Charlotte-based power/pop alternative rock quartet The Stellas, consisting of vocalist/guitarist Adam Middleton, guitarist/vocalist Shaun McFall, bassist Josh Knight and drummer Jacob Worden, will perform along with Lumberton’s own Dark Water Rising (featuring 2004 American Idol semifinalist Charly Lowry) and What’s Good Friday, Dec. 18 at The Rock Shop. They are generating major industry buzz with their brand of highly-caffeinated alternative pop/rock.

Combining ‘60s British pop (The Beatles, The Kinks) with modern rock (Weezer, The All-American Rejects), The Stellas sound features strong melodies and catchy hooks that put on a kinetic performance that has been amping up audiences everywhere. The band’s debut CD, Cry Baby Cry, was released in the summer of 2008.

The Stellas have shared the stage with such notable acts as Athenaeum, Blind Melon, Safetysuit, The Pink Spiders, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack and Jealousy Curve and the band continues to tour worldwide, including a recent 16-day tour of southwest Asia and the Middle East to perform for troops.

“I saw a band talking about it in Spin magazine,” says bassist Josh Knight, 29, an Air National Guardsman whose job has taken him to the Middle East numerous times since 2002.

“I was kind of nervous. I’d never left the country before,” admits Middleton, 26. The closest the band came to danger was switching planes in Afghanistan.

“Nothing happened, but they told us we were lucky (because) they weren’t shooting that day.”

The concert at The Rock Shop is $7; $10 for those under 21. Doors open at 8 p.m. For more information, go to www.therockshoplive. com or call (910) 321-ROCK. For more on The Stellas, check out their official MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thestellasband.