Rock the $#@! Out of Cancer Benefit Dance Party is back this year with two big nights of live music April 11-12.
It’s the fourth year of a Chilliwack fundraiser for the local Ride to Conquer Cancer team and the BC Cancer Foundation, and this year it’s at the Echo Room.
Instead of squeezing the benefit excitement into just one night, the party will be spread out over two nights, with a great lineup of talent and different genres for the different demographics, said organizer Wayne Oberst.
“I think we’ll get more support by splitting up the music genres the way we have,” he said.
First it’s Club Night on Friday, April 11 for the under-30 crowd, with pop electronic duo Destineak, Pardon My Striptease, and Swaggerjack.
Then on Saturday, April 12 it’s music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, with the guys from the band The Odds performing as Radio One, Rock Therapy which includes Oberst himself, local entertainer Trevor McDonald, and the Smiley Family closing out the night.
The local benefit means a lot to Oberst, who is a cancer survivor himself. He makes a point of doing the 240 km Ride to Conquer Cancer held in Vancouver every June, and this year the team has 12 members.
“This year is a little different than in years past. We’re doing the Ride to Conquer Cancer to honour people we’ve lost,” he said, adding that his team’s honourees are Paul King and Lilee-Jean Putt.
“This year is very special to us. Lilee-Jean was Paul’s hero and Paul was mine.”
Oberst wrote a song for Lilee Jean, a toddler who lost her fight with an aggressive form of brain cancer, and he also forged a real connection with King before he passed away.
The party will be hosted by Kenny Jones of 96.9 Jack FM on the Friday, and Sadie Hesketh of 89.5 The Drive on the Saturday, and there’s a big raffle rather than a silent auction planned, and DJs who will spin tunes between performances.
The goal is to raise $20,000 of the $65,000 event total from the raffle alone.
“That would be the most money that we’ve raised in a single year to date.”
The event has brought in just under $200,000 in the first three years.
The location of the 2014 event has also shifted to the Echo Room.
All the details are on the website at www.rockoutcancer.ca, with tickets $30 each or both nights for $50.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
Twitter.com/chwkjourno
