Last Wednesday my blood pressure was slightly elevated.
You see, Hoodstock was coming. Our first attempt at a charity concert… and it was a big one. Sixteen bands over the course of three days? What the hell were we thinking? The first time we’d even used our new PA (thanks Mike at Audio AZ) was only two weeks prior at Record Store Day… and now we were ready to put on a festival?
Crazy people are we. But hey, as I’ve probably said in my Random Babblings at some point – we make stuff up as we go. It’s a cavalier attitude, and it’s a great way to get yourself to take chances, but as the event nears… it doesn’t stop you from getting nervous. It’s like I told a number of people over the weekend, doing events is like throwing a party: You never know if people are going to show up until it happens.
It happened. Last weekend. And whew… it went great. Lots of people showed up and enjoyed the music. The bands were amazingly talented and professional. Aside from getting a bit hot thanks to the amount of people at some of the shows (and the late Sunday afternoon Arizona heat), things went off almost exactly on schedule. If you want to see some photos, they are up on our Facebook page.
Most importantly, we were able to do some great things for Ear Candy, the non-profit organization for which Hoodstock was conceived. If we helped Ear Candy, that means we helped get instruments in the hands of kids and help spread music education in the Valley. Just thinking that we helped that cause a little makes us feel pretty damn good.
What did we do for Ear Candy?
Well, we sold almost 100 Hoodstock shirts, and over 150 Hoodstock posters. We collected a total of nine instruments, including guitars, cornets, flutes, and a keyboard (Nate, you forgot the keyboard at the store). Most importantly, we collected a net of approximately $1,500 in donations (special thanks go out to Mark and Rose). Not bad, eh?
Not bad so far.
I say “so far” because we will continue to sell the shirts and posters – as well as collect your unused instruments – throughout the 
months of May and June. So if you are feeling charitable, c’mon down and grab a shirt. They are cool… and they are only $10 bucks each. Do you live in North Dakota? Titusville? Feel free to call the store (480-775-2722) and we’ll send you one.
Now let’s do some “thankin’”
Thanks first to the bands. Every single one of these guys and girls donated their time for the event and the charity. Totally amazing – and absolutely appreciated. We saw some excellent bands, from all over the music spectrum. I can assure you, the Valley music scene is really on a big upswing, and if you want to see some cool bands, you won’t have to go to far. Not sure who to see? Come by the store, and one of your friendly hoodlums can gladly make suggestions based on the bands of Hoodstock. Hats off to our hoodlums Wasef and Justin, who lined up most of the bands. You did a fine job picking bands, gentlemen.
Thanks to our Hoodstock team, including Nate at Ear Candy, Erica and Chris at Moses Anshell, Neil at Mac’s Broiler and Grill, and Cindy at Changing Hands. We were also massively helped online by Ashley and Mary, and of course, in the store by our fine staff of hoodlums.
Most of all – thanks to all of our customers and the fans of the bands – for coming to our event and contributing to this worthy charity. In these crazed financial times, it is very cool and more than a bit heartwarming to continually see our community stick together.