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Deacon Thomas Murphy, principal of St. Francis Academy in Bally, sat down behind a drum set onstage in the school’s auditorium. He looked at the drums with confusion and hit them hesitantly a few times.

Then, as Murphy and the two other musicians onstage launched into the start of their set, it became clear that the confusion was all an act – Murphy was more than a little familiar with drumming.

The performance Tuesday was a celebration of the students at St. Francis having read 4,500 books in total throughout the school year. This is what Murphy, who has been the principal at St. Francis for 23 years, calls the “principal’s challenge”: if his students reach their reading goal for the year, they are rewarded with some kind of surprise.

This year’s surprise was, of course, the concert, but in the past, students have been allowed to throw water balloons and pies at Murphy. The reading goal is usually about the same as this year’s, although in the past, Murphy said he had made the goal number of books as high as 5,000.

Sal Polichette and Jim Fleming, members of the New York-based band The Electrix, rounded out Murphy’s sound on guitars.Murphy and Fleming, who are now brothers-in-law, formed a band 50 years ago. Although he isn’t a professional musician like Fleming and Polichette, with just a few days of practice before the concert, Murphy said he was able to drum up some of his old skills.

“It was like riding a bike,” Murphy said. “It was like I was 18 again.”

More than 100 students attended the concert, which was about an hour long and included classic rock songs like “Sweet Caroline” and “Twist and Shout.” Several students were brought onstage to drum along with Murphy, who was thrilled to reunite part of his old band.