About 200 fist-pumping, head-banging punk rock fans gathered at The Atlantic Sunday night to listen to loud music and raise about $3,000 for Haiti.
The 4 1/2-hour Haiti Benefit Concert was headlined by Against Me!, a Gainesville-founded band that has released four studio albums.
Along with Against Me!, Grabass Charlestons, Averkiou, Whiskey & Company and Holopaw performed.
Fans paid $10 to come to the concert.
But in the spirit of the cause, many donated more.
Grabass Charlestons’ drummer and singer Will Thomas organized the event.
“I was in a unique position to quickly and easily throw a fun and visible show,” Thomas said. “...We’re all touched by the story of Haiti.”
Thomas partnered with the American Red Cross, and all of the proceeds from the concert were donated to the organization.
“We love to see the outpouring of donations on a local level after such a devastating event,” said Laura Mager, executive director for the North Central Florida Chapter of the Red Cross.
Mager said the money donated to the Red Cross is used to bring food and water to Haiti.
The Red Cross is partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme to feed survivors of the earthquake by establishing food distribution sites in Port-au-Prince.
The Red Cross is also bringing buckets of water to Haitian families.
Thomas said organizing the concert was easy, and bands were eager to join the cause.
“Gainesville is the type of place where all the members of every band hang out together a lot,” he said.
When Grabass Charlestons started the show at 5:30 p.m., about 80 people were at the venue, but the number of people and donations increased throughout the evening, culminating with the Against Me! performance at 9 p.m.
The show attracted some people that simply wanted to listen to local music, regardless of what the cover charge went to.
“To be honest, I came to see the shows,” said John Eassey, a criminology grad student at UF. “Helping Haiti is a nice bonus.”
To donate $10 to the Red Cross’ Haiti relief efforts, students can text “Haiti”to 90999.
They can also give any amount of money to the organization by going to redcross.org.
