Hastings benefit review

bassist4life2004 · Post by **bassist4life2004** » Sunday Jun 26, 2005

Hey, Ken Gray from Falling Higher here. Just wanted to let you all know that the benefit was AWESOME! Great crowd turnout, great music from everyone, GREAT DAY in general. That was more fun than ive had in a LOOOOONG time. Keep up the great work everyone!!!! Im really glad that i got to meet you all!

Dunston540 · Post by **Dunston540** » Monday Jun 27, 2005

Sweet, Travis from Gin n' Juice here, on our behalf we were honered to be part of the benefit. The vibes were off the hook and everyone came together for a good cause, I was amazed at the level of talent that was present and got to see some kick ass bands for the first time, considering we play 5 days a week. Thanks to everyone include Richie and Brown Bag Productions for the sick sound, 10, 000 watts, yaaaa!
Peace,
Trav

Atomic Jim · Post by **Atomic Jim** » Monday Jun 27, 2005

Hi Folks:

This is Jim, Carol and Jennifer from Atomic Blonde. We just wanted to tell you all how much fun we had the Hastings Benefit, in spite fo a bad FENDER patch cord that delayed the start of our show. (That's the fourth one that went bad, and they're on thepedal board where they don't even get moved. Jim ordered some Plantet Wave cords today.)

Anyway, it was a blast actually getting to here some extremely talented band and individuals. Like the rest of you, we're either playing or we just do get out much to hear other bands.

A special thanks to Rob of Bad Daze for having us and for putting it all together. Jim's done that before, many years ago and it's not easiy.

And of course, thanks to Jim Price for donating his time and helping to keep things runing smoothly.

And to the sound crew who worked and sweltered in the heat all day long while the rest of us were sitting in the shade

And of course, thanks to all the bands that made it such a great show, and to the fans who made it a financial sucess.

Atomic Blonde is always ready to do a benefit for a good cause. Just call.

Thanks again and great job, everyone

Jim, Carol and Jennifer Kennedy
Atomic Blonde

JeffLeeper · Post by **JeffLeeper** » Monday Jun 27, 2005

I had a great time meeting some of my Rockpage family. It's amazing how many are willing to help out in the bad times. I appreciate Rob calling me up and letting me make a fool of myself.

Lots of talented , quality people at this event.

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Monday Jun 27, 2005

$2,400!!!

r:>)

Jerry C · Post by **Jerry C** » Monday Jun 27, 2005

Hey All,
This is Jerry on behalf of Billy And The Inmates letting you know how proud we are to have been part of this event. The bands were great. Talent in this area is amazing. Thanks to Rob and Bad Daze, JP, and all who contributed ( You know who you are). I'm sure a lot of people are deeply touched right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2400.00 is AWESOME.
Keep Rockin'

Post by **Jim Price** » Tuesday Jun 28, 2005

Where do I begin?

This past Sunday in Hastings was - simply put - a VERY GOOD day. It was again an example of music bringing together a community, and musicians, fans and friends from all over coming together to show support for some folks going through rough times. Throughout the day, I heard from numerous Hastings locals, and even relatives of the families, who voiced their appreciation for the "Helping Hands for Hastings" benefit; not just for helping out the families impacted by the May 14 fire, but for providing some brightness to the Hastings community and lifting spirits after the May 14 tragedy.

The bands and performers all shined: the host band, Bad Daze, who opened and closed the event; Falling Higher with their acoustic passages; Billy & the Inmates (Rock and Roll!); John Baker (that acoustic version of "Ice Cream Man" ruled!); Felix & the Hurricanes (quality jukin' and jammin' as always); Flight 19 (donating all the July sales of their Pumpkin Fogger EP to the cause, very cool!); Jeff Leeper (who "didn't have a voice," but then turned around and nailed the highs on Roy Orbison's "Crying;" great!); Gin & Juice (turning the benefit into a jam dance party; Atomic Blonde (missing two members, these gals and guy showed a whole different side of their musical personality, and it grooved!)...Inside Davey's, Razen Kane kept it rocking and rowdy; Piranha (reuniting Roadkill's Greg, Torn Black's Ryan and drummer Scott Sass after 13 years) provided rocking, off the wall fun; and Bad Daze slammed the lid on a very successful day!

I had spent the previous three days in Harrisburg attending the Millennium Music Conference, and drove 3 1/2 hours from Harrisburg to Hastings on Sunday. My voice was wearing out, and I was running on fumes by the time the event moved inside Davey's Lounge that evening. But the warmth and spirit of the musicians and community pulling together gave me my second and third winds. And I can definitely say that Sunday's "Helping Hands for Hastings" benefit was the true highlight and most fulfilling part of my weekend.

Kudos and cheers to BadDazeRob for putting this whole thing together; Dave and his staff at Davey's Lounge; all the bands and musicians who donated their talents; Iceman for donating the shirt and getting all the musicians' autographs to present to the families; Rich and the sound staff for putting in the long day and evening; the food stand folks; Q94 Calendar Girls Barb and Michelle for volunteering their time to collect loose change during the event; Rockpage, Pennsylvania Musician and Q94 for getting the word out; and everybody who braved the heat to come out and support the cause! Indeed it was a very special day!

bassist4life2004 · Post by **bassist4life2004** » Tuesday Jun 28, 2005

Well, JP, since you cant thank yourself, ill do it for you. Thanks for going the extra 170 miles that day man, we all appreciate the fact that you could come out and do your thing at the benefit.

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Tuesday Jun 28, 2005

I saw Bassist_25 on TV!! They said he didn't show up on film or in mirrors!---->JMS

HurricaneBob · Post by **HurricaneBob** » Tuesday Jun 28, 2005

Glad to be a part of it! Wish we could have stuck around longer too.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Tuesday Jun 28, 2005

songsmith wrote:I saw Bassist_25 on TV!! They said he didn't show up on film or in mirrors!---->JMS

I hope I was doing a bad ass rock star pose in it. They say the camera adds 15 pounds; I swear that camera adds 15 pounds to my nose. I have a big enough nose as it is.

I'm sure Rob's going to be by shortly to fill everyone in (he's a busy guy; he's the Clark Kent of Huntingdon), but I'd just like to thank everyone who came out. I usually hate doing these types of posts because it feels like you're kissing your own ass in them, but the whole day was a huge success.

I won't go into detail, but we had to fight to put on this event. Special thanks go out to the Hastings police; it was great to finally have someone in power that supported this thing. You guys rock!!!

All of the bands rocked and the best part was that nobody had any ego or attitude; that made Rob and my jobs a lot more easy. Also, thank you for respecting all of the backline/PA equipment.

old Skool · Post by **old Skool** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2005

Thanks & congrats to all the bands, performers, sound crew, volunteers and everyone else involved in Sunday's show. Man, what an awesome time! Extra big thanks to Jim Price for being a part of this and to Kevin for the delicious pastries!!! Fershizzle!

ToonaRockGuy · Post by **ToonaRockGuy** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2005

Glad you enjoyed the pastries, there, Ken! I just want to echo what Dunston said earlier, it was an AMAZING day!

I want to toss out special thanks to SATAN HIMSELF, Randy of Bad Daze, who came to the rescue by providing his kick drum for my drumset. That was very friggin' classy, and despite his efforts to prove that he is pure and unadulterated evil, Randy is one of the coolest cats I've met in a long time.

Props to Rob for organizing this whole shindig, JP for driving in from Harrisburg, Richie and the gang for the pounding sound, and the bands! My God, it was awesome. I really enjoyed all the stuff that I heard, Felix and the boys rockin' out, Bad Daze kickin' the whole shebang off, Falling Highter was awesome, and especially hearing the originals from Flight 19! That was awesome! I was also really impressed with Atomic Blonde, very cool people and did a great job considering their situation coming into that gig! Very well done, everyone! And to Jeff Leeper, yes, our crowd really does love you!

JeffLeeper · Post by **JeffLeeper** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2005

You have a great crowd of people following you around , then...you should feel fortunate. Seems like they have almost as much fun as your band does.
They were way cool and very nice to the old guy.

Thanks for the nice words.

bassist4life2004 · Post by **bassist4life2004** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2005

Im just really happy the whole day went very well. Also glad that no fights broke out, cuz u know what happens when you get a bunch of drunk people sitting in one place, lol. And Atomic Blonde, wow, that was some crazy shit right there, to be able to do all of that without the drummer or bassist being able to show. That was pretty kick ass.

Let me know if some more benefits like this one go on, id be happy to help out, even if i have to fly solo. When we were gonna go for the last set, ryan was havin a hard time breathing due to some events that took place a couple days earlier, and couldnt really play much more. Falling Higher is pretty much back in comission now tho, hes feelin better, and thank god, cuz we are playing Lombardo's tomorrow night.

Another thing, i wanted to thank everyone for making me feel at home there, you guys are all genuine, and i would be honored to jam with you all again.

ROCKPAGE

Hastings benefit review

Hastings benefit review

Great time

dghj

your crowd