By Susan Lin
"Ants Marching, Big Shot and Zen Tricksters alone can fill a house. I have been told this is the hottest line-up," said Raymond Kopeck, co-owner of LongIslandMusicScene.com, and the organizer of the Nov. 29 event.
Tickets for the concert, titled "Rock to the Rescue," will set you back $20, but all box office proceeds go directly to the Widows & Children's Fund for Firefighters, Police and Port Authority. (The funds would benefit those who worked in Manhattan, but whose families reside on Long Island.)
Although Kopeck served as the central organizer of Rock to the Rescue, the concert seemed to have come into existence on its own. "I'm not a big promoter or something. The whole thing just snowballed and turned into people saying, 'Yes, we want to do something to help," said Kopeck.
On the day-to-day, Kopeck and his partner, Paul Cuthbert, co-own and manage a company called L.I. 1st, which designs Web sites for small businesses. Because both Kopeck and Cuthbert are musicians, they thought it would be beneficial to start up a web site that would list upcoming live-music concerts. Soon enough, a year ago, LongIslandMusicScene.com made its debut.
When the tragic events hit on Sept. 11, the bands affiliated with LongIslandMusicScene.com flooded Kopeck with calls asking him to put together a fundraiser of some sort to aid the victims.
"Just to keep them quiet, I said, 'Okay, I'll see what I can do," said Kopeck. He placed a few calls out to booking agents at major live-music venues and cover bands on Long Island, and with little effort on Kopeck's part, everyone agreed to donate their resources and talents.
Mulcahy's is donating the use of its space free of charge for the concert. Kopeck said another major music club on Long Island, Vanderbilt in Plainview, had offered its space for $25,000, and guessed that Mulcahy's, a comparable establishment, would have had cost a similar amount to book.
The featured music acts Ants Marching, Big Shot, Wondrous Stories, Zen Tricksters and Randy Jackson will be performing without pay.
Kenny Forgione, the manager, lead vocalist and guitarist of Wondrous Stories, said he wanted to do whatever he can to help the Trade Center victims. "Everyone will remember this forever, but a year from now, people probably won't feel like giving anymore money. Who's going to take care of the [widows and children] then? So you might as well strike while the iron is hot," Forgione said.
Wondrous Stories is known for progressive rock. They're famous for playing hit albums -- such as Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," The Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper" or The Who's "Tommy" soundtrack -- straight through from start to finish.
"People are always saying, 'Oh, you're the guys who do the whole albums," said Forgione.
Craig Knapp, the lead vocalist for the Dave Matthews Band tribute group Ants Marching, said contributing to Rock to the Rescue was a "no-brainer."
"We have never been alive to witness anything as tragic or as negatively impactful on this country as Sept. 11. We've never seen anything like this. Grandfathers of ours have lived through Pearl Harbor, what people compared it to.
Let's do something to help. There were a lot of people that are going to need funds and help and food and everything," said Knapp, who at 26 is the oldest member of the band.
Ants Marching, formed three years ago, is dedicated to sounding just like the Dave Matthews Band. "There's no interpretation. The way we approach performing his music is to replicate their sound, their style as authentically as they do," said Knapp.
He said that Dave Matthews' music is diverse in style. "There's elements of funk, of bluegrass, of straight-up rock-and-roll and of jazz," said Knapp.
While the bands and venue were the major hurdles to jump for the benefit concert to take place, many other companies are also contributing their resources to the event. The Guitar Center of Commack is providing without charge the equipment the bands will need to perform; and Rock-it Cargo, a major music-equipment transportation company on Long Island, will be moving the gear to Mulcahy's.
In addition, the Yankees, Knicks, Islanders and Rangers are donating tickets to serve as raffle prizes. The profits of the raffle will also be donated to the Widows and Children's Funds.
As with the bands, Mulcahy's, and other volunteers for Rock to the Rescue, Kopeck is also glad to be able to help in someway the victims of the recent terror attacks.
"A lot of firefighters on my mother's side work in the city, and I'm a retired detective, so it hit close to home. When Sept. 11 came, immediately I called [my former precinct]. I wanted to do something, but they said, 'Ray, you're a civilian now.' So I became a little frustrated because I wanted to do something but I didn't know what to do," said Kopeck. With Rock to the Rescue, though, it looks like Kopeck has found something to do.
At a Glance
Rock to the Rescue benefit concert
8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Thurs. Nov. 29
Doors open at 8.
Mulcahy's
3232 Railroad Ave., Wantagh
(516) 826-6857
$20
Tickets can be purchased
at LongIslandMusicScene.com,
or the ticket office at Mulcahy's.
