smCOLUMN SEVENTY-EIGHT, NOVEMBER 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)
SECTION TWELVE
EMAIL PAGE TWELVE
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COLUMN
SEVENTY-EIGHT, NOVEMBER 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)
A TRIBUTE TO THE FALLEN HEROES OF ENGINE
33, LADDER 9
Subject: Re: engine 33 benefit concert
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 14:11:02 EDT
From: Thnderdog@aol.com
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com
hey al...
here's the photo tribute: Engine 33, Ladder 9 Benefit at
Don Hill's
and here is the piece (entries from my website)...
-steve conte
10/15/2001 NYC Benefit Concert for Firefighters w/ Jewels,
Squier, Wolves, Nile, Phoebe Snow, Sophia, Hank, Rats, Captain D., The Bone...
NYC's best bands will gather October 29, 2001 to help families of 10 lost
firefighters
The firefighters of New York City's Engine Company 33,
Ladder 9 (located on Great Jones St. between Bowery and Lafayette) were among
the first to respond to calls to the World Trade Center on September 11. Of the
eleven men in that company who answered the call that day, only one survived.
Richie Conte was that one. While grateful to have been
spared, the pain and grief he feels for his fallen brothers is immeasurable.
Upon learning of the situation, Richie's cousin, musician Steve Conte, went
downtown to visit the firehouse. 'the
ten men who ran into those burning buildings were supporting wives and children,
some of them older parents," says Conte. "I knew then that I needed to do
something that would directly benefit those families."
What he did was to organize a concert honoring the fallen
heroes of Engine 33, Ladder 9.
"First, I rang up my old friend Don Hill, who immediately
said we could use his club and that he would provide all the necessary
equipment. Next, I called on some of my fellow musicians and everyone I asked
responded with a resounding, "YES, I'll do it!??
The best of the city's rock, blues, and soul artists,
Billy Squier, Christina Amphlett of DiVinyls with Charley Drayton on drums,
Willie Nile, Phoebe Snow, Sophia Ramos, the Hudson River Rats, Mr. Henry,
Captain Danger, Clancy Bone, and Conte's own bands Crown Jewels and Company of
Wolves, are already scheduled to appear. 'there will also be some very special
surprise guests appearing," continues Conte. "Many of the bands will be
donating CDs to sell, and NY merchandise company "In Record Time? has
offered to donate an event T-shirt that we'll sell as well. One-hundred
percent of the money raised from this event will go directly to the firehouse to
help the families of the heroes who lost their lives saving so many others."
The Benefit Concert for Engine 33, Ladder 9 will be held:
Monday, October 29, 2001
Doors at 8 PM, music starts at 8:30
$20 Donation
Don Hill's
511 Greenwich St. (corner of Spring and Greenwich)
New York, NY
10/29/2001 10/29 Benefit: Highlights Of Show, Financial Report...
We'd like to thank everyone who attended "The Benefit
Concert For Engine 33, Ladder 9...the show raised a nice pile of money for the
families of the lost firefighters. So far, the donations are up around
$13,500.00, that's from the concert plus mail-in contributions. We are expecting
more mail-in donations at the Thunderdog Music PO box in the coming week. Again,
thanks to all of you who donated at the door and bought event t-shirts and
CDs...plus a very special acknowledgment to our friend Billy Squier who made an
extremely generous financial contribution! If you couldn't make the show but
would like to donate to the fund, make checks out to:
"Engine 33 Commissary" and send C/O: Thunderdog
Music
PO Box 494
NY, NY 10028
USA
...And now for the musical highlights:
Clancy Bone kicked off the eve with their brand of
instrumental funky/surf/spy/soul joined by Lisa Desimone singing "Love will
Keep Us Together"....next up, the Hudson River Rats threw down some classic
blues after which the crowd was treated to a jazz standard by the Conte
brother's mom, Rosemary...Phoebe Snow, sick with laryngitis took the stage
(despite the fact that she couldn't sing) and delivered a wonderful speech about
the efforts of the benefit and her love for the Contes...Mr. Henry did a
powerful 3 song set and were followed up by Captain Danger (frontman Aaron
Hondros in a red cape and Steve Conte sitting in on wacky keyboards!)...Sophia
Ramos kicked it with a set of sexy, soulful hard rock unparalleled by any woman
on the planet...the reunion of Company of Wolves was worth waiting for, frontman
Kyf Brewer pulled out a set of bagpipes for a beautiful version of "Amazing
Grace" (joined by fiddler Julie Baker who stayed up for the whole set),
then rocked out on "Call of the Wild" and two songs off of their
latest CD, "Steryl "Spycase"...Willie Nile gave of himself
totally, kicking off with "Ya Gotta Be A Buddha In A Place Like This"
into the title track of his latest CD "Beautiful Wreck of the
World"...the crowd was champing at the bit in anticipation for Billy Squier
who started off with the very appropriate, "Sweet Release"(a song not
performed on his tour this summer) then took it to the next level with "Dont'
Say No" and "Everybody Wants You"...as if that wasn't enough of
an ass-kicking, diVinyls frontgirl, Chrissy Amphlett (with Charley Drayton on
drums and Steve & John Conte on guitar and bass) hit the stage with the lead
track from her eponymous 1990 smash album, "Make Out Allright" and
went out on a grinding version of "Need A Lover"...Chrissy was
stunning and I believe I saw the whole audience light up a cigarette after the
experience...and finally, last but certainly not least, the Crown Jewels set,
consisting of a reworked "Revolution In The Air" from their "Spitshine"
album (Andy Hollander, Mr. Henry keys player and producer of the forthcoming
Jewels record played organ) and "Linoleum" fave "Toughest Girl in
the Neighborhood", Steve sang his heart out while brother John and Rich
Pagano pounded out the groove...then came the all star jam, Crown Jewels was
joined by Squier, Sophia, Kyf, mama Conte and a host of other talent for a funky
version of "Hey Jude" and "A Little Help From My
Friends"...all in all, an amazing night of music and entertainment, ya
shoulda been there!
The show was recorded on multitrack tape so stay tuned for
word on a benefit album to come out of this concert...
1/1/2001 Benefit Addendum: Firefighters Rock Out, MC Gives Love, Beautiful Night...
Engine 33, Ladder 9 provided the memorial for their 10 lost
brothers brought from the firehouse; a giant poster board set up on an easel
with candid and family photos and names of the firefighters. We set it up under
a streaming red spotlight...it was beautiful and moved some to tears. My cousin
Rich Conte, the sole survivor of 9-11 actually got up onstage and said a few
words, "...I know that the guys are with us here tonight...I can feel their
spirits in the room...and we're all gonna rock out and have a good
time...." We were really proud of his strength, it was amazing.
We had a fabulous MC for the evening, our good friend Peter
(Elliot) Siegel. Peter had interviewed cousin Richie a few days before and got
info on each of the 10 firefighters. At the start of the evening and between
every artist's performance Peter, dressed in a suit and tie with an FDNY
baseball cap, delivered a short piece about each hero and dedicated the
following set to him. Richie and the other fireman present that night were
overwhelmed with gratitude for this spectacular event we had put on for their
brother's families.
Just before Billy Squier's set a group of about 10
firefighters in full regalia came in to catch their favorite rocker but as he
was about to hit the stage a call came in and they all had to run to the
truck...to do what only they can do.
In the next few weeks I'll be updating you all with more
info...the final $ count and news on a possible live CD. There may be photos and
even video added to this site so stay tuned...
******************************
Music * Pictures * News
Crown Jewels: The Official Website
Liquid Audio - Bubble & Squeak
##
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