This is Funked Up!,” a fundraising concert featuring performances from The Go Show and THB, will be held Thursday, Aug. 7 at The Boro Bar and Grill.
Money from the show will go towards funding for the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action, taking place in Louisa County, Va. from Aug. 5 – 11. The convergence will feature educational workshops and direct action dealing with the issue of mountaintop removal.
“Music is a powerful way to reach the masses,” said Anna Dow, the event’s organizer. “People love to dance and they might as well be learning how to better our world while they do it. The idea for the fundraising benefit crossed my mind and within a day THB and The Go Show were on board to help the cause.”
According to mountainjusticesummer.org, the process of mountaintop removal is a form of coal mining that starts with deforesting the mountaintop, and then progresses by using machines weighing up to eight million pounds to remove soil, cut into the mountain, and scoop coal out, tossing aside the remnants of the mountaintop, called “overburden,” creating massive valley landfills. The process is cost effective for mining companies, but hurts traditional mining communities and surrounding ecosystems and creates massive amounts of waste.
“Mountains are beautiful,” said Dow. “We all love mountains. There’s lots of biodiversity in the Appalachians and once the mountains are blown up life can’t regenerate on them. It contributes to our overall climate crisis, and we should be doing something to help stop global warming and the climate crisis.”
The members of both bands also feel strongly about the issue.
“We are blowing up the very mountains that clean our environment and help regulate our climate to burn the coal that damages it,” said Glenn Rohrbach, THB’s bassist. “It’s a lose-lose situation.”
The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action is one of seven conferences taking place around the world, each focusing on a different global climate issue. The other conferences will take place in New York, Oregon, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Money raised from the Aug. 7 concert will go towards travel expenses and educational research for the workshops taking place during the event.
If You Go:
What: Fundraiser for the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action
Where: The Boro Bar and Grill
When: Thursday, Aug. 7
Why: To educate people on the destructive practice of mountaintop removal.
