Friday night, three local bands will entertain some of the rowdiest rock and punk fans in town, but it will be the infants and children of Eugene who will get the most out of the show.
Big Hippie, Courtesy Clerks and Gabriel Blue play Friday night at the WOW Hall in a benefit for the Children’s Miracle Network at Sacred Heart Hospital.
The proceeds from the concert will help offset the costs of a variety of needs from neo-natal intensive care units to emergency housing for people who have newborns that end up in incubators.
“The performers decided they wanted to do a benefit and donate their share,” WOW Hall spokesman Bob Fennessy said, “and they are donating their entire share, so they’re basically playing for free in the hopes of raising some money for the kids.”
When the WOW Hall puts on a show, it takes 30 percent of the net revenue, and the remaining 70 percent goes to the performer.
Tickets are $5, so assuming tomorrow night’s show draws a couple hundred people, the benefit should raise several hundred dollars, Fennessy said.
“We’re a community center, and our job is to do good things for the community,” he said. “And when young people like this want to do something good for the community, it’s our job to encourage them.”
Fennessy added that the show presents an opportunity for the band to show what kind of a draw they have, while at the same time, doing a good deed.
Big Hippie, tomorrow’s headlining act, formed about three years ago, when the band’s four members met at Elmira High School, about 15 miles west of Eugene.
That’s where keyboardist and vocalist Farmer Greif first got involved with the Children’s Miracle Network through the Kids Helping Kids program.
“This is my way of contributing.” Greif said. “It’s also a good excuse to get into the WOW Hall.”
Big Hippie, which describes itself as “the red-headed stepchild of funk,” plays original hard funk with influences that include James Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primus.
In Greif’s words, “If Dave Brubeck and Dave Matthews were having a picnic and the Chili Peppers came and started a food fight, that’s what we would sound like.”
Eugene’s Courtesy Clerks, a trio of hard-rocking University students, is no stranger to benefit concerts. The band has been involved in several, including benefits for the Dine’h Indians and Oregon Farm Workers.
So when Greif asked them to do the benefit, they willfully agreed.
The Courtesy Clerks play a form of punk that sophomore music major and bassist Mike B. describes as “hypersmactive.”
“We’re just a rock ‘n’ roll- influenced band,” he said.
Gabriel Blue, Friday night’s opening act, also formed in Eugene.
The four singer/songwriters formed the band two years ago while attending the University. They, too, have played several benefit concerts before, including a Native American rights benefit and a Gardenburger boycott concert.
Their music is best described as rock ‘n’ roll with a twist of guitar experimentation, senior music major and drummer Brian Gardiner said.
“Take Built to Spill and Pavement and mix that with a lot of ambient guitar noise, and that would be Gabriel Blue,” Gardiner said.
Tickets for Friday night’s all-ages show are $5 at the door.
Doors open at 9 p.m., and showtime is at 9:30 p.m.
For more information, call the WOW Hall at 687-2746.