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Hurricanes prompt cancellations, fund-raisers
The music industry is once again jumping in to offer moral and financial support to those affected by the recent hurricanes.
Luckily, Hurricane Gustav has weakened to a tropical depression, but New Orleans and other storm-battered parishes in Louisiana are still under evacuation orders. Gustav missed a direct hit on New Orleans, coming ashore about 72 miles southwest of the city, according to USA Today.
Of course, NOLA concert venues such as the House of Blues are closed until further notice. HOB has postponed shows on this week's calendar including Peter Frampton and Beres Hammond plus Harmony House Singers.
The storms started wreaking havoc on the concert business last week when Martina McBride 's Aug. 28 gig in Birmingham, AL, was cancelled because flooding damaged the Verizon Wireless Music Center. Clay Walker 's Labor Day weekend show at Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, LA, was cancelled so that venue could serve as a designated evacuation shelter, The Town Talk reported. Stone Temple Pilots also blamed inclement weather for cancellations in the Florida cities of Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa, according to reports.
Meanwhile, 1,300 miles away from the Gulf Coast, New Kids on the Block postponed their New York City performance as a gesture of support. Even though fans had camped out for Monday's (9/1) show in Rockefeller Plaza, the group's Danny Wood said it wouldn't have been right to perform when New Orleans was in the middle of what could be a "pretty devastating" storm, according to the Associated Press. Instead, the New Kids mingled with fans and signed autographs.
Over in the Twin Cities, Hurricane Gustav threatened to put a damper on the Republican National Convention, but instead of pulling the plug on a slate of planned concerts, organizers turned events into benefits for the people of the Gulf Coast, the Boston Herald reported.
Reggae star Daddy Yankee reportedly turned Monday night's (9/1) "Fiesta Americana" performance into a fund-raiser for the Red Cross Relief Fund. Even though the musicians featured in the New Orleans All-Star Jam-Balaya concert were worried about their homes and loved ones, they went forward with their event to raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
"There's nothing we can do right now, so let's use the opportunity to get the world's attention and get them to understand why it's so bad for us," Louisiana native Tab Benoit told the Pioneer Press.
