April 26, 2009
Photos of Lt. Dan Band at Joe’s (USVAP benefit concert)
On Friday, April 17th the Lt. Dan Band played to a sold out crowd at Joe’s Bar in Chicago. Each year this particular concert is a fundraiser for the United States Vietnam Arts Program which has expanded its mission to include providing “artistic tools” to wounded service members from Iraq and Afghanistan wars (read more about USVAP here).
During the concert, “artistic tools” were presented to Shane Parsons and Laura Narvaez. Shane suffered a head injury and above knee amputation to both legs while serving in Iraq. Laura suffers from traumatic brain injuries as a result of incidents while serving in Iraq and Korea; she cannot read or do math and has short term memory loss. To help them heal in ways not visible to many of us, the USVAP presented Shane with a guitar to pursue his childhood dream of playing one and his love of music; Laura was presented with a camera to pursue her love of photography.
And while Shane and Laura were the true VIPs of the evening, part of the USVAP fundraising efforts included VIP All-Access passes and a VIP Meet and Greet event with Gary held after the show. The VIP All-Access donors were invited to attend the afternoon sound-check, enjoy dinner with the band, a private introduction and photographs with Gary and Kimo as well as a copy of the American Soldier DVD narrated by Gary (this is the video montage which kicked off the show and is available via the USVAP website), Lt. Dan Band merchandise and Kimo’s War Stories CD.
The first two photographs below are from the sound check earlier in the day. They are graciously provided by Glenda C. and with many thanks from me personally because I arrived much too late in the day (Cubs game!) to take any photos worth sharing. (Maybe next year!) Click on the photos to enlarge.
Gary: Kimo, Ernie, Beth and Gary:
And many thanks to Alice E. for sharing her photographs of Gary from the show!
Thanks to Kimo, Gary and the band for a terrific evening and fantastic show! Our best wishes and much gratitude to Shane and Laura! And many thanks to Glenda and Alice for sharing their photographs!
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April 26th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
beautiful pictures…thanks for sharing…
Gary is lovely
April 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
DERA GARY, SINIES.
ar lik you movies, and your band play good music.
have your band ever be in DENMARK?.
ar hop to se you som day.
fra TINNA, DENMARK
April 27th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
The whole night was a blast! The place was S.R.O. and the band was great. The United States Vietnam Arts Program is awesome in the way they provide the tools for our vets. I was happy to contribute to the cause. I hope to be able to see the band the next time they’re in Chicago because the experience is so much fun. Thank you Gary, Kimo and the rest of the band, and to all of our vets!! God speed!