Farce the Music

Sep 1, 2017

You're Supposed to Sing What You Know, Luke

Local Promoter Adds 58th Band to Gout Benefit Show

Local Promoter Adds 58th Band to Gout Benefit Show

by Robert Dean

Chicago – Promoter John Higginton just can’t help himself. In the wake of supporting his friend Denny’s fight against gout, John flexed his booking muscles and has scheduled Denny Fest 2017, a benefit show to help his friend recover while he nurses a sore foot.

“There’s just so many cool bands. Everyone in the scene wants to support Denny. Every band gets thirteen minutes so everyone gets a chance to play.” Higginton said about the festival that’s taking place the Elks Lodge in Lockport, IL.

Featuring a lineup of punk, folk, blues, metal, grindcore, death metal, street core, hardcore, proto-punk, post-punk, hard rock, nu metal, jam band, disco rock, classic rock, groove rock, rap metal, and country, Higgton needed to add the final piece.

“My friends Joe Shit and The Rag Band are a cool alt-punk, indie thing. They’ve been together for six weeks. This was a perfect first show. They play first at nine am Sunday morning. We expect a huge turn out for them.”

Higgington says there will be a two-stage set up in each corner of the room with plenty of power strips and outlets for equipment. In fact, he encourages bands to show up with just guitars and use the drum kits and amplifiers provided for them.

“We’ve got these really great Crate half stacks that sound like chainsaws. We’ve got a sick Lars Ulrich edition Tama Rockstar kit for the drummers. We can move it around for who needs it to save time.”

John expects to see a lot of friendly faces for the collection of local bands from the folks who support Denny. “We’re charging $15 a head. There will be some food to buy and merch. No in’s and out’s though. The Elks don’t want people loitering.”

Denny Fest is scheduled for next Sunday and will feature a cavalcade of music acts from original to cover bands. Headliners Molly Hatchet go on at 11:45PM. There will be raffles and door prizes.

If you’d like to support Denny, check out his GoFundMe page.