FALL RIVER: Residents in Fall River and area were definitely in the giving mood Feb. 10, as more than $2,500 was raised for Haiti.
The Lockview High School student council organized a benefit concert for Haiti, held at the school’s cafetorium, with more than 250 people in attendance. The night featured four local bands, with Jon Bryant the headline act.
The bands that opened for Bryant, a Fall River product, included KUCP, Berends Pages and the band without a name, as they called themselves on this night.
It raised $1,350, but with the federal government matching dollar-for-dollar what is raised by groups before Feb.12, the final tally will see $2,700 going to the Canadian Red Cross’ Haiti relief efforts.
Opening the two-and-a-half hour concert was KUCP, which consists of Bradley Hill, Wesley MacNeil, Logan Hamilton and Mitch Knight. They did a 30 minute set before giving way to all-girl band Berends Pages. With Bianca Palmer on drums, and Rachael Schrum on guitar and piano, Mo Kenney was rocking the tunes out as lead singer.
Next up was the group made up of Jenna Deagle-Potter, Brendan Morley and Michael Sheldon. Sheldon started his group’s set singing the first three songs before Deagle-Potter took over the remainder of the set setting those in attendance up for Bryant.
Bryant’s hour long set included some songs off his new CD, Two Coasts for Comfort, which is receiving rave reviews off iTunes’ Canadiana section. He belted out the tunes and after each song got a round of applause.
Bryant even commented he liked the setup, with lounge chairs setup and floor mats where people were sitting within proximity of the stage.
Overall, the concert was deemed a success by the student council, public relations representative Jennifer Yakamovich said.
“We’re pretty happy about all the money raised for Haiti,” Yakamovich said. “It was a great turn out with fantastic music. We appreciate all the support we had for this endeavour.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com