Concert raises over $2,200 for food pantry

photo by james livingston Members of Blue October rock out with fans April 25 at the Amarillo Civic Center auditorium. The stop was part of the Fear Tour.
photo by james livingston Members of Blue October rock out with fans April 25 at the Amarillo Civic Center auditorium. The stop was part of the Fear Tour.
Photo by James Livingston
Members of Blue October rock out with fans April 25 at the Amarillo Civic Center auditorium. The stop was part of the Fear Tour.

Amarillo College students, faculty and staff and Amarillo community members had an unusual opportunity April 25.

Alternative rock band Blue October gave a concert that benefited not only the attendees but the AC food pantry as well.

AC’s radio station, FM90, co-sponsored the event along with Rock 108.

Brian Frank, FM90’s program director, chose the pantry because of the help it offers to students.

“We were able to find a cause that we feel pretty strongly about and wanted to support, and I knew that the students would support it as well,” Frank said.

Fans from as far as Louisiana came to the concert, Frank said.

After paying for the cost of the concert, more than $2,200 was donated to the pantry.

Two other alternative artists opened the concert.

Legendary Skies and Ashleigh Stone performed before a packed audience in the Amarillo Civic Center auditorium.

The event was organized months in advance. Frank said he had thought about bringing Blue October since last September when its lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld, performed a soldout acoustic concert in Ordway Auditorium.

This year’s AC theme is moral courage, and it ties to the message Furstenfeld and Blue October are trying to convey, he said.

“It’s good for our students to have someone that has been through real-life issues,” Frank said.

Because of the high turnout last semester, Furstenfeld agreed to do a show in Amarillo and not in larger, nearby cities such as Albuquerque or Lubbock.

When asked about future plans with Blue October, Frank didn’t hesitate to show his appreciation with the band.

“The door is always open,” he said.

FM90 is always trying to bring new shows to AC students, and new plans are underway.

“I would love to bring somebody else,” Frank said.

“I would love to bring a big show to do every year and bring an act and give our students some access they won’t normally get.”

In the future, members of the AC Matney Mass Media program and FM90 want to work together with Stone and bring her back to perform a solo concert like Furstenfeld did last fall, he said.

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