filed under Concerts | Downtown | Fundraisers | Get Out of the House | Music
VH1 to broadcast Station Fire Benefit Concert
3:59PM ON
02/19/2008
BY
Ari Savitzky
In case you didn’t know, Monday night at the DuDo’s Ctr is Phoenix Rising! Musicians United to Benefit the Victims of the Station Nightclub Fire. With the New York Times and the ProJo running longer retrospectives on the five year anniversary of the tragic blaze, hitting up this show might be a good way to support the victims.
Among the monster acts who have announced thus far: “John Rich (Big & Rich), Alabama’s Randy Owen, Dierks Bentley, Kellie Pickler and Gretchen Wilson will be joining Aaron Lewis (Staind), Tesla, Twisted Sister, Kevin Max and Stryper featuring Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl of Boston and the just added, Winger among others.”
John Rich will host the country portion of the concert while Dee Snider [of Twisted Sister] will do the honors for the rock segments. Emmy-nominated composer and musician Marc Bonilla who will serve as music director for the benefit, Carmine Appice’s SLAM!, Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Danny Seraphine with CTA, Gary Hoey and others still to be announced.
“What happened at the Station Nightclub could have happened at any rock venue across the country,” said Tom Calderone, Executive Vice President and General Manager, VH1. “We want to help raise awareness of the survivors’ challenges to a national level through both VH1 Classic and VH1. We are hoping to tap into that huge community of music lovers and remind everyone about the redemptive power that music, and the great people who make it, can provide.”
VH1 Classic and VH1 will air “VH1 Classic Presents: AFTERMATH: The Station Fire Five Years Later” a one- hour special of concert highlights on Sunday, March 23, 2008 10:00 p.m.
Astute reader Erica notes one of the more powerful lines from the NYT’s coverage of the five year milestone:
Many believe the circumstances of their misfortune — that they were blue-collar folks gathered in a scruffy club to hear Great White, a has-been “hair metal” band from the ’80s — also help explain the lack of interest. The fire ignited when the band’s tour manager lit pyrotechnics on a small stage surrounded by highly flammable foam used as soundproofing.
“We were waitresses, house painters, contractors, strippers,” said Victoria Eagan, who escaped the fire with minor injuries but whose two best friends were badly burned. “If it had been people at the opera that night, there would have been a big difference.”
Word. Snider, of Twisted Sister, brought on Country and Christian acts to boost flagging ticket sales. Tix, by the way, start at 41 bucks.
So far, tickets are selling poorly for a concert to benefit the Station Family Fund, planned for Feb. 25 in Providence. Dee Snider, the lead singer for the band Twisted Sister and the concert’s host, said country and Christian rock performers would join metal bands onstage to broaden the cause’s appeal.
“I’ve tried to get this away from being about hair bands, about heavy metal, and to make this a people issue,” Mr. Snider said. “Since nobody else is going to do it, it’s got to be musicians, all kinds of musicians, taking care of their own and reminding people this could have happened to anyone.”
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