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It can be said, without hyperbole, that Joe King (aka Joe Queer) is to American punk rock music what Mark Twain was to American letters. Like Twain, King is a humorist at heart. Like King, Twain was a big time instigator, a tweaker of society’s norms and values.

Both men are loved by millions the world over.

Why this odd analogy you might ask, dear reader? Well, because on Saturday, some 25-plus years after forming one of punk rock’s seminal and most influential bands right here on the Seacoast, The Queers will finally take the stage at that most hallowed of local venues, The Music Hall in Portsmouth, where one day in 1908 Mark Twain also stood and cracked wise.

This is an event of epic proportions that requires immediate action. Mayor Marchand, if you’re reading this, I recommend you draft emergency legislation proclaiming Saturday Queers day in Portsmouth.

And if any of you reading this need me to tell you to buy some tickets then, honestly, you don’t deserve to be there.

Here’s the scoop: The New Hampshire Teen Institute is throwing a seven-hour Rockfest on Saturday at The Music Hall. The line-up is a who’s who of the Seacoast’s long-running rock royalty. Tickets are $25 for the all-day affair that kicks off with Pondering Judd at 2 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. after a one-hour set from The Queers.

This will be a homecoming for King, formerly of Hampton, who now makes his home in Atlanta. “Yeah, we never did ever get to play The Music Hall so this will be fun,” King said in a telephone interview last week. “We played the Masonic Hall a few times.” This time around, The Queers will include original member Wimpy Rutherford, Geoff Palmer of The Guts, “a drummer from Providence,” along with other assorted guests. “I guess I’ll just kind of wing it,” said King. “It’ll sort of just be like whoever’s game to jump up on stage with us. Maybe someone from Hotrod Fury.”

The line-up is the brainchild of Sue Cook, girlfriend of Mark Paquin, who plays bass for Famous. “We’re doing this to raise funds for the Teen Institute, but in a way that also supports the local music scene,” said Cook, who works with Teen Institute board member Kate Ricci at Rivier College in Nashua and jumped on board to help organize the bands. “When word got out that we were doing this lots of bands asked to be part of it but there was only so much room.”

The New Hampshire Teen Institute, based in Concord, has a grassroots background dating back more than 20 years, said Ricci. “The primary mission of our organization is to empower youth to make positive choices,” she said. “We’re not just talking about drugs and alcohol, but about making positive decisions healthy relationships and healthy bodies. It’s about how to be an independent thinker in all areas.”

The Institute offers two primary service programs to New Hampshire teens: Leadership in Prevention (LIP) and the Summer Leadership Program (SLP). “These are really programs where we have teens talking to teens,” said Ricci. “They listen to their own better because they know what pressures are out there at school and in society.”

Part of the reason for Rockfest is to help replace funds previously supplied through state grants, but which have been dramatically cut back since 2004, said Ricci. The other reason, she said, is just to give teens a chance to have a good time in a safe environment. “We came up with this idea because a rock concert is something they’d be interested in,” she said.

Rockfest line-up

What: T.I. Rockfest, featuring Pondering Judd (2 p.m.), The Andwutz (3 p.m.), Starch (4 p.m.), Jupiter 2 (5 p.m.), Heavens to Murgatroid (6 p.m.), Famous (7 p.m.), and The Queers (8 p.m.)

When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2 to 9 p.m.

Where: The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth

Cost: $25 (leaving and reentry allowed)

Contact: 436-2400, www.themusichall.org, and www.nhteeninstitute.org

Michael Keating is managing editor/ features at Seacoast Media Group. He can be reached by e-mail at mkeating@seacoastonline.com.