Spring Break
Darfur charity rocks
Jared Silfies
Issue date: 9/1/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
At 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 14, dozens of people trickled into the Lipkin Theater talking about solar cookers, janjaweed and genocide.
Their conversations overlap and intertwine. They're all here for one reason - to stop the genocide in Darfur.
NCC's Political Science Club raised $1700 for the International Rescue Committee during this Darfur Benefit Concert.
Dr. Sol Levy's opening remarks swept through the crowd. He told the audience that it is easy to become jaded and tired when supporting a cause, but they cannot lose hope.
"The answer to emotional fatigue is to not focus on one issue but on injustice everywhere you can."
When the introduction ended, the first act of the night took the floor. Real West, a three piece band featuring classic Old West sound with a political message provided upbeat tempo with dour lyrics like in "Waiting to Explode."
The song describes the frustration about the world. "When the world was born / it was born on fire."
Real West finished their set and students read statistics and personal accounts of the Darfur genocide.
NCC alumnus Alex Radus then took the stage. His band's Indie-rock sound connected with the crowd as the audience leaned forward and stopped fidgeting or texting on their cell phones.
Radus said the Lipkin concert was his tenth this year and that he donates half of the money he earns from CD sales at these concerts to the event-sponsored charity.
He said he tries to gauge the audience's involvement during his sets, to get them enthused and to help raise awareness.
"It's just about putting together a good show," Radus said.
The African drum ensemble, the third act, was recommended by Radus to come to the benefit concert because "it's poignant since Africa is the focus."
Praise poems, drums, bass riffs, cymbals, acoustic guitar and unison clapping from the audience congealed with the rhythmic lyrics of praise poems to create a sound unlike anything heard in western music.
Radus said he met the members of the drum ensemble at an open-mic night in Philadelphia and he felt their music was important to share appropriate and thematic music with the NCC audience.
Their conversations overlap and intertwine. They're all here for one reason - to stop the genocide in Darfur.
NCC's Political Science Club raised $1700 for the International Rescue Committee during this Darfur Benefit Concert.
Dr. Sol Levy's opening remarks swept through the crowd. He told the audience that it is easy to become jaded and tired when supporting a cause, but they cannot lose hope.
"The answer to emotional fatigue is to not focus on one issue but on injustice everywhere you can."
When the introduction ended, the first act of the night took the floor. Real West, a three piece band featuring classic Old West sound with a political message provided upbeat tempo with dour lyrics like in "Waiting to Explode."
The song describes the frustration about the world. "When the world was born / it was born on fire."
Real West finished their set and students read statistics and personal accounts of the Darfur genocide.
NCC alumnus Alex Radus then took the stage. His band's Indie-rock sound connected with the crowd as the audience leaned forward and stopped fidgeting or texting on their cell phones.
Radus said the Lipkin concert was his tenth this year and that he donates half of the money he earns from CD sales at these concerts to the event-sponsored charity.
He said he tries to gauge the audience's involvement during his sets, to get them enthused and to help raise awareness.
"It's just about putting together a good show," Radus said.
The African drum ensemble, the third act, was recommended by Radus to come to the benefit concert because "it's poignant since Africa is the focus."
Praise poems, drums, bass riffs, cymbals, acoustic guitar and unison clapping from the audience congealed with the rhythmic lyrics of praise poems to create a sound unlike anything heard in western music.
Radus said he met the members of the drum ensemble at an open-mic night in Philadelphia and he felt their music was important to share appropriate and thematic music with the NCC audience.
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