Usually when you get nearly a dozen rock bands together in one place it’s for a fight-to-the-finish “battle of the bands,” but in this case, 10 local bands are joining forces for a good cause.

Money raised at an Aug. 26 all-ages concert in Poulsbo will go to the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue’s Community Partnership Fund, while food donations will be accepted for the Kitsap Food Bank Coalition.

The event was spearheaded by Joey Reid and Troy Barber, members of the local band Guttersnake.

Reid and Barber have both experienced how important the community fund is in times of need.

Seven years ago Reid and his family escaped a house fire which claimed the life of a close friend. The fire department assisted Reid and his family with getting their lives back together, providing much needed shelter, food and clothing.

Barber credits NKF&R emergency medical crews with saving the life of his 3-year-old son in 2004, when the boy suffered a life-threatening seizure and lost consciousness. Barber said crews were on the scene in what seemed like just seconds. The child was airlifted to Children’s Hospital and the medics, realizing the family didn’t have a lot of funds available, gave the Barbers a tankful of gas and ferry fare so they could be with their sick child in Seattle.

“I’ll always appreciate that,” Barber said. “Joey and I were talking and we wanted to do something for the fire department. These guy are heroes, bottom line.”

Being life-long musicians, organizing a benefit concert was a natural choice. The 10 Kitsap County bands performing cover a range of ages and musical styles, Barber said, and all play original tunes; none are tribute bands. Scheduled to play are Gruff Mummies, Tarnished, Somebody Stop Melvin, Underdog, EuGean, Legend Has It, Bonecandy, Reign of Confusion, Niburu and Guttersnake.

Poulsbo’s Somebody Stop Melvin probably has the youngest band members on the bill, with all of them still in high school. The band describes its sound as “like a smoothie made of four kids with spare time and love for music, spare time, guitars, a bass, drums and minimal guitar skills.”

Guttersnake is the other end of the spectrum. Barber said the band originally formed during the early grunge years, and was influenced by bands such as Metallica and Megadeath. He has described their music as “The Ramones meets Black Sabbath.” The band members range in age from mid-30s to low-40s, and while all have day jobs and grownup responsibilities, playing in the band is still a big part of their lives.

After a lull of nearly a decade, Barber said the band is now very active.

“We realized we missed that part of our lives,” he said.

The Bainbridge Island-based Gruff Mummies have gotten a lot of press lately for their 2005 win in the EMP Soundoff! competition in Seattle. They followed that with a CD and West Coast tour. The band considers their sound to be a “mixing of the finest elements of glam rock, drawing upon inspiration from Queen, Television, Roxy Music and countless others . . .”

Tarnished was formed in 2004 and plays “killer alternative metal” with “a sober and dedicated lineup and a set of bad a** originals.”

Underdog got its start by playing at open mics in Bremerton and soon developed a number of “fun, upbeat originals which harken (back) to Americana rock and British invasion while maintaining a unique quality all its own, as well as a few rock standard covers that people love to party and dance to.”

EuGean is another young band, with members aged 16-22, with an “in your face” style of hard rock that they describe as “the music of anger, sexdrive (sic), and bitterness with a party touch.”

Legend Has It, from Bremerton, is a “hardcore punk mix of very talented

Poulsbo-based Niburu is the only band that bills itself as “alternative rock,” and its sound is decidedly mellower than the other bands. Formed in 1993, the three-piece band has toured the West Coast, playing in coffeeshops, bars and nightclubs, with lyrics that are “on the political cutting edge.” They have a self-titled, independently produced CD.

The all-ages benefit concert begins at 1 p.m. and runs till all the bands have played, approximately 11 p.m., at the Poulsbo Eagles Hall, 4230 NE Lincoln Rd., Poulsbo.

Cash admission is $3, which will go to the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue Community Partnership fund. Concert-goers can also gain admission by donating two non-perishable food items or new school supplies.

There will also be a fund-raising raffle during the concert, with the band contributing items such as T-shirts and CDs.

Most of the bands have profiles on the Web site mypace.com, and are listed as friends on Guttersnake’s myspace profile at www.myspace.com/guttersnake.