Since the group first formed in 2003, First Aid Productions has brought the likes of the Lawrence Arms, Alkaline Trio and The Suicide Machines to NMU’s campus, giving the Marquette music scene a stab of energy and a glimpse at big time performances rarely found in the Upper Peninsula.
But when the group isn’t contacting agents or shelling out bucks for the big names, it’s busy organizing smaller, more intimate benefit shows in residence hall basements or campus courtyards. The group’s most recent show, a benefit for the Marquette County Humane Society, took place on Thursday, April 10 in the Gant/Spalding basement. The concert featured bands The Final Fall, Mark5, Luck Roger and His Nine Lives and Pseudocell.
Lindsey Archambeau, president of First Aid, said she was surprised and happy with the concert’s turnout.
“We had about 100 people come out throughout the whole show which was really surprising and I’m really pleased with it,” she said. “We were really surprised with the amount of donations we got and everyone was really into the cause.”
Sebastian Frye, a junior computer science major and the First Aid show manager, said everyone’s attitude at the show – both the audience’s and the performers’ – was positive.
“I thought it was overall very successful,” he said. “We had a large turnout for a basement show. We usually don’t get as many people as we did. The bands were very cooperative for the cause.”
Archambeau added that the group was able to collect approximately $80 for the shelter, the majority of which was used for the humane society’s Guardian Angels program. The program was started on Saturday, April 12 — the same day First Aid members brought the money to the shelter.
Dayna Kennedy, assistant manager at the Marquette County Humane Society, said that because of the donations, First Aid was able to sponsor a cat and dog for a two-month period through the program.
“[The program] provides a number of different things,” she said. “It can be used for medication for our animals, food, anything – any general things that we need.”
Kennedy added that she was very thankful for First Aid’s donations — something the shelter is always in need of.
“I think it’s definitely wonderful,” she said. “We’re hurting for money. We’re a non-profit [organization], and it’s nice that they thought about us. We’re naturally excited about it.”
First Aid has hosted other benefit shows in the past, including a concert for the annual TV6 Canathon and a benefit show for the 231 House of Muses. Archambeau said that while she thinks the attendance at benefit shows is about even with that of a regular concert, the audience attitude at a benefit show is definitely unique.
“People are more willing to come out to a benefit show because there is a purpose,” she said. “Everyone wants to go to a show and have a good time, but if you’re doing it for a reason, if you’re doing it to support some cause, people are more likely to show up and support that cause.”
First Aid is currently brainstorming ideas for future benefit shows in the fall. For more information on the group, visit firstaidproductions.com or contact [email protected]. To learn more about the Marquette County Humane Society’s Guardian Angels program, visit www.upaws.org.
