Local bands will play at the annual Students for a Free Tibet concert on March 12
Students for a Free Tibet, a student organization at Grand Valley State University, will hold its annual concert to benefit Tibet on March 12. The show, which begins at 8 p.m., will feature six local bands and three speakers.
The concert will be located at the Division Arts Cooperative in downtown Grand Rapids. Tickets will be sold at the door at $5 for students (of any school) and $7 for all others. Jill Shafer, president of Students for a Free Tibet, said proceeds will go to help Tibetan nuns in exile.
China invaded Tibet in 1949 and has been oppressing the indigenous people since, according to www.tibet.org. Shafer said the purpose of Students for a Free Tibet is to “try to promote awareness of the situation.” In the past two years, each concert has sold about 400 tickets. Shafer said people may come to hear just one or two bands, or stay for the entire concert.
The artists listed to play on Friday are Forever December, pianist Katie DayGood, Jim Crawford Band, More, Joyride and Never Say Never.
Dorjee Damdul and Tenzin Bhagen, both GVSU students from Tibet, are scheduled to speak along with Heidi Stukkie, a practicing Buddhist from Grand Rapids.
Bhagen said he will speak about his experiences in Tibet and being involved in organizations such as Students for a Free Tibet and political campaigns that advocate for change in Tibet.
You should be free to live your life the way you want, said Jason Goorman of the band More, You should have your own voice. More, which consists of Goorman on vocals and guitar, Matt Radowski on guitar and vocals, Dan Stauffer on bass and Scott Christie on drums, played the concert last year. The band decided to play again because it was for a good cause.
It’s just wrong what China is doing Stauffer said. More will play several songs from its last album Information, including Pearls to Swine and Flattery.
They will also play several new songs, such as Oh Really and Quadrilogy, which is four different musical styles combined into one song. Fishin, the first song Goorman wrote, will also be in the set.
More released two albums independently and is currently working on material for its third release, a yet-to-be-titled work on the journey of life.
The band has already recorded several tracks and plans to spend the summer recording and playing shows. More’s sound keeps you on your toes, Radowski said. He described the sound as rock and roll paying tribute to other musical styles such as Rock-a-Billy, blues, free form jazz, metal and hard rock.
More has had problems, however, getting shows in the Grand Rapids area and on GVSU’s campus even though all four members of More are GVSU students.
Student Life doesn’t bring anything to the school that the students would want, Stauffer said. He said he is also frustrated with the lack of funding that goes toward Student Life on campus. The concert benefit for Free Tibet is More’s first official show of the year.
Goorman said, though, that More often entertains 50 or more houseguests on the weekends with its high-energy live shows. When the band plays, they really do bring the house down: at a recent show, the band rocked so hard, ceiling tiles rattled and fell on the band.
