Aidan Has A Posse Benefit Concert

Buckcherry
Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
August 11, 2011

Thursday night’s rock show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was substantially more important than just that. The evening was a benefit concert called “Aidan Has A Posse” with proceeds going to help a 6 year old named Aidan, who has been diagnosed with a rare brain disease called Adrenoleukodystophy or ALD. The disease affects neurological signals swiftly and irreversibly, destroying nerve cells as it progresses. His family is desperately seeking a bone marrow donor (check out marrow.org to see if you are the match) to save his young life and to prevent the degenerative process. Bringing some attention to the matter and helping to raise money for his bone marrow transplant surgery, Buckcherry stepped right up for the family, offering to perform in Brooklyn and bring along some local bands for the ride (Pisser, The Toilet Boys). Equipped with a silent auction, custom designed event t-shirts, and VIP meet and greet tickets for $150, the night was equipped to be a complete success. And with the hearts and minds of concertgoers in the right place, Buckcherry brought the house down.

Having seen Buckcherry countless times previously, it’s become infinitely clear that this band is perfectly suited to play a venue the size of the Music Hall. The standing room only venue is intimate and caters to the band’s strengths- the in your face vocals of frontman Josh Todd and the dirty, dingy 1986 sunset strip style guitar licks of Keith Nelson and Stevie D. Plus, without a barricade and a lineup of security guards, fans can get as close to the stage as possible for some real face time with the catchy-riffed rock quintet.

At 10:50, Buckcherry confidently swaggered to center stage, opening with “Dead,” from their latest release “All Night Long,” (August 2010) before pushing the envelope with intense versions of “Rescue Me” and then the crowd jumping title track “All Night Long.” Throughout the performance, the seemingly ageless Todd bounced around in a frenzy, while the gaggle of fans in front of the stage followed suit. The roughly 80 minute set watched the band rip through crowd pleasers like “Sorry,” and “Everything,” from the “Fifteen” album, throwbacks to their self-titled debut with “Lit Up” and “Lawless and Lulu” and even touching upon the vastly underrated Time Bomb album with the bluesy, guitar crazy “Slammin’.”

Williamsburg was certainly the place to break out a tasty version of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post,” as the band encored into “Crushed” to close the show. While “Crazy Bitch” launched the crowd into the first moshpit of the evening, the highlight for us was the deep track “Brooklyn,” appropriately dusted off and played to perfection here, a rarity- such a fantastic song that we’re considering calling Marty Markowitz and recommending that it become the anthem for the borough.

Thursday night’s performance proved that Buckcherry, the band, is as cohesive as ever onstage. Never wavering for a minute despite the non sellout gate or the fact that some Brooklynites in the crowd did not fully embrace them, it couldn’t have mattered less to Todd and company, who epitomize live rock and roll music, and whose passion for his craft bleeds out every time his feet touch a stage. As the show closed with Buckcherry remaining onstage, the crowd broke out in a chant for Aidan, showing that although they experienced an intense live show, the importance of the evening was not lost on them.

- Jane Van Arsdale