FrankStock
“God Gave Rock and Roll To You”
-Brian’s favorite song by ‘Kiss’.
You know, he did. And now that we have Rock and Roll as a divine gift, what do we ever DO with it?
A) We smash a bunch of guitars. Fun, I agree, but kind of pointless in the overall grand scheme of the world.
B) We listen to it while destroying our body with foreign substances, such as types of plants to smoke or chemicals to drink.
C) We actually give something back.
I’ll tell you why in a few moments that choice ‘C’ is where we as a band are heading. Let me first apologize to my loyal reader out there who clicked on this column to read about something humorous or poignant. Actually, on a weekly basis, not even he expects either of those. For the rest of you first-timers, if you want to sum up many of my PAMusicScene.com columns, you can do it in one phrase: “Brian thinks he’s dumb. Yeah dude, we GET IT already, ok??”
This particular column welcomes you to FrankStock. Right away, you know this is a charity event, because anything that has a suffix “Stock” or “Palooza” is some sort of festival thingy that takes money for some sort of cause. PAMusicScene.com is loaded with information on charities and benefits, and rightfully so. They are great for many reasons. Please attend as many of them as humanly possible. My goal is not to lure you away from them, but rather to also draw you towards ours. Plus ours is in November (the 13th), so you have time to mark the calendar.
Ok, so what is “FrankStock”? Well, in short, it is a 7-hour event held at the Lakeside Ballroom in Barnesville, PA (Schuylkill County between Mahanoy City and Tamaqua) whose proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. The ‘Frank’ in question is the brother of Toolshed Jack’s lead singer Steve-O, brother-in-law of Gerry Ulicny (columnist here at PAMusicScene.com), and also a Shenandoah native, who died of cancer less than two years ago.
What inspired the band Toolshed Jack, whose motto (no joke) is “Four Guys Who Don’t Have A Freakin’ Clue”, to run/produce a major serious charity benefit? Well, part of it is choice C above: “We actually give something back.”. Part of it is because of Frank, obviously. And Toolshed Jack actually has experience in running a musical charity thing before. It was under a different name in February of 2009 because it was for a different cause. We called it “Tina-palooza” (suffix, go figure) because it was to raise money for a lady named Tina who needed serious money to treat and recover from an illness. It was hugely successful, in our expectations at the time. But without a DOUBT, we ‘caught the bug’ of running and hosting big benefits. It was one of the most amazing personal and touching experiences in our lives, I am not kidding you.
We played Tina-Palooza with two other bands we are/were actually ‘tight’ with: Tazin’ Bender and Another Side. We’re tight with only two bands, you say? Well, first off Toolshed Jack has no bands we fight with. However, we also don’t have many cover bands that we’re ‘buddy-buddy’ with because as a band we basically show up, play, leave, not to be seen again until the next gig, much like Batman. We don’t go see other bands because, not that we don’t want to, but…. &$#*%#@!! Yes, I know: NOBODY CARES, BRIAN… BACK TO THE POINT: We had such a blast with these two other bands that we’re inviting them back to FrankStock, and thankfully they’ve agreed.
FrankStock was trying to fit a few more bands in, too, which means we are expanding our buddy-buddy list slightly. Ok, maybe we are getting to know other bands together, and a few really wanted to join in this year. Unfortunately, massive scheduling conflicts are keeping this year’s FrankStock to the same three bands as Tina-palooza. It is cool that other bands want to join us this year, and maybe next year for the second annual FrankStock, who knows?
So why should you show up to FrankStock, now that you’ve marked your calendar for November 13th from 6 pm to 1 am at the Lakeside Ballroom? Well, it is only $10 to get in the door. Plus it is the American Cancer Society, which as our guitarist Joel put it, “Who hasn’t been affected by cancer in some way?” Every one of you knows someone who has now or who has died of cancer. Frank loved music, and this is our way to tribute him and try and help someone else out there not have to suffer from illness like Steve-O’s brother did.
Before, during, or after any gig played by Toolshed Jack, Tazin’ Bender, or Another Side from now until mid-November, you and dozens of your closest friends can buy tickets in advance to FrankStock, simply by approaching a band member at any gig up until then. They are $10 each, and many sponsors, such as Yuengling, Mrs. T’s, Kovalenik’s, T-102 FM (whose radio personality ‘RC’ has agreed to be guest emcee for the evening), and many others have also some great giveaways to those at Lakeside Ballroom. There are talks for 50-50 drawings, free giveaways aplenty, and many other great surprises.
If you would like more info on FrankStock, please join the Facebook group page: FRANKSTOCK 2010 OFFICIAL. The ‘info’ tab tells it all. Any and all other information you would need to know is there. If you are a business and want more information on how you can get involved, contact information can be found there also.
If you read this and don’t plan on going, we aren’t going to think that you have something against the American Cancer Society, obviously. But if there is any thought that you are perhaps leaning our way into maybe stopping by that night, please come. You’ll be guaranteed to get your money’s worth. And so will the American Cancer Society.
-Brian from Toolshed Jack
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