The Joy of Reverse Rock Stardom

“Um, I think you’re doing this whole rockstar thing wrong,” a friend said last week after I told him about our upcoming gig.

My band plays traditional concerts, but we also devote a lot of time and energy to fundraising concerts for local charities.

Last Sunday, we played at a local brewery to raise funds for a nonprofit called Micah Ministries that does invaluable work with the homeless in our community. It wasn't a "We'll donate 5% of all proceeds" marketing gimmick. (Pet peeve alert.) The event was designed from the ground up to raise awareness of Micah's programs and generate a meaningful chunk of cash.

100% of the funds received — the check the venue cut and the tip jar filled with cash — were handed over to the nonprofit. We also printed QR codes that we put on every table so the audience could easily donate directly to Micah.

Joy

We put in a full 8-hour day (1pm-9pm). We loaded, unloaded, set up, played for 3.5 hours, tore down, loaded, and unloaded again in the Virginia murder-furnace heat. By the end of the show I was a salty puddle of gingerbeardy human, but I was a happy puddle. It's tough to convey how satisfying it was to do what I love, make people happy, and raise money to help those in need. It's really incredible. Level 99 warm and fuzzy.

Call to Action

The purpose of this post is not to boast in our dogoodery. I'm sharing this to encourage other local bands to do the same thing. If you play in a band, any band, you should take a stab at organizing this type of event.

Find an organization that's doing something you really care about, contact them, line up a location, and go play your heart out for $0.00. It can provide meaningful support to organizations doing important work.

I realize there are lots of bands out there that play to eat. Your survival at a basic human level may depend on getting paid gigs, and the thought of skipping payment might be scary. I totally get it. As a group of middle-aged dudes with day jobs, donating playtime doesn't carry the same risks.

Still, I'm a lifelong believer in giving and generosity in all aspects of life. Even in times of acute financial horribleness (for me that was 1995 - 2003), giving my time and resources was always a positive experience and I survived despite my bank account balance.

Reverse Payday

This was the second time doing this event for Micah at the same brewery. Last year, we raised roughly $1500. Sunday, thanks to an amazing and generous crowd, Micah walked away with over $2100.

Some Footage

My wife grabbed these during the event:

Our Next Charity Gig Booked

We have no intention of doing it right and have booked our next charity gig. We're donating playtime to the Go For Bo 5K in September, a fundraiser of a local church that supports the children and families of Bo, Sierra Leone, Africa.

I'm hoping that we can make the Micah fundraiser an annual thing.