris Allen yelled. The crowd erupted into shouts and applause in response.

Allen, who is the WBKO weather director, hosted the “Raise the Roof” concert at Hillvue Heights Church on Thursday night to raise awareness and money for the Down Syndrome Support Group of South Central Kentucky to build a Buddy House in Bowling Green.

The Buddy House will be a place where people with Down syndrome and their family and friends can visit to have support and education. It will be a place with pre-school and after school activities as well as extended education opportunities, and life skills training and job coaching.

Allen became involved with the support group last year for the first benefit concert. He said he has a connection with the cause because his sister-in-law has Down syndrome.

The event is something great to be involved in, and is something close to his heart, Allen said. He said he believes that a Buddy House in Bowling Green will not only make a difference in our community, but also the world.

“I want to encourage people to learn about how many are effected by Down syndrome,” Allen said. “A lot of people don’t understand it, I want to break down those barriers.”

Three bands played at the concert, Hat Trick featuring Tyrone Dunn, Bobby Baldwin and Wigglestik, and Micah. The BG Rockerz ,a dance group made up of people with Down syndrome also performed.

Hat Trick featuring Tyrone Dunn took the stage first, breaking into a slow blues sounding rendition of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”

The band’s next song, a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstiton,” inspired David Essler, a BG Rockerz member, to dance in front of the stage. Essler brought a whole repertoire of dance moves, including the robot and some break dancing.

It means a lot for people with Down syndrome to feel a part of something that makes them feel special and loved by the community, Dunn said.

“I can do that through music, handshakes and hugs,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to be a part of something like this.”

The second band, Bobby Baldwin and Wigglestik, began to play as smoke blanketed the stage. Their classic rock feel had the audience singing during their cover of ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man.”

Baldwin, who is a seasoned musician, said that although this was a familiar environment, playing at this concert was quite a unique experience.

“The feeling here tonight was a sense of shared purpose,” he said. “Its great to do something you love, especially when it’s toward something that is a good cause.”

The BG Rockerz were next to perform. They took the stage as “Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night” by The Black Eyed Peas played to a video showing the group practicing in the dance studio. They each exchanged high fives as they get set in their positions.

Hand motions that suit the lyrics accompanied “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus for the Rockerz first dance. The audience cheered throughout the song to encourage the dancers and then, gave the BG Rockerz a standing ovation.

Louisville senior Melissa Schindler said she thought the song was a perfect fit and found herself tearing up during the performance.

“The whole I time I was just thinking, they have dreams just like everyone else,” she said. “We’re all just trying to reach our goals.”

The BG Rockerz next song was a dance mix including songs such as “Space Jam” by Quad City DJs and “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. The mix got everyone dancing and singing along.

For the group’s final song, the band Micah joined the BG Rockerz onstage to dance to “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus.

BG Rockerz member Alex Embry thought his time on stage was exciting.

“He was in his element,” Rod Embry said of his son, Alex, after he came offstage.

Bowling Green senior Liza Tichenor, choreographed the dances for the BG Rockerz. She said that she wants to help people with Down syndrome to have an outlet to express themselves, a sort of dance therapy.

“The look on their faces is priceless,” she said. “That’s the joy and passion that you look for, it’s so pure, true and honest.”

The last band to take the stage was Micah, the band who had envisioned the benefit concert. They had a surprised planned for the audience. Kate Tichenor, a BG Rockerz member and sister of Micah’s lead guitarist Joe Tichenor, would help sing a song called “Today” with lead singer Jacqueline Wallace, while Alex Embry played the drums.

Kate Tichenor took center stage, jumping in time with the beat and waving her hands in the air. She periodically reached down to the waving hands of the fans and would catch herself on the projector screen and smile.

She said she is a big fan of Micah and goes to a lot of their shows.

“I would like to do it again, it was fun,” Kate Tichenor said.

Wallace and Kate Tichenor grew up together, and Wallace said singing with her was awesome.

Wallace also said that she was happy with the number of people that came to the concert and that the night was a definite success.

Scott Essler, president of the support group, said that there is nothing like a Buddy House that they know of in the country, so they want to be the first to start it. He also said that, as of Thursday, the support group had raised about 25 percent of their goal of $50,000 toward getting a Buddy House.

Support Group Treasurer Denise Huffman said that the benefit concert raised about $2,331and there was about 450 attendees.