It seems everyone has been touched by cancer. It's a horrific disease that has left many hearts broken and the fight to find a cure is generally one of the few causes that is universally championed.
Over the next month, there are two charity events featuring local musicians looking to help raise money for research to cure cancer, one grandiose in scale, the other simpler and more intimate. But regardless, both are working for a common goal: in hopes you'll join them and share a few laughs and songs with them while raising money to help combat one of the worst killers in our country.
The first one is a Pasta Buffet Dinner being held Thursday April 23rd at The Mill (3199 Sandwich St.) on the West side. It starts at 6pm and tickets are $20 - that gets you all-you-can-eat pasta buffet, entry to the charity dinner, and it's all going to the Windsor-Essex Cancer Centre Foundation. Entertainment for the evening is being supplied by the guys from Client 9, a great two man acoustic troupe featuring Robert Desmarais and Dale "Elad" D'Amore. These guys play primarily covers (but it's a great collection of some off-the-beaten path tunes from the 70's, like vintage Alice Cooper and The Ramones). D'Amore and Desmarais are celebrating their first anniversary together as Client 9, but D'Amore has been a staple on our scene and one of it's most respected guitarists, from founding the highly influential late 70's punk outfit The Spy's, to his other current gig as one of the ax-slingers for Guitar Army (formerly Elad's Guitar Army). You can get your tickets in advance at The Mill or give them a call at (519) 253-2509 for more information on the event. Despite what some media alludes to, the "incident" at Spicoli's last month is not something that happens on the West side very often, and with a great collection of bars (Billie's Place, Spicoli's, The Dominion House Tavern, Rock Bottom, as well as The Mill) featuring live music on various nights, the West side is still one of Windsor's undiscovered gold mines for band's to seek out a new audience - many of the West side regulars are University students who have yet to discover downtown and call the area around the University their stomping grounds. You may pack Phog or The Chubby Pickle, but a lot of those kids still wouldn't know your bands name from a hole in the ground. This is a great event to check out, regardless, to get yourself fed, hear some great tunes and support a great cause. It starts early, so even if you just stop by for dinner before heading off somewhere else, it's worth the support.
On a far grander stage is Jeff Burrows' 3rd Annual 24-Hour Drum Marathon. This is being held on Saturday May 2nd at The Blind Dog (761 Ouellette Ave.), with all proceeds going to help out the folks at Transition To Betterness. T2B has been helping cancer patients by creating home-style comfortability within hospital settings, from Windsor Regional to Leamington Memorial. Burrows has been a champion for T2B, doing all sorts of charity work to raise funds and awareness for these outstanding community members. The former drummer for The Tea Party relies heavily on favours from his many, many musician friends to help out with his 24-hour jam session, and this year is no different. He's got some great local support when the incomparable Dusty starts off with Jeff Burrows at 2 a.m. on Saturday night. He's playing with Jeff until 8 a.m. when he's relieved by the duo Toast & Jam. These guys play fun covers and have been playing to packed houses from Patrick O. Ryan's to Koko Pellies. Toast & Jam run from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., when The Demelo Brothers' country sounds take over until 2 p.m. From 2 p.m. until 8 p.m., Jeff is joined by three members of Citizen Erased (Justin, Jim and Jeff) for some rockers. Following these popular local alt. rockers will be Heat Miser from 8 p.m. until midnight. At the midnight hour, Burrows is joined by his local jam supergroup, Is There A Band In The House?, that features the talents of Kelly "Mr. Chill" Hoppe (Mr. Chill & The Witnesses, ex-Big Sugar) on harmonica and saxophone, Daren Dobsky (ex-Royal Dose) on lead vocals and guitar, Nick Belulis (MISSILES, ex-Porcelain Mary) on lead guitar, and David Cyrenne (ex-feal, ex-Kildare Trio) on bass. For the final hour, Burrows will be unveiling his latest musical endeavour when members of his new band Crash Karma (featuring I Mother Earth's Edwin on vocals, Our Lady Peace's Mike Turner on guitar and Zygote's Amir Epstein on bass) join the jam. It'll be crazy 24 hours of music, from acoustic to bombastic rock and roll, but again, it's all for a great cause. Donations are at the door or you can even donate on-line at Transition To Betterness' website.
Ever since I've been covering local music (from The Windsor Scene to radio and soon to be the Windsor Star), my mandate has always been in covering the original music projects - those who are writing and recording their own material and actively pursuing their band as a career and promoting themselves. I choose not to cover the cover acts simply because there are so many of them and I feel that bands who are touring, releasing CD's, etc. need the exposure more. I have nothing personally against the cover acts, but that has always been and will always be my mandate with local coverage. But in some cases - such as something as important as this - I'm letting my mandate slide. As someone who has lost much of his family to cancer (as well as several very close friends), I urge you to make an effort to make it out to one of these two events. We go to see so many shows purely for our own enjoyment - it wouldn't hurt us to attend one to help someone else's.
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