Prom brought back to life through musician’s memories of years as Southridge student

When Lindsay Johnston sat down at the Garageland bar in Spokane, she knew that her new song about a wild night out would make for a fun music video.

That night she met up with one of the most well-known music video producers in the region, Tri-City native Justin Frick.

Johnston wanted to create a dynamic, rocking video for her new song “Chaperone.” She pictured a prom scene, like something out of the musical “Grease.”

“I was raised on musicals. That’s part of the reason that ‘Grease’ is such a big influence,” said Johnston, who performs under the name Vanna Oh!. “When I describe what I’m doing, it’s rock-n-roll theater. It’s the outfits and the movements, creating a spectacle.”

It took Johnston and Frick about an hour to hammer out ideas for the “Chaperone” music video. They quickly scribbled their plans on a napkin, from costumes to plot. That set them off to make one of the biggest music video productions Frick had ever filmed.

“There’s so much that goes into it, the casting, the location, the whole ensemble,” Frick said.

There’s the boyfriend — who stands in as the chaperone for the wild-child character played by Vanna Oh! — parents taking photographs, a gym full of dancing prom goers, a band and two police officers.

In the video, Johnston wanted to play with the word chaperone, taking it in a different direction from the song’s lyrics.

The song tells the story of a night out that’s gone a little too far.

“It’s kind of toward the side of out of control, where you would need somebody to watch and make sure you don’t get into too much trouble,” she said. “A chaperone as somebody to take care of you and look out for you.”

It’s a fun party tune, Johnston said, similar to old school rock-n-roll. Even though she thinks the song would fit into that era of music, it’s different, she said.

“When all of the rock-n-roll of the ‘50s and ‘60s was coming out, it was all men singing and playing the instruments, so it’s just kind of a different take on it,” Johnston said.

In a nod to her rock-n-roll roots, The Inlander called Vanna Oh! “a rip-roaring rock star in the classic sense of the term–stomping and spinning on the stage, shredding one killer riff after another, making a small room feel like a sold-out arena.”

While writing “Chaperone,” Johnston had just learned to play lead guitar. On the track she also plays rhythm guitar.

Southridge High orchestra

Johnston first fell in love with music at Southridge High School, playing the oboe in the school’s wind ensemble. Her oboe chops earned her a scholarship to Whitworth University. So guitar was a “weird shift,” she said.

“I loved that I could sing and play with (the guitar). That’s something I could never do with the oboe,” Johnston said.

“Chaperone” is the second video Vanna Oh! and Frick worked on together. But it was at a totally different scale — the first video was just Vanna Oh! on screen. “Chaperone” was a complete production.

The video starts with Vanna Oh! getting ready for prom at home, as others set up prom decorations and kick off the party. Bored, she takes photos with her date and heads to the dance.

The scene driving to the prom was Johnston’s favorite to film.

“You have no idea how much went into that 20-second scene,” she said. “It probably took an hour or two to get everything ready. (Frick) had to shoot the car from about five different angles. To get one of the shots, they had to drive down the road backwards, with the door wide open and (Frick) sitting there with the tripod, getting us as we’re driving forward.”

Frick said he had a few shots he really wanted to get. The last shot of the video was a surprise, he said. Vanna Oh! gets tackled by the police, after ditching her boyfriend and getting kicked out of the prom.

At first, Frick felt the scene just wasn’t working — the school’s carpeted hallway didn’t look right. So, he had Vanna Oh! sneak back into the prom, where the gym’s flooring had a mirror-like quality.

“That last shot where she gets slammed down to the ground, and she smiles. You see two versions of her almost. It’s like this weird metaphor of two different personalities. She’s kind of like a wildcard,” Frick said.

“That happened on the spot, organically. I was so giddy when that one happened,” he said.

Vanna Oh! had planned a five week tour this spring, including a stop at Emerald of Siam in the Tri-Cities. She’s had to cancel the tour dates but hopes to schedule a smaller regional tour this fall.

“I feel like that’s what I was made to do, be in front of people,” she said.

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 12:30 PM.