Over $2,000 in donations were raised at the benefit concert to fund the efforts of #SaveWras on Thursday, May 15. The event was hosted at The Drunken Unicorn at 8 p.m.
WRAS 88.5 listeners and supporters were invited to the event through the official #SaveWRAS Facebook profile. They were also asked to donate $10 upon entering the building to support the movement.
“…All proceeds will benefit the #SaveWRAS movement and will be reinvested in promotional and legal costs by the organization,” the official Facebook event page stated.
Mikey Johnson, a coordinator of the concert, said as soon as he heard the news of Georgia State and GPB creating a partnership he got angry and felt as though he had to do something about it.
“I made the Facebook page that quickly took off. When I saw that happening I thought ‘oh crap’ I gotta do something more than just make a Facbeook page,” he said.
Johnson said he spoke with Gavin from the venue, who he has known for years, and told him he wanted to put together a show for the #SaveWRAS movement.
He also said he secured a date with a venue, but had no idea who was going to play at the show or how it was going to be put together in one week.
“Basically for the next couple of days I sent messages to the various bands who didn’t really give me a response. There were a lot of foot-dragging bands, because that’s kind of what bands do. Then I took the initiative to search bands that had posted things about Save WRAS,” Johnson said.
The venue featured local bands such as Twin Studies, Imagination Head and The Marrows. The Book of Colors was also performed.
Twin Studies was the first band Johnson came across and he said they quickly responded to say they would play at the show, but it took a while before the other bands confirmed. Once they did Johnson began creating an event poster.
“Considering how fast we had to put it together, it was a remarkable turn out that we had. I think overall there were somewhere between 250 and 300 people showed up,” he said.
Johnson said there was also positive response about the event after the show.
“I had a lot of people thanking for helping set it up, there’s still a lot of people that want to help. We had a lot of volunteers sign-up on the sheets we had,” he said. “All funds raised will be going directly back into the #SaveWRAS campaign.”
WRAS will be hosting their own celebration event on May 24, at the Mammal Gallery. Album 88 members said they will post further details on their official Facebook page.
