Love Concert 2019: A sneak-peek at Coalition’s Love Concert and the artists and charities participating

The Concert:

Coalition, a club led by social studies teacher David Muhammad, will be holding the tenth annual Love Concert on March 1 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Village Presbyterian Church. The concert is Coalition’s largest annual event and is aimed at getting students involved in supporting their community.

Coalition is scheduled to have a variety of bands and solo artists perform to help raise money for the Kansas City Instrument Fund and for Mill Valley senior Nolan Sprague who was paralyzed in a diving accident.

“I really like the fact that [the charities are] local and that we’re going to see the impact with the money we raise,” Coalition board member and junior Olive Henry said.

While the concert has no set admission fee, people have the option to donate as they enter. Coalition’s goal this year is to reach $1,500 in donations, with the money then being split in half between the two funds.

According to Muhammad, last year’s concert was the most successful one yet. Its success was not in terms of funds raised, but that the crowd all seemed to be enjoying the music and having a good time.

“The floor was really loud just because it was so energetic,” Muhammad said. “It was definitely a good concert.”

Coalition hopes to have another successful concert this year and to see more people attend the show. The have already started to spread the word online and around school to get as many people to attend as possible.

Preparations for the concert began at the start of second semester by them having weekly meetings to work on decorations, publicizing the event and to make other arrangements that need to be coordinated before the concert.

“I feel like this is one where whatever loose change you have in your wallet, or in your car or pocket, everybody bringing that just adds up a lot,” Henry said. “We always raise a lot of money, and on top of that I think people really like it.”

Charities:

The Love Concert will raise money for two causes: The Kansas City Instrument Fund and Mill Valley senior Nolan Sprague, who was paralyzed in a diving accident in August.

The Kansas City Instrument Fund was founded last summer by senior Henry Haw to cover rental fees for underprivileged students who cannot afford to have or play an instrument. Haw came up with the idea after a conversation with his grandmother about how some of the kids she tutors find themselves in this situation.

“Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Haw said. “I couldn’t really imagine my life without it, and I thought of how terrible that must be to not be able to pursue your passion.”

After filing to be an official non-profit organization, Haw started reaching out to businesses and other individuals for donations. So far, his charity has raised about $4,500 for Kansas City Public Schools as well as the Shawnee Mission School District, where it will help pay for instrument rental fees for students.

The other half of the money raised from the Love Concert will be going towards Sprague, who was paralyzed from the chest down after he broke his neck in diving accident over summer break. A GoFundMe page was started in August 2018 and has currently raised over $141,000 to help his family with medical and financial causes. However, funds are still needed to cover the rest.

Senior Zach Bass, a close friend of Sprague, hopes to raise enough money through the concert to help pay for a chairlift in his house so he can get up and down the stairs more easily.

“I think [the concert] is important because they’re helping someone in need and it’s something fun to do,” Bass said.

Lucy Brock Q&A:

This is junior Lucy Brock’s third time performing in the Love Concert. She will be doing a solo act, singing three songs — two originals and one cover.

Q: What’s your favorite part about the Love Concert?

A: I just really like how it brings everyone together for a good cause. I think it’s important for people to connect through mutual interest. I think the Love Concert is a really good way to get people together and to donate some money, have some fun [and] build the community. I like the togetherness of the concert because it feels like a night where everybody’s there for the same thing.

Q: What is the overall atmosphere of the concert and the crowd?

A: Just like lightning, man. You couldn’t find a more electric room. Everybody’s just happy to be there, happy to hear some good music. Everybody has friends that are performing, so everyone’s super excited and supporting each other. It’s just all positivity.

Q: What are you most excited about for the concert this year?

A: It’s definitely worthwhile every year. I feel like putting more time into it and putting more effort into it than I usually do will make it a lot more gratifying for me when it all comes together at the end. I’m also really excited because we got a lot of really good people that are going to come out and perform this year. We got new bands, which they are getting the opportunity to perform which is really cool. I think it’s just a really cool group of people.

Tom Schotte Q&A:

Senior Tom Schotte plays guitar and sings vocals for the band Orlo. This is Orlo’s first time performing in the Love Concert. Other members of the band include seniors Charley Colby on keyboard, Sam Reda on guitar, Gray Warner on bass and Henry Freeman from Rockhurst on the drums.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about performing in front of an audience?

A: My favorite thing about playing, especially when it’s in front of an audience [is] when we’re just playing a song and somebody plays something, [and then] other people in the band can pick up on that and play something that compliments [it] and it just works together. Even though it’s something completely unplanned, we’re together and we know what’s going on. That’s the best part of performing as a band is when really spontaneous things happen.

Q: What has made you decide to perform at this year’s love concert?

A: We didn’t last year because we didn’t have anything prepared. We actually went as a band and checked it out. It was really fun to see it and we were like, “Why are we not playing in this” I can’t remember who asked us but I think it might have been Mr. Muhammad because I know he knows about us. He had a concert last year at Gus’s that we played in and so he knew about us and he asked me and I was like, “Absolutely, we’d love to play in the Love Concert this year.”  Sot that’s how that came about.

Q: What are you most excited for about the concert?

A: I’m excited just to play. To get up on stage and play is the best part, and to see other people play is always fun.