Benefit Concert For Newtown Youth Services Hits All The Right Notes

By Shannon Hicks

Before the first note was even played Friday night, a benefit performance by Hat City Blues Band had raised $1,400 for Newtown Youth Services.

Sponsors and advance ticket sales accounted for the early figure, and then another $600 in ticket sales, raffle ticket purchases, and donations at the door raised the figure to $2,000. The band’s three-hour performance was the conclusion to a project a few months in the making. It was something the band had been talking about almost since its creation just after the start of the new year.

In all, 73 people turned out for some or all of the performance in Edmond Town Hall’s Alexandria Room. There were people of all ages in attendance, and by the end of the evening some of the younger audience members were even dancing in the back of the room.

 “We couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out from that show,” Hat City Blues member David Lott said this week. “We would like to do something like this again.”

Hat City Blues Band, a local band with members who live in Newtown and the Danbury area, played sets that covered the spectrum of blues and classic rock. Tunes done by The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones, and the Beatles intermingled with Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” and “In The Midnight Hour,” Walter Trout’s “Ride ‘Til I’m Satisfied,” Keb’ Mo’s “Dangerous Mood” and even Santana’s “Oye Como Va.”

There was even a special guest Friday night: During the performance of Eric Clapton’s “I’m Tore Down,” Bob Stacey, a friend of the band and the lead singer of fellow local band Clashing Headstocks, joined Hat City Blues onstage as a guest vocalist.

The music was heard out on Main Street by passersby thanks to the open windows, but didn’t pose a problem for any of the evening’s moviegoers in the town hall’s theater. Edmond Town Hall theater manager Tom Mahoney purposely kept the balcony of the theater closed during Friday’s screening of The Pianist, and between the sound system of the theater and the distance between the theater and the upstairs events room, the music being enjoyed by those attending the fundraiser never interfered with the soundtrack of the film running downstairs.

In addition to the music, the audience was treated to refreshments and raffles, with winning tickets drawn and prizewinners announced during the band’s breaks. Local restaurants, businesses and individuals had provided NYS with a number of gift certificates for goods and services.

Anita Arnold, the office manager of Newtown Youth Services, felt the entire evening was a good experience.

“So many of the companies, groups, and individual people who supported Friday night’s event are people who support us during the year. It’s very affirming to us that people are willing to stretch a little bit more for us,” Mrs Arnold said this week.

“These guys put so much effort into doing this nice thing for us,” she continued, referring to Hat City Blues Band members, “it was wonderful to see the turnout. The music was fun, the guys seemed to be having a ball up on the stage, and the whole evening was just wonderful.”