Concert Aids Earthquake Victims

Thursday night, Boston College comedians and lyricists filled the Rat for the H(aid)i Benefit Concert.

The show featured acts including comedic sketches, poetry readings, a capella groups, and live bands. The concert was jointly organized by the Office of Residential Life (ResLife), the Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC), and Nights on The Heights (NOTH).

Over $1,000 was raised over the course of the night. Proceeds from the event will go toward relief efforts for the Haitian earthquake that left over 200,000 people dead last month.

The show featured groups such as The Sharps, My Mother's Fleabag, and The Voices of Imani. It also featured some of BC's lesser-known talent. Ryan Dunn and Charlie Friedman, both A&S '13, performed a musical act – the duos' first live show on campus.
"This was our first time playing in front of an audience at BC," said Friedman. "We both played the guitar before coming to BC, and living on the same floor brought us together. Our RA helped put on the event and came to us about it, asking us to play in the show."
The duo played a mixture of blues and rock. Other performances included original music as well as covers of pop artists Beyonce, Jordin Sparks, Katy Perry, and Regina Spektor.
Students also read pieces of original poetry, and My Mother's Fleabag entertained the crowd between acts with comedic skits.

Justin King, a student of Haitian descent and A&S '12, gave a speech midway through the night.

"This event is about the 200,000-plus people affected by this earthquake," he said. "The people of Haiti are in a search for a new life, not a search for material things, but a search to not be hungry. The hope can be seen in their smiling faces. The people of Haiti need a support system. We are that support system. I thank you all for being here tonight."

Many students in attendance said they enjoyed both the entertainment and dialogue at the event.

"I enjoyed the guitarists, singers, Sharps, and everyone, it was really inspiring," said Brandon Moye, A&S '12. "Then when Justin spoke, it really tied together the purpose of the show and why we're here."

Brian MacKenzie, LSOE '10, was one of the student organizers of the event. "We didn't want to sit there and feel sorry for the victims, so we decided to do something to help them," he said.

Within a month, MacKenzie and his friends were able to turn their idea into a full-blown production.

"There is no way we would have been able to put on the show by ourselves," MacKenzie said. "[The] UGBC helped out by promoting and advertising the show. They also gave us the funding we needed to make the show happen. Chris Darcy [associate director of student formations programs and STM '10] helped out by letting us know what we needed to do to make this thing work."

NOTH and Reslife were also able to provide their support for this event. MacKenzie said that they did not have to go out of their way to seek out artists to perform, either. "Although the majority of artists auditioned based on our advertising, groups like The Sharps and The Voices of Imani reached out to us with their interest in the event," he said. "This is what we are here to do. We're here to help people because it's the right thing to do."